12 Tools For Generating Infinite Ideas With Ease — Part 04

On September 13th, “12 Tools For Generating Infinite Ideas With Ease — Part 03” was published.

Given the title above, you can probably surmise that this is a sequel to that essay.

But, what you may not know is that this is the final part of our little series.

You will find three tools below, each of which is just as fun and powerful as the others in the series.

And, with that, let’s begin!

Go On A Walk

Going on a walk is one of the easiest ways to generate ideas.

But, really, “generate ideas” isn’t the right phrase.

Something like “allow ideas to come to you” is more appropriate as, when you go on a walk, you aren’t so much generating ideas as allowing them to come to you.

Or, at least, that’s the case, when you go on a walk in the way outlined below.

You see, to go on a walk, and receive the ideas you would like, you must set an intention.

Any intention works. But, of course, your intention should relate to the ideas you seek.

Right after you set your intention, meditate on it for a moment.

Just consider what your intention means to you and what the ideas you seek will do for this intention.

With that information in mind, you can go on a walk.

And, then, while you are walking, you can focus on other things.

Other things, such as the sights and sounds and smells of the spaces you are wandering through and the wealth of gifts within each and every one of these spaces.

You may find that ideas arise with remarkable spontaneity.

Walking through a familiar park path may unveil a new perspective on a problem that has held your attention for far too long.

Or, smelling some roses may awaken a new story idea.

Those are just two examples, but they’re all rooted in this notion: if you know what you seek, and are willing to surrender to a force that exists beyond your conscious mind, what you seek will find you.

Something along those lines, anyway, as there are many ways of defining such a thing.

Within that same vein, this tool is not foolproof.

Sometimes it works really well. Sometimes it really doesn’t work at all.

You won’t know unless you try it out for yourself.

No matter what you do, though, make sure you know what you want and, then, focus on enjoying your walk.

The simple act of “letting go”, with regards to your intention, is enough to conjure new, often surprising, and utterly transformative forces.

Give Yourself More — Or Fewer — Resources

Our engagement with a particular problem or theme — among so many other things — is always rooted in a unique perspective.

A unique perspective that serves as the essence of who we are.

But, of course, there’s a little more to it than that.

You see, our unique perspective is, in many respectives, who we are, within the confines of the resources available to us.

Or, perhaps more specifically, the resources we believe are available to us.

Someone in possession of vast sums will approach “Eating good, healthy meals” in a very different manner than someone with considerably fewer resources.

And, in turn, someone who believes in the love and support of a greater force or power will approach “Becoming an inventor that enriches people’s daily lives” in a manner different from someone who believes purely in that which is physical and material.

Given this fact, one of the best tools you can use to generate ideas is that of a “resource shift”.

Or, well, something like that; the name isn’t great.

A resource shift is, in essence, approaching your theme — or, again, something else — as if you have more resources than you currently do.

But, that’s just one potential resource shift.

You can also grant yourself fewer resources or focus on different resources.

Different resources that go beyond money, such as:

• Skills
• Abilities
• Beliefs
• Connections
• Habits

And so on and so forth.

By changing the resources available to you, and approaching your problem from this new perspective, you can generate a wealth of new ideas that were previously inaccessible.

To accomplish this, you must first clarify your intention.

Your intention can be anything. But, it must be clear.

Somewhat, perhaps, If it’s somewhat clear, yet open-ended and vague, that certainly works.

Right after you clarify your intention, you can begin defining the resources available to you.

Some examples of doing so include:

• If you don’t have a lot money, assume that you do
• If you don’t have certain skills that might be useful, assume that you do
• If you don’t have certain connections that might be useful, assume that you do
• If you have certain habits that may or may not be useful, assume that you have new habits
• If you are living in a time when the tools you need are not available, assume that they are

And so on and so forth.

Really, there’s no limit to the possibilities this methodology can bring forth. Given this, it’s worth experimenting and exploring with the resources available, as a way of seeing what comes forth.

Going back to the process, though, assume the resources you defined are available to you and approach your theme from that point-of-view.

You can do so by generating ideas, asking new questions, recording disparate thoughts; choose what works for you.

Combine And Combine; Then, Combine Some More

Our greatest creations exist as syntheses of what came before them.

Your smartphone is one example of this, as every smartphone is a combination of:

• A telephone
• A music player
• A camera
• A game console
• A portable movie player

And so on and so forth.

Given this fact, there’s no reason not to combine and combine, just to see what new ideas arise.

But, of course, you already knew that.

What you may not know, though, is that you can take the art of combination a little further.

You can combine two things to create a new idea. And, then, you can combine two other things, unrelated to the previous idea, to create a new idea.

Right after that, you can combine the two new ideas together, to create something truly unique.

Just to give you an example, here are two ideas that we can combine: play and fiction.

Combining these ideas together, and ruminating on their implications, allows this particular notion to arise: play as the mode through which children — and adults — develop, and sustain, the stories they use to define both the world and themselves.

Does that make sense?

On some level, sure. But, at the same time, maybe not really.

Even though this idea doesn’t make sense, it’s open-ended and, as such, rich with possibility.

With that idea out of the way, let’s make another one.

Our two ideas are “investing” and “habit”.

Putting these ideas together, and thinking about them for a moment, gives rise to this notion: a habit is an investment into your future and the best investments are new habits of thinking and acting that allow you to live a healthy, abundant, beautiful life.

No, that’s not very good. Nor is it very creative. But, it works.

What happens if you combine the two ideas together?

You get something like this: we can invest in the stories we believe in, and live by, making it a habit to invest in — through writing and meditation; among other things — new stories that nurture us and enrich our very being.

Just like all of the others, this may not be very good. It is unique, though, in its own way.

You can come up with your own unique ideas by playfully combining two things together and then another two things together, so as to create one unique, beautiful concept.

To accomplish this, you can set an intention. Or, you can simply dive in and see what happens.

No matter what, though, please record what happens.

You may find that what comes to you is quite interesting and, if that’s the case, it is worth keeping it for further inspiration.

Conclusion

You have reached the end of our little series and, for that, thank you so much.

Thank you so much for reading and for engaging with this little series of mine!

As always, if you wish to reach me, for any reason at all, you can do so at “maxwellcakin@gmail.com”.

Best wishes, and have a lovely day!