Doesn't it feel good to know how to go about generating ideas for your set goals and dreams in life?
in our previous post, we had mentioned 5 tips or methods with which you can use to generate ideas for your set goals and dreams in life. If you missed it, please kindly read it here.
Let's consider the next five tips on today's post. Come along with me let's get thriving and flourishing chasing and realizing our set goals and dreams in life.
6. READ/LISTEN: Success does not come by luck, good fortune or circumstance. It comes by paying a price, sacrificing pleasure and comfort for some periods of self-development through reading and other forms of informal training.
According to Pastor David Ibiyeomie in his book 'See you at the top' "Formal training sets the pace while personal development delivers the goals." This simply means, formal education will not give you what informal education will give through self-development concerning your set goals and dreams in life. To succeed at achieving your set goals, you have to go the extra mile through self-development - reading and other forms of informal training.
Every successful person you see today, had a habit of reading. In the last post, I mentioned people like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates who carved out alone time for themselves to read.
There are very successful people who were school dropouts yet through self-development - reading and other forms of training - are not only wealthy and famous but making/made life changing and generational impacts in life. Examples of school dropouts include Bill Gates - cofounder of Microsoft. Mark Zuckerberg - Founder of Facebook- Steve Jobs - co-founder of Apple, Oprah Winfrey and a host of others.
Bill Gates reads at least 50 books a year or one weekly. Mark Zuckerberg reads a book every week, Albert Einstein read books on physics and maths every day for about three hours each day. Elon Musk is reported to have read the whole encyclopedia Britannica at age 9
Read books related to your set goals but not just that, also read wide. Reading opens you up for ideation. Sometimes, when reading about other things, you are opened up for ideas. You get inspired and motivated not necessarily about your set goals at the time but for other things.
The Thrive Nest Podcast came as an idea one early morning while reading. I was reading nothing related to podcast, thriving or even nest at the time yet it cam as an inspiration. That is the power of reading wide
Elon Musk when asked how he knew so much about rockets, said "I read a lot of books."
Abraham Lincoln - a self learner - once said "All I have learned, I learned from books."
Oprah Winfrey once said "What I know for sure is that reading opens you up."
Read about people who have been successful in achieving their goals and dreams in life. Read about their success stories, failures, mistakes and how they generated ideas for their set goals and dreams in life. You can see that most successful people generated ideas for their set goals through reading.
Listen to podcasts like The Thrive Nest Podcast thank you⌣. Listen to Ted talks, listen to inspiring audio tapes and listen to sound music that will open you up for ideas concerning your set goals and dreams in life. There is no time I listen to sound music - gospel, inspirational or motivational - that I don't get some form of idea or inspiration.
Reading and listening to the experiences and stories of people inspires and motivates you to want to keep going and puts you in the process of generating ideas for your dreams and goals.
7. WRITE DOWN YOUR IDEAS: Always write down any idea that comes to mind at any given time and place. That is why I had earlier recommended in our last post to always have a notepad or sticky note and a pen with you at all times because you never know when an idea will pop up.
Some ideas come as a flash and if not written down, they never resurface while some do. I've had to lose some ideas which never resurfaced because I never wrote them down. That is why it's good to always have your notepad handy at all times to make you ready for ideation.
Never leave any idea to chance. Even the mundane or seemingly insignificant ideas can become the most exciting and useful idea at the end of the day. You see the passage in the Bible that says "The rejected stone has become the corner stone." (Psalm 118:22). Same thing applies to ideas. An idea you think or feel insignificant can become the best and most effective idea you will ever work with at the time.
So keep writing down all ideas that come to you and dedicate a time in a day or a day in a week to look into these ideas and see which is workable and which is not. Some ideas may seem unworkable to you at the time, do not erase them. Leave them written and come back to them time and time again.
