Being an Idea Addict, one of my favorite things to do is dream. “I have an idea” is a regular phrase my wife hears. For me, dreaming is my favorite pastime. It is a core part of my day, week, life, work and family life.
Whether you love to dream or struggle with it, I think there are two key factors to stimulating the dreaming and ideation process.
1) Personal Development
2) Community
Let’s begin with Personal Development. What are you reading? If you want to grow, you need to be intentional with what you put into your mind. What are you watching? What are you listening to?
Jim Rohn says, “The difference between where you are today and where you’ll be five years from now will be found in the quality of books you’ve read.” If you read a book a month, you will set yourself apart. More importantly, you will get better at dreaming. And most importantly, you will grow as a person and be a better you.
Community…this is a hard one. Let me start with another Jim Rohn quote: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” From a growth perspective, this means you may need to change some of the people you hang out with. I know not a popular thing to say.
Secondly, from a dreaming perspective, who you do life with will greatly impact your ability to dream. When you find another Dreamer, hang onto them. I say ideas are like rabbits. When they get together they multiply quickly.
Need a good idea? Not an Idea Addict? Find one. Need a great idea and you are an Idea Addict? Find another Idea Addict and watch out!
Of course, to do work that matters, we need more than ideas. We must find clarity and focus for our ideas eventually. But it all begins with the ideas, with dreaming. What you put in your head and who you do life with will determine your ability to dream well. Go make some changes.
Final quote from Charlie “Tremendous” Jones, “Five years from now you will be pretty much the same as you are today except for two things: the books you read and the people you get close to.”
What do you love about this post? What is difficult? What are you going to do as a result of this post? Please share in the comments section or on social media.
