What Is Your Brainstorming Process?

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I am always curious to learn what other people do to brainstorm ideas.  Whether it is for a creative, design project; a new business concept/idea; or a marketing strategy.  So, I want to know.  What is your process for brainstorming new ideas and concepts?

Do you embark on this endeavor on your own or do you seek out a group of people to bounce ideas off of?  Which way do you think is better, and why?

Do you look for or engage in activities that help to spark creativity?  What helps to spark your creativity?

How do you determine if a brainstorming session has been fruitful or not?  How do you make your decision on what you will do or use from your brainstorming session?

Burning questions, I know, but I am really curious.  Indulge me a bit. 🙂

Taking a Leap and Shouting it from the Mountaintops

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Deciding to go into business for yourself is taking a leap, a risky leap.  It could be a leap into a deep pit of pooh, or a leap on to a floating cloud.  Unfortunately, you will not know where your leap will land until you take that leap.  Taking a leap in life is scary, but the act of taking the leap is freeing.  Fear was faced and a fear was conquered because you took the leap.  Whether the leap ends badly or not, the act of taking the leap was a win.  Now you know.  Knowing what could be instead of wondering what could be, helps you move forward in life.  Wondering holds you back.

Every time I take a leap, I feel free, euphoric and a bit scared.  Each time, I ask myself, “why didn’t I do this before?”  Then, I want to shout it to the mountaintops because I want everyone around me to feel free and euphoric.  Anyone that I talk to that hints at having a dream, receives an earful of encouragement.  I notice this to be true with most entrepreneurs or anyone that has taken a bold leap in their life.  I cannot say that I know an entrepreneur that does not have a leap of faith story attached to their business’ beginning.

Outside of business, you hear story’s of triumph when someone decides to take a leap and take control of their health, weight, mental health and personal relationship woes.  They shout their triumphs from the mountaintops and we applaud, praise and admire them.  My point?  Take a leap.  Everyone has something that they have always dreamed of doing or trying.  Take that leap and join those that have leapt, on the mountaintop.

Instant Gratification or Delayed Gratification? Can I Have Both?

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As a kid, I believed that there was a predestined and set path to life when it came to adulthood.  I was supposed to go to college, get a degree and then get a job.  Working life meant working your fingers to the bone in some way unhappily, griping and complaining, and being tired until you retired.  Then, you could move to Florida and relax on the beach when it wasn’t hurricane season.  This was of course, a child’s viewpoint and summary of what I saw around me.  Most adults seemed to complain a lot about work.  Retirement looked kind of fun, but the physical appearance of retiree’s did not.

This model is a form of delayed gratification at least from the adults that I saw around me.  Everyone was suffering and sacrificing in the present so that they could reap the rewards in the future.  The problem is that the future for many, may not have been in the best of health.  Entrepreneurship, to me employs some form of delayed gratification.  It takes a lot of work to become successful and for most it does not happen overnight.  When success is reached, however, it is extremely gratifying.

I think for most, our instinct is to want instant gratification.  When things are not going well, we often get discouraged and may want to quit.  It does not help that our customers, clients, bosses, etc all want it now – instant gratification.  We live in a world and society where instant gratification is often picked as the winner over delayed gratification.  I would love to see my business and client list skyrocket today, but I know it’s something that I have to work towards.  To get what I really want, I have to delay that gratification.

From a monetary perspective, there are things that I could do now that would bring instant gratification in the form of money.  The downside is that to do those things, I would have to be willing to not sleep for a while, take on tasks that I hate doing, and offer services that I have no real interest in.  If money could truly buy me happiness, I would do it!  What I really want is to find some balance in between instant gratification and delayed gratification.

I want to work hard now towards my dream, but start living my dream before I am old and wrinkled.  I also want to be considered a spry chicken by the time I reach old age.  Seriously, both of my grandmothers are very active and my great-grandmother is 106 and even goes to the gym!  Check her out in this video here.  During retirement, I want to re-invent myself and do something else instead of sitting around doing nothing.  I want to live in the present and enjoy it now.  It sounds a bit impossible; to want instant and delayed gratification at the same time, but I think I can find a way to do it.

