How to Make Your Mark

It’s a new month. New months signify new beginnings. New beginnings signify new opportunities. New opportunities signify the need for new ideas. On this first day of the month, I’d like to encourage us to continually stimulate what I call our “idea factory”. This simply means creating an environment around you that stimulates the development of new ideas. Briefly, there are four basic ways that we can do this:

a). Always have goals - Goals stretch your imagination. They enable you to think big. When you set goals, your mind will immediately be inspired to think of ideas that can bring those goals to life. Having goals is therefore essential to stimulating your idea factory.

b). Embrace problems - Many times we tend to shy away from problems not realizing that problems can be fertile grounds for idea generation. Problems are opportunities in work clothes. They are opportunities for us to find solutions. A solution-finding mentality is essential for stimulating your idea factory.

c). Associate With Good Thinkers - One of the simplest avenues for having many good ideas is to associate with good thinkers. This is crucial because their quality of thinking rubs off on you. Charlie Jones says that who we become in five years largely depends on who we associate with. Good thinkers stimulate your idea factory.

d). Read Widely - Reading opens up the mind to new ideas and new ways of thinking. Good reading is that which is geared towards developing your mind and stretching your thinking. Read books that center on your chosen field and enable you to become a better person. This is key to stimulating your idea factory.