Month: May 2023

Take an idea shower

Neera

Ninety percent of my best ideas come in the shower. That too when I am not even looking for them.

Whenever I am faced with a difficult problem or have a bad case of writer’s block, I take a shower. The shower puts me in a relaxed state and distracts the brain just enough to give it a chance to rest. When I stop thinking deliberately about a problem and daydream a little, my subconscious has a chance to play.

Studies have found that after some wandering, the mind makes creative connections between bits of information, it already knows with the new bits of information, it has just acquired.

The shower is the ideal idea incubator. Not only does the warm water elevates your mood, but you also focus your attention inward. You cut out the outside world and ideas bubble up into awareness.

So, next time you’re stuck on a problem, try taking a break and letting your mind wander. Or just take an idea shower. You never know, an idea might pop into your head.

Two questions to ask yourself

Neera

Two questions you need to ask yourself.

  1. What will your success look like?
  2. At what point you will quit?

A few years ago, I read a book by Seth Godin called “The Dip.” It had a huge impact on me.

The dip is the lull in the excitement that happens after the rush of starting something new wears off. On the other side of the dip is success. The dip weeds out the people who will not make it. They hit the dip and give up.

A cul-de-sac, (French for “dead end”) is a situation where you work and work and work and nothing happens. Do you work through burnout, or do you recognize it as a cul-de-sac and just give it up so you can move on to something else?

There is nothing wrong with quitting. Winners quit all the time, they quit fast; they quit often and they quit without guilt. But they don’t quit before they are ready to quit. They determine beforehand when will they quit.

Here’s something I can tell you about the book I’m writing now. The one I’m burned out on and would love to never think about again.

I was excited about it until it dragged on and on and on. I have rewritten it at least six times. I am finding it hard to keep going. I’m in the dip for this project. But I am not going to quit. Because I had decided beforehand that I will quit if I can’t reach the mid-point. Once I crossed the mid-point I will keep going and publish the book no matter how unhappy I am with it.

I have passed the mid-point. The end part is not fun anymore. But it doesn’t have to be fun to be worth it. I am climbing through the dip,
to get to the other end.

Here’s an assignment for you:
Write down under what circumstances you’ll quit.

And then stick with it until then.