I've had topics in my blog written as drafts that I had no clue or idea on how to develop them as at when I wanted writing on them. I ran short of words. But after I revisited one or two drafts with no initial idea, you won't believe how the words came flowing like I had never tried it before. Amazing isn't it?
8. DAILY WORK ON YOUR GOALS: According to John C Maxwell "The secret to your success is hidden in what you do daily. " This simply means developing a daily habit of working on your goals, dreams, visions and purposes in life. Waiting for when everything is perfect or that you have all you need can make your dreams dead on arrival or make you stale on ideas.
Make working towards your goals part of your daily routine. Add it to your daily schedule and take small steps every day. Every day you take steps, the closer you get to the realization of your dreams.
In our last episode, I had told you how I went clueless in an exam hall on a question I knew I had read. In order not run out of time, I left some pages for that particular question and went on to answer other questions. In the process of answering these other questions, the answer to the question I had forgotten came flooding my brain. I hurriedly rushed back to answer that question before it skips my head again ⌣.. I believe this happened because I was still in the exam hall writing and answering other questions instead of just sitting and looking lost because I had no clue on a particular question.
The same thing happens when it comes to generating ideas for your set goals and dreams. You can't be idle all day long and expect to be ideated for your dreams to come true. The more you keep working on your set goals and dreams the more opportunity you get to be ideated.
No matter how busy your schedule may be, trust me, if your heart is there, you will find time for it. Like the saying goes, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." If you have a demanding job like me, you can always give your goal 30 minutes, an hour or an hour plus minimum after work or at early hours of the day before going out. It may not be easy at first but if you do this consistently everyday, it becomes a habit for you.
9. PRAY: Never underestimate the power of prayers. Always ask for God's direction, guidance, wisdom and ideas concerning the goal or dream you are about to pursue. Ask him for the right ideas and trust me, he never fails. This is the smartest thing you will ever do. He makes available every resource - humanly, physically, financially and otherwise - for you to thrive and flourish concerning your goals and dreams.
He said in Jeremiah 33:3 "Call unto me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things which you know not" Proverbs 16:3 also says to "Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will succeed." Isn't this amazing? God will never leave you stranded and knowing He's got you always keeps you going in faith and resilient in the face of challenges.
10. PUT YOUR IDEAS TO TEST: Whatever idea or ideas you generate while following any of the methods above or any other one you know of, don't be scared of putting those ideas to test. Too many people have been scared and are still scared of putting their ideas to test for fear of failures, mistakes, mockeries, disappointments, criticisms, rejections, betrayals and all sorts of fears that come with putting your ideas to test.
Most innovations we see today are as a result of people's ideas that were put to test. Thomas Edison despite failing about 10,000 times trying to put his light bulb invention to test kept pressing on until he succeeded. JK Rowling, put her idea to test writing the book 'Harry Potter.' but was rejected by numerous publishers. She kept pressing on until she succeeded .Her persistence, perseverance and resilience brought her to limelight, fame and wealth. Late Elvis Presley failed severally in his music career but his persistence, perseverance and resilience despite being mocked and criticized paid of earning him the title 'King of Rock and Roll' till date. Abraham Lincoln failed several times as a politician - failed trying to become a congressman, failed trying to become a senator, failed in trying to become a land officer as well as other failures and challenges faced but finally became one of the best and greatest presidents of the United States of America. In our last episode, we also talked about Col. Harland Sanders who failed about 1009 times trying to market his chicken recipe by putting his idea to test yet succeeded because and a host of others who failed severally trying to put their ideas to test and succeeded because they persevered.
You may fail, rejected, disappointed, mocked or criticized trying to put your ideas to test but do not give up nor give in. These moments make you wise, make you improve on your goals and do better next time.
Thomas Edison said "I have not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
Michael Jordan said "I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games twenty six times . I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeeded."
Generating ideas for your set goals and dreams is something that happens over time. If you are not seeing headway at the moment, give it time. Practice the methods and tips given to you over and over again.
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