I already have long-life genes on my side and a few years back I adopted a healthy lifestyle that has changed my quality of life now.  I have business goals and plans in place to reach those goals.  I also take time out to meditate, reflect and enjoy the life I have now.  I think that I am well on my way to having (my version) of it all.  J

Motivation Monday:: Looking for Inspiration to Jumpstart Creativity

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I woke up this morning feeling tired even though I had a full night’s rest and as the morning progressed, I could not shake the sluggish, unmotivated lag I was feeling.  I had a visit scheduled this morning at the chiropractor and it turned out I am not the only one feeling this way today.  The chiropractor said he woke up tired although he had a restful night’s sleep and the office manager, felt as though she too were dragging.  We all surmised that it had to be related to all of the days we had stuck inside because of the snow/ice storm in Atlanta last week.

It made me feel better to know that I was not the only one feeling this way today.  Monday’s are notoriously the most hated day of the week.  It is the day you typically jump back into the hustle and bustle of work, school and life in general.  I have seen the memes that read, “If you hate/dread Mondays, it’s because you hate/dread your job,” or something similar to that affect.  I sometimes hate Mondays, not because I hate my job, but because I just do not feel like working.  Today is one of those days.  Thankfully, today is a bit of a slow day.  My email is not full of unanswered emails and my project workload is not particularly heavy.  So, I could slack off a little if I wanted.  The problem is that although I feel unmotivated to work, I want to feel motivated to work today.

So off I went to the wonderful world wide web in search of something to help jumpstart my creative juices and motivate me to work.  First stop:  Twitter.  There, I stumbled upon @FCSpotlight’s timeline and this article on Fast Company, “5 Ways We Neglect Our Own Creativity – And How to Bring it Back.”  Dialing back on distractions, telling your inner critic to shut up, and facing fear head on are some of the tips that were given.  Although it wasn’t quite what I was looking for, it did jumpstart a few ideas for a project that is on my bucket list.  I recommend reading the article if you need a few creativity inducing tips.

I figured since I was stumbling, I should visit StumbleUpon next.  It was only fitting, right?  In the graphic design section, I found “10 Awesome Infographics for Graphic Designers.”  Some of these really made me laugh.  Laughter is good for the soul and I actually felt a little more motivated to get back to work.  Plus, I looked at the clock and realized it was almost 10:30 am and I had not really done any work yet.

I know it probably does not seem like this morning’s deviation and search online for a creative jumpstart was very fruitful, but surprisingly it was.  The first article I found on Fast Company gave me a few ideas/tips that I was not already doing.  It also gave me a bit of motivation and an idea for another project I have been contemplating.  The stumbling on StumbleUpon gave me a good laugh and afterwards, I felt ready to work.  It kind of reminds me of the statement about taking time out to smell the roses.  Maybe that laugh and break from what felt like a mundane and drab start was a sniff of roses.

Check out the referenced article on Fast Company for some helpful tips and if you are a designer with a sense of humor, you might enjoy a few of the infographics referenced above.

A Small Success is Still a Success

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I did it!  I drew!  In my new year’s resolution post, I said I wanted to make more art that was not business related (graphic design).  Last month, I wrote about how I was failing miserably at doing this.  A reader, Sushant Misra gave me a suggestion to try drawing for a set time limit like 5 minutes and then increase that time each day.  I tried that and failed at that too.  I set out to draw for 7 minutes, but I became so engrossed in what I was doing that it ended up being 10 minutes.  Then, I never made it back the following day…or the day after.

Nonetheless, I am celebrating the fact that I created something.

Last week during the Olympics, I did a few quick figure sketches of speed skater’s in their start stance and as they raced.  I am celebrating that too.  A small success is still a success in my book.  Now, I just need to work on making them a little bigger!

sketch