Writing FAST - Jeff Bollow 2012

Let ideas spark ideas
Capture your idea
Focus

The key is to let go. Don’t try to steer it.

This mind of yours is really an amazing tool. I’m not sure if we really appreciate the power of it.

I keep calling it an Idea Factory, which might conjure up images of a cold, grey, mechanical environment, with lots of levers and conveyor belts and stuff.

But I don’t see it like that. I picture the brain with that image they use on science documentaries. You know the one. All those nerve endings branching out like a tree that won’t quit. With the little electrical pