From Ideas To Impact: Unleashing the Magic Behind Successful Idea Generation

How to transform your bad ideas into good ones

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”

Henry Ford

It took me 30 years to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

I used to think there was something wrong with the fact that I couldn’t decide on a life path.

I couldn’t make up my mind. I felt like I was wasting my life by being indecisive, and this thought was very painful.

I learned, however, that when you live a purpose-driven life there will be a lot of trial and error.

You will need to try and fail. You will need to reflect. And you will need to get up and try again.

Trial and error. Experimentation. Bad ideas. Failure. Pain.

When you finally figure it out, it’ll feel like magic. But life isn’t built on purely good ideas you hit on the first try. You must go through the bad ideas first.

Understanding the formula

A magic trick is only impressive if you don’t know the formula. When you learn how a magic trick works, it loses some of its luster. You’d probably still respect the performer, but you’d likely realize the trick wasn’t impossible. There was a formula involved — a process.

The same approach should be applied to our own lives and ideas.

Meaning, our attempts are the formulas we test and the outcomes are the ideas that sprout from each formula.

It’s rare to find the perfect formula on the first try. Unfortunately, this is the reason many people quit prematurely. We’ll feed ourselves ridiculous lies about how we aren’t innovative or creative.

All because our first handful of ideas might belong in a gutter.

So what? Bad ideas don’t mean you’re dumb or lack creative firepower. In fact, a bad idea is a sign. It tells you something.

Place your ego to the side. Open your mind, and recognize that a bad idea is the best way, if even a tiny bit, to get to a good idea.

The path to a good idea is through the bad ones

“The most successful men, in the end, are those whose success is the result of steady accretion.”

Alexander Graham Bell

Do you think successful entrepreneurs are sorcerers? Otherworldly beings who seem to turn anything they touch into gold? Or do they simply know how to find the magic formula?

Or do you think they simply know how to find the magic formula?

You see, successful entrepreneurs will intentionally engage with “bad” ideas. They do this as part of their process to get to the solutions they’re searching for.

In other words, they’re willing to sift through the shit to find the gold. The same gold society might claim they didn’t earn.

Let’s look at some of the biggest companies in their space and where they started:

• Apple -> computer kits
• Paypal -> sending money between palm pilots
• YouTube -> a dating site

Initially, these were considered bad ideas but look at each company now.

Be ready and willing to sift through the shit to get to the gold.

The ideas that survive the test of time

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Steve Jobs

When I was eight years old, I wanted to be a writer. I used to write stories all the time. But as I grew older, I developed a limiting belief that I wasn’t a good enough writer to do it for a living.

I didn’t think I could write anything that would inspire people.

So, I kept searching…

And searching…

And searching.

And after all that searching, I’ve come back to my original desire to be a writer. Sometimes we fall in love with the new, shiny thing. But some of the best ideas are the ones that stand the test of time. Sometimes they need time to develop.

I went from wanting to write short stories, to being a journalist. And now I want to write about my personal experiences and help other people.

The quest to create real magic

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”

Maya Angelou

The process of bringing good ideas to life is like a roller coaster ride.

There are ups and downs, sharp turns, and moments of extreme fear, followed by moments of extreme joy and ecstasy.

Just hold on.

Become comfortable with the process of trying a ton of ideas and realizing many of them might suck.

You’ve been on this ride before. You know how this dance goes. So do not abandon your dance partner.

Here are some ways to reframe your relationship with bad ideas.

1. Best guesses, not permanent solutions

Treat life like an experiment. Don’t take everything so seriously. It’s not the end of the world if you realize an idea is a bad one. View the search for good ideas through the lens of curiosity.

When you follow your curiosity, you’re not wasting time. Any idea you may have today that feels like a failure could evolve in the future.

Though, you’ll likely need to update them like I did with my career journey. Sometimes the update will be small, and sometimes it’ll be a huge update that will lead you to a great idea.

2. Put it into practice quickly

Ideas are abstract and many people tend to stay stuck in the abstract. We talk about what we’re going to do. We’re always getting ready to put our plan into action — to test our idea.

And then…nothing. Staying in the abstract is dangerous. How do you know if an idea is a good one or not if you don’t put it to the test? You need to build. You need to create. This is the only way to know if an idea is a good or bad one.

Brainstorm. Develop. Test. Assess. Repeat.

3. Give the idea a chance

Don’t immediately shoot an idea down. Resist the urge to throw it out right away. Why is it a bad idea? What makes you say that?

Challenge yourself on this.

Push yourself past the desire to immediately kill an idea. If you’re trying to solve a problem, then reframe it.

If you’re trying to think of changes in your life, list the pros and cons of the idea. Are the cons, or the reason you immediately call the idea a bad one because you’re afraid?

When you give an idea a chance to live you can explore ideas that could lead to a breakthrough.

4. Be patiently, impatient

It takes a lot of patience to sift through bad ideas. It can be deflating — to think you have a good idea, only to run into a dead end.

Don’t stay stuck for too long. Move on to the next thing when it’s clear you’ve taken an idea as far as it will go. Again, you can always come back to an idea if you need to.

Don’t stop. Jumping into the iteration phase of idea development can often create the momentum you need to create the magic you’re looking for.

Be patient with yourself, but impatient in your search.

You are the magician of your life

Your formula for good ideas is your best guesses, or hunches, put into tangible practice quickly.

Assess what the results are. Figure out what worked and what didn’t and why. Take note of what you learned.

Is there a thread you can follow from one bad idea to a better idea, or is it time to move on completely?

As long as you’re putting your ideas into practice instead of giving up, you’ll be fine.

You can create your own magic once you realize that fighting through all your bad ideas is the key to the good ones.

Hi, I’m Jon. I’m here to empower and encourage you. I write about philosophy, spirituality, personal development, and human nature. To see my stories on your feed, consider following me (Jon Soto).

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