Facts About Ideas :Overview
Thoughts are the fundamental and most important product of the human mind. From them, the world is built and moves. There is no process, economic or social, that can work without considering them. Ideas are not only the spark that activates all dynamics, they are the lubricant that makes survival and interaction between human beings possible.
The mind builds, processes, and implements ideas at every moment. It is a mechanic that has the same inertia as the act of breathing. All people who are alive breathe and have ideas. It’s that elementary.
There is, however, a functional difference between the mechanics of breathing and that of generating ideas. The first is a subconscious act, the second is a product of consciousness. Everyone essentially knows how to breathe, but the production of ideas (beneficial), has to be learned.
There is another no less important distinction. It is related to limits and limitations (which are not the same). The lung capacity of people is subject to restrictions, however, ideas have no borders. The human imagination can transcend time and space as often as it wishes, and in ways that cannot be limited.
Table of Contents
- 1. Recognize that the reality that is experienced IS NOT REALITY. People see as far as they want to see. The world is populated by people who walk looking at the tips of their feet.
- 2. Understand that the beliefs, values, and education that one has are neither the only ones that exist nor necessarily the correct ones.
- 3. To generate valuable ideas it is necessary to have a powerful vision of the future.
- 4. Internalize the fact that nothing safe exists in life and that risk is the common denominator of every event.
- 5. Ideas require the development of good habits, never routines.
- 6. Never think and act based on the opinions of others.
Ideas move the world and the destiny of people. Having the life and the future you want depends on them, more than anything else.
It can be properly stated that deficiencies are a direct function of the scarcity of ideas. While these are not abundant and of quality, neither is the reality that is lived.
Ultimately, evolution is not a matter of effort, money, time, energy, or any other resource, it is a matter of ideas. This is the capital that is needed to live as intended.
Creativity nurtures ideas. The innovation works on them. And the strategic thinker articulates them functionally. So does this mean that you need to think strategically, be creative and innovative to enter the virtuous circuit of producing ideas?
The answer is no, oddly enough.
Creativity, innovation, and strategic thinking are vehicles that mobilize ideas but do not produce them. The “factory” of ideas is a natural condition of the human being, a consequence of his elemental ability to think.
If you do not have the ideas you want or the ones you do possess do not lead to the desired objectives, the cause is simple: you are not thinking properly.
Usually, people develop their mental processes based on the following:
1. Of the reality that they know and experience.
2. Of the mental models that they have as a result of belief systems, values, and education (especially early education).
3. On the vision of the future that is proposed.
4. Their understanding of what constitutes safety and risk factors.
5. Of their life routines.
6. Of what others think and say.
All these factors establish LIMITS to thoughts. They modulate and pigeonhole them in one way or another. And in doing so they affect an intrinsic quality of the human imagination: its ability to transcend constraints.
The same thing happens with ideas as with a bird that lives in captivity: the world is reduced to the space determined by the cage. When the bird is released, she immediately changes her perspective on reality.
If the mind is released from all ties, thoughts start their journey and ideas emerge. And although this is not private to anyone, few assume and exercise it.
To produce transformative ideas, you only need the following:
1. Recognize that the reality that is experienced IS NOT REALITY. People see as far as they want to see. The world is populated by people who walk looking at the tips of their feet.
Solving this is simple. It is only necessary to recognize that the reality and the experiences that one lives on are not part of any absolute. The “cage” is a human construction, not a natural environment. Having an open mind to everything and without ties is within the reach of any mortal.
Does acknowledging this automatically generate new ideas and perspectives? Probably not. But it establishes the essential environment for it.
Point number one: recognize that your life and everything that happens in it is only one of the possibilities that can happen! No fatalism or determinism. Your experiences are not the ocean of reality, they are not even a tiny drop of it. Do not behave like a bird that appreciates reality behind the bars of its cage, much less if the door is open.
2. Understand that the beliefs, values, and education that one has are neither the only ones that exist nor necessarily the correct ones.
You have to believe in something, people say. And they must have values, they add. But this creates limitations and deprives the ability to live fully. Nobody can feel proud possessor of the truth, because this way he puts his mind in a cell and castrates any idea that tries to get out of “the cage”.
People who experience a quality life are eternal seekers of truth, they never feel like their owners.
They have the basic humility of understanding that definitive answers do not exist and that there is no human capacity to apprehend them. Beliefs and values are a work in perpetual construction and the process of knowledge never ends.
The average length of life does not allow something to be set in stone.
Does this mean living in moral relativism or promiscuity? Absolutely! There is no greater sense of ethics and morality than understanding that one does not own any truth. And that everyone is accompanied by the right and the possibility of sharing it.
Those who dedicate their lives to seeking the truth without necessarily finding it, always produce many ideas, and of great quality.
3. To generate valuable ideas it is necessary to have a powerful vision of the future.
Vision must embrace greatness, always, and must take root in stubborn optimism. Herein lies the power.
Vision is not the same as an illusion, because most people can get drunk on the latter, but that leads nowhere. Vision is always associated with possibility and conviction.
Ideas emerge from minds that have a positive vision of the future, never born of those who presume that the future will be equal to or worse than the present. When there is no challenge and challenge the mind languishes in appreciation of limits and impossibilities.
Only those who believe are allowed to achieve victory.
4. Internalize the fact that nothing safe exists in life and that risk is the common denominator of every event.
Few ideas have those who make an altar of security to navigate through existence. The popular sentiment affirms it with wisdom: “who risks nothing, wins nothing”. Every idea generates a different reality, and the new brings the same risk as to the known.
The evolution of life and the human being responds to an inescapable pattern change. Those who avoid risk, avoid change and likewise deny evolution. This not only leads to a drought of ideas and promises, it essentially breeds mediocrity.
People who bring few ideas to their lives and the world, think that “the known bad is always worth more than the good to know.” And for this very reason, they don’t really think, they just develop an amazing ability to adapt to the flow.
5. Ideas require the development of good habits, never routines.
Routines exist precisely to reduce the exercise of conscious thought. That is why they help little with creativity and innovation. It is curious, however, to verify how highly valued routines are by the average person. Order is always rewarded, no matter how much it consolidates dysfunctions, and disorder is judged through the lens of chaos.
With this formula, neither many nor great ideas are generated.
The appropriate thing is to build habits that help manage and take advantage of change, not routines that only consolidate what little is known.
6. Never think and act based on the opinions of others.
It is obscenely easy to think like everyone else and consequently does what everyone else does. This is the most effective vaccine to nullify creativity, self-judgment, and ideas that can change the world and destiny.
Thinking that it is thought is sadder than not doing it at all. And the herd does it from ahead.
It is another thing to have the ability to take advantage of the synergy that exists in relationships with others to produce and enrich ideas. This is not only smart, but it is also the best way to take care of the collective interests.
Having ideas is a natural condition. Everyone can produce them in abundance and quality. Think about it, that’s all it takes!
