Have you ever had a brilliant idea? The one which seemed wonderful at a time, yet you weren’t motivated enough to make a note of it, or you genuinely had not a chance to jot it down? The regret of not acting immediately on such an idea is capable of causing a major nervous breakdown - simply because you will blame yourself for letting such an opportunity go.
I know I’ve had quite a few of such ideas lost forever, before I had finally decided to never let any of them go. After all, if there is only one brilliant idea I get in many years, I simply can’t afford losing the chance to be proud and successful it gives me!
What are the main reasons you let ideas go away?
For me, these reasons were the following:
- Not being able to write an idea down
Your circumstances could be different, but for me this was the most limiting factor.Very often, I would list to some music while driving to and from work. Certain compositions might trigger a sudden sparkle of ideas in my mind, and I would usually feel really excited about it. Still, by the time I would arrive at the destination, walk up to my desk and get a moment to type, I would forget the idea and only the residual joy of having a bright idea would stay with me for a few minutes more.
This is when I get both upset and irritated. Especially if I don’t remember anything about my idea at all. Somehow it would make it feel as if I let the greatest chance of my life go away. The thing is, if I can remember at least some part of the idea, it may be a relieve to realise it wasn’t such a great idea anyway. But when I don’t remember anything, it is very upsetting.
I’ve narrowed this problem down to not being able to write my ideas down when I was driving my car. By the time I would enter my office, the idea would be lost. Quick change of the environment around you is bound to distract you from whatever it is you were thinking.
So in situations like this, even a simple trick can make dramatic difference.
For me it was getting the cheapest kind of a paper notepad with pencil, and putting them into the plastic door pocket in my car. Now, whenever I get a really good idea, I can always write it down if I’m parked, or if I’m not, I know that I won’t have to leave my car and risk forgetting the idea.
I also make an effort to concentrate on the idea even more. Turn off the music, and start developing the idea - adding more possible features to it and looking for possible ways to make the idea even a greater one will help you remember it better. When I finally arrive, I don’t leave my car until the idea is written down. And if it needs be, I can always tear one of the notepad pages to take the important note with me and then put the task into my electronic ideas repository.
- Not seeing the value of the idea
This is another very common reason for discarding some really great ideas. Remember: if you have identified a particular flow of thinking as a separate idea, you need to make a note of it.Some ideas are never meant to be easy-to-understand. They’re just not as obvious as some other ideas of yours. This doesn’t mean they’re wrong or useless. All it really means is that you have to save such ideas and review them in a few days (weeks) time. By that time, you’ll likely to have thought up and written down many more ideas, and who knows what meaning and value the original idea would have then!
- Letting an idea go because you think it is stupid
However small or worthless it may seem, you have to write your idea down and give it a proper thought at a later time.I’ve found it most useful to write down anything which comes up when I’m thinking on a particular subject, and later (usually in the evening) I spend 10-15 minutes just to scan through all the notes and use the most appealing ideas.
- Not being able to identify the use for an idea
Your idea doesn’t have to be immediately useful or applicable piece of knowledge!Just write it down now, and analyze it later. You’ll thank yourself many times for doing so.
It is very common that the best ideas come unexpected, and seem irrelevant to the topic you’re trying to think of. That’s okay! Take the note, and you can classify the idea later!
Write your every idea down
Get into the habit of writing your ideas down. Make it one of your first steps towards a really successful life. Never let your ideas go, because:
- this way, you will never feel like you’ve lost the greatest opportunityThere is nothing worse than feeling regret for the rest of your life simply because you haven’t written some idea down. It could be a silly one, too - but it’s the fact that you don’t know this for sure that will make feel like you’ve lost something
- making notes of every idea will greatly improve your chances for success
Not all the ideas have to be successful. Think about it: all it will take to make you successful is just one great idea.Many inventors came up with hundreds of absolutely useless ideas. They invented stuff which made no sense even to themselves, let alone others. Yet, they meticulously documented every experiment of theirs, every tiny detail and though they had. They kept trying, until one day all the pieces came together, and great discoveries and inventions were made.
- you will become more organized
Making notes of every idea will get you into a habit of reviewing all the ideas quickly and spotting good ideas right away. This will allow you to immediately pay more attention to them, without having to come back later with a proper analysis.
For all the ideas you come up with, there’s a rule of thumb: save them. Write them down, and even if you never feel like analyzing these idea, that’s okay. Someday you’ll read one of them accidentally while looking for some other useful information, and you’ll be shocked at how much sense it will make to you.
Learn the habit of writing every idea down. It could be a short phrase or even a word, but if it inspired or interested you for even a second, write it down immediately. This way, you will never let an idea go, and who knows, maybe one of your ideas will be the greatest discovery of tomorrow?
