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Report: 52 Percent of People Ask Themselves This Question Before Pursuing an Idea A new report asked 20,000 people from almost every country in the world how they come up with their ideas. Here's what they said.

By Hayden Field

Deagreez | Getty Images

The more ideas you have, the more likely you'll come up with a winner.

That's according to a recent report by WeTransfer, which suggests that 72 percent of people end up using less than half the ideas they come up with. And when it comes to deciding whether an idea you have is worth pursuing? About 47 percent of respondents said they researched it before deciding, while only 18 percent ran it by family, friends or colleagues first.

For the report, the company asked 20,000 creatives from almost every country in the world seven questions about how they come up with ideas. One interesting trend: Freelancers seemed to ask themselves the most questions before pursuing an idea, considering whether they could make money with it, whether it'd make the world better, whether they have the skills to pull it off and whether it would teach them something new.

"Whatever your passion is, follow it," says singer-songwriter John Legend, who is one of the creatives quoted in the report. "I guarantee you will not regret finding something that makes you want to wake up in the morning and make a difference in the world. I know I don't."

For more on how people around the world develop their ideas, check out the infographic below.

Hayden Field

Entrepreneur Staff

Associate Editor

Hayden Field is an associate editor at Entrepreneur. She covers technology, business and science. Her work has also appeared in Fortune Magazine, Mashable, Refinery29 and others. 

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