It’s been shown that people who like what they do tend to come up with more ideas. Nobel prize winner, Linus Pauling says “The best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas”.
We all have the ability to create ideas, but most people don’t know how to tap into them. Creativity is based on cognitive processes we all share.
Creativity is usually equated with poetry, painting, sculpting, or writing. These things are great, but most people won’t make a lot of money with them. An entrepreneur also needs to learn to be more creative to come up with new business ideas, new products and new revenue streams.
One way to become more creative and come up with new ideas is to immerse yourself in a topic. Know the topic inside and out by studying everything you can find about it. Do this on a daily basis.
Study the past. Visit museums and learn from those who created before you. Sometimes you can use that knowledge to come up with new twists on old ideas. Go to art galleries, lectures, libraries, flea markets, seminars, etc. Learn to look at everything with the idea of creating something new from the past. History is a great teacher. Notice the trends throughout time to help you figure out what will be coming next. How have innovators and inventors made things easier and better?
Look through the yellow pages and try to figure out what niche businesses are missing. How can you use your knowledge and skills to create a business that doesn’t yet exist? How can you take an existing business and make it better? What are people talking about, worried about, excited about? Even more important, try to look into the future and figure out what they will be talking about a year from now, five years from now, ten years from now. Get in on the curve before anyone else. Once it’s in the collective conscience it may be too late. Be an innovator and spot the trends before everyone else.
Get out and interact with people. Listen to the other side of an argument. Find out how the rest of the world thinks. Find out what people want and create it for them. Find out what people don’t want. Get their true opinion.
The goal is to start stretching your brain. Fill it with as much information as possible and start figuring out ways to link that information together to create new business ideas.
Julie Austin is a multiple business owner and inventor with a product called swiggies, wrist water bottles. She is also an award winning writer with a book called "The Money Garden: How to Plant the Seeds for a Lifetime of Income".http://www.createforcash.com