译文:
永远不要让你的想法溜走
你是否曾经有过很美好的想法？这种想法在当时看来很不错，但是你却没有引起足够的重视，或者是你真的没有机会实现它？遗憾没有对这想法立即采取行动可能会造成严重的焦虑情绪——简单说来就是你会因为自己竟然放走这样的机会而责备你自己。
在我决定不再放走任何想法的之前，我知道我已经永远的失去了很多这样的想法。毕竟，如果这些年我只得到一个明智的想法，那就是我不能再承担起失去命运给我的骄傲和成功的机会的代价。
你放走想法的主要原因是什么？
对于我来说，原因有以下几点：
• 不能把想法记录下来
你的情况可能不一样，但是对我来说这是最可能的限制因素。很多时候，当我在上下班的开车途中我会打开音乐播放列表。某些事物可能会突然的在我的脑海中形成火花，我通常为此而感到兴奋不已。我会依然按时间到达目的地，走到我的办公桌边并且休息一会儿，我会忘记那个想法，而这个让人喜悦的想法所残留下来乐趣只会保留几分钟。
此时我会觉得失落和恼火。尤其当我一点都记不起来那个想法的时候。有时就让我觉得我丢失了生命里最重要的机会。事实是，如果我哪怕只是记得其中的一点点而已，它就会让我相信也许那个想法并不是那么精彩。但是当我一点都不记得时，我就很失落。
我甚至狭隘的认为问题出在当我开车的时候我不可能在当时就把我的想法写下来。然后我要进入我的办公室，想法可能就丢失了。你周围的环境快速改变势必会把你从你的思考中分散出来。
所以在这样的形势下，即使一个简单的不同也会产生巨大的差异。
我得到了最便宜的带有铅笔的记事本，并且把它们放在车门的塑料口袋里。现在无论什么时候当我有非常好的想法，我在停车的时候总会把它写下来，如果我没有记下来，我知道我不得不离开车子并且可能会忘记这个想法。
我尝试过强化那个想法。关掉音乐然后开始拓展这个想法——给它加上很多可能的特征，通过寻找一种可以把这个想法变得更加出色的方式来帮助我更容易记住它。当我最终到达的时候，我直到把想法记录下来以后才离开车。如果需要，我可以撕下记事本的那页而随身带着最重要的的部分，然后把它变成我脑海中的想法。
• 没有看到想法的价值
这是另一种失去好的想法的比较普遍的原因。
记得：如果你意识到一种很特别的意识流从你的思考中分离出来，你需要记录下它。很多想法并不是简单易懂的。它们不像其它的想法那样明显，但是这并不是说它们是错的或者是没用的。所有的这些实际上是要求你把这些想法储存起来并且在一段时间内反复地思考它们。到那时，你可能会想通并且记录下更多的想法，然后你也就得到了这些先前的想法的意义和价值。
• 放走一个想法是因为你觉得它很愚蠢
尽管它看起来很微小或者没什么价值，但是你还是记录下了你的想法并且随后经过了一番思考。我发现当我思考一个特定的事物时记录下任何在我脑海中产生的想法是很有用的，我会在后面（通常是晚上）花10~15分钟的时间浏览全部的记录并且采用最有吸引力的想法。
• 不知道这个想法的用途
你的想法不一定马上有用或者适用某一领域的知识！只要马上记录下它，然后再分析它。很多时候你会感谢你自己这样做的。
最好的想法并不是你期望有就会产生的，并且看起来可能和你试图思考的是风马牛不相及的，这是很普遍的情况。好的。得到这些记录，你可以随后对这些想法进行分类。
把你的每一个想法都写下来
养成把你的想法写下来的习惯。使它成为你走向成功生活的第一步。永远不要让你的想法溜走，因为：
• 这样，你将永远不会觉得你失去了最好的机会。没有比在你的晚年因为你没有写下一些想法而后悔更糟糕的事情了。这可能是一件无聊的事——但事实是你不知道这肯定会使你失去某些东西。
• 记录下每一个想法会大大的提高你成功的机率
并不是所有的想法都会使你成功。思考一下：所有的想法都让你成功只是一个很美好的愿望。很多的发明家产生了上百个根本没用的想法。他们发明的东西，甚至对自己没有任何意义，更不要说对其他人了。然而，他们仔细地记录自己的每一个实验，每一个微小的细节，尽管它们存在着问题。他们不断尝试直到有一天所有的碎片连接起来得到重大的发现并且完成发明。
• 你会变的更有组织性
记录每一个想法让你养成快速的重复所有的想法和立即发现好想法的习惯。这将允许你立刻更加的注意它们，而不是经过后来进行适当的分析后才让你更加注意。
对于所有你得到的想法，这里有一个经验法则：存储它们。把它们写下来，即使你从来不喜欢分析这些想法，这很好。有一天当你寻找某些有用的信息的时候你会意外的阅读到那些想法中的某一点，你会被此时它对你的意义而震撼。
学会记录每一个想法的习惯。它可能只是一个小的片段甚至只是一个单词，但是如果它让你产生灵感或者让你感兴趣哪怕只是一秒钟，也请把它立即记录下来。这样，你将不会放走任何想法，谁知道，你的这些想法中的某一个会不会成为明天的最伟大的发现呢？