How To Follow Your Gut
Often the best direction we get comes from the inside.
Ideas are like slippery fish. They seem to have a peculiar knack of getting away from us. Because of this, the creative person always has a pad and a pencil handy. When he gets an idea, he writes it down. He knows that many people have found their whole lives changed by a single great thought. By capturing ideas immediately, he doesn’t risk forgetting them.
— Earl Nightingale
What an amazing quote.
When I go to meetings I am usually carrying my journal with me. But from now on, I will never forget it.
Just think about this for one moment…. What separates you and me from those billionaires around the world? And I am not talking about their money. What I am talking about is how did those many many people become billionaires?
Yes, I suppose a general answer might be hard work. But, working hard in the wrong direction is going to end up in a dead-end.
Think about these companies…
- Enterprise Rent a Car
- Kentuck Fried Chicken
- Amazon
- Google (or the parent Alphabet)
- Apple Computers
- Microsoft
- Netflix
- Ford Motors (and the idea of assembly-line manufacturing)
Well, from the title of this post I am assuming you will be able to guess where I am going with this thought. Yes, all of the above massively successful companies were started from an idea. A good idea, to be sure, but they were all just ideas.
That makes me think of this quote…
“Ideas can be life-changing. And sometimes all you need is just one more in a series of good ideas.
It’s like dialing the numbers into the lock. You’ve got 5 or 6 numbers dialed into the lock, the lock still won’t come open, but you don’t’ need 5 or 6 more, you just need one more.
And a seminar … can do it, a sermon can do it, the lyrics from a song could do it, a dialogue from a movie could do it, a conversation with a friend might do it. That one last piece you need, that number, dial it into the lock, that’s it, the lock comes open, and there’s the door for you to walk through, and maybe this [quote] could furnish that for you, give you one more idea.
All you need is just a few more thoughts, ideas to furnish you some ways and means to turn your life into the dream you want it to be.”
— Jim Rohn (empasis added)
So carry a notepad or journal with you wherever you go. I keep one at my bedside just in case.
I am trying to prime the pump of my mind to get a great idea so I can run with it.
Also, I think we need to pay some respect, if I may word it that way, to the good ideas we have already gotten. Am I following through with those ideas? I need to answer that question sincerely.
The reason I mention it is that I have recently got an idea for a book. Wow, I never thought of myself as a writer and now here I am thinking about writing a book. It would be short, but it is an idea nonetheless. I need to follow through on these ideas. And that is a key. Getting ideas is one thing and that sometimes is the easy part. We need to follow through on those ideas.
Imagine if Jeff Bezos never started Amazon. And I am not sure if you know, he was seriously thinking of just keeping his day job. But Bezos when for it. Wow, just one idea…
How about you? Do you have a book up there in the grey matter between your ears? Or some kind of side hustle that you have been thinking about giving a try?
Well, you can probably guess what I am going to say next, but I won’t say, “Go For It!”, because it is just too trite.
But I will end with my summary statement.
Summary
- To follow your gut you have to first capture the ideas you get. Write them down.
- Be honest in your evaluation of this inspiration and follow up on those little lightning strikes of good ideas. Take at least the first few steps to their achievement.
All the best to you, my dear readers and followers… Max
