Coming up with an idea that is so brilliant it sets you up enough financially that you can retire early and never have to leave your bedroom again doesn’t require the mind of an inventor. Anyone can come up with a brilliant idea at any time. The problem for most people is they lack follow-through. That means getting their idea made into a prototype and patenting it so they can sell it and live happily ever after.
It sounds easy, right? Well, it’s not easy if you’re going to sit there and try to think of what you can invent. These things have to happen naturally. Here are some tips for preparing your mind to invent something extraordinary.
1. Figure a Way Out of the Impossible
There are some things that minds simply cannot conceive of being possible. For example, shipping a mattress via UPS or FedEX. You have to buy your mattress locally and have the furniture store deliver it because it’s massive and difficult to maneuver. But, someone thought of a way around these obstacles and developed the bed in a box.
For every problem there is a solution. You just have to ponder it. Sometimes for days and sometimes for weeks or even months, until one day you should, “Eureka!” And that’s when you know you’ve got it. What annoying problem have you had that needs a solution?
2. Relax and Allow Your Mind to Wander
Sometimes the best ideas come when a person is free-thinking. This means just let the mind wander to any subject. Mind wandering inspires creativity, and many music artists and visual artists utilize this technique. If you are naturally inclined toward solving problems, it could work for you in that area as well.
Don’t be afraid to let your mind wander every day. Change up locations and time of day and see which gives you the best results.
3. Cater To a Large Market
Remember the movie “Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion”? Romy claims she invented Post-It notes, but she didn’t actually. It was an inventor named Art Fry. But everyone Romy spoke to knew what a Post-It note was because everyone uses them.
If you create something everyone can use, but it only sells for a dollar, if all the people in the world bought one you’d be a billionaire. Great products don’t have to have big retail tags. Small ideas can become a huge success and lead to huge profits when you think inclusively.
4. Take a Trip
Studies have shown that vacations are good for your creativity. The simple explanation for this would be because vacations make people happy, and when you’re happy, the creativity comes to you easier.
The other explanation is you are no longer bogged down with responsibility and actually have time to allow your mind to relax and wander to other areas that weren’t previously open to it before. There could be many combined reasons why it works, the important thing is that it does.
Go to the beach, get some fresh air and forget your troubles. You may come back a changed person.
5. Find a New Way of Doing Something Old
An invention doesn’t have to mean you start at the drawing board. You can take something old and make it better. Take LED light bulbs as an example. Everyone is ditching incandescent light bulbs because they use more energy and are worse in landfills. LED lighting has been around since the 1960s, and it was obviously being underutilized. The person who thought of putting LED lights in a bulb was a genius.
6. Keep a Journal
Writing is one of the best outlets you have at your disposal. Must like allowing yourself to free think, when you allow yourself to free write, you never know what will come out on the paper. You can let your thoughts be as outrageous as they want to be. You can even draw little pictures in the margins.
Don’t restrict whatever inspires your writing. If you end up putting down a story, let it keep coming. If it’s a rant about your day or your spouse, let it out. When you allow your brain to just go with it, you enter into a state similar to meditation.
Allowing yourself to write expressively can boost your mood and happiness. Do you remember what happens when you’re happy? You become creative.
Business ideas aren’t going to come to you like a wish from a genie in a lamp you were fortunate to rub. You have to give it time and let it come naturally. If you allow your mind some freedom to express itself and explore, it’s more likely to happen sooner than later.
