Five Places To Search For Fresh Inspiration You'll want to train your hunting eye if you want to find anything. Then, it's all about where you choose to look.
By Shoug Al Nafisi •
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Whether at a conference or working late from home, how is that eureka moment very much the same? It's the conditioning. Being in the moment when you're completely immersed in your thoughts, and letting go of "if and then" clauses, is the key to directing your sensory potential. You'll want to train your hunting eye if you want to find anything. Then, it's all about where you choose to look.
- Get Connected The web is the easiest to access. Take the time to read up on all topics of interest, and pause at whatever grabs your attention, be it written, visual, or auditory. Then, make use of that by looking for a pattern across the items you choose to look at. Once you're accustomed to spotting connections, you'll inevitably discover a link which may be the thread to pull for a new your new idea.
- Make A Change If it isn't something new that you're looking for, your easiest alternative is to invent, improve or reintroduce solutions. Matters that stir up emotions of any kind are usually where you'll find the opportunity for beneficial change.
- Get Uncomfortable Don't just think "outside the box," instead try throwing out the box all together and starting over. The niche of new ideas is where every one has already been, and where none have looked. Going to busy spots gives you the chance to listen in on conversations, engage with different people, and learn new info. Gaining perspective in that sense enriches your scope of thought.
- Walk On The Wild Side Practicing creativity gives you the opportunity to think without limits. Since being realistic isn't much help, cultivate the habit of "time off" and practice bending the rules when it comes to art, writing, music and other fields of creative practice. It broadens your scope, and acts as a therapeutic release so that stress isn't blocking creativity.
- Retreat You know where good ideas come from? Partly from lost opportunities. Retrace your moves, re-evaluate your thought train, and look at where you could've gone but had chosen not to. A Steven Johnson favorite of mine sums it all up: "Chance favors the connected mind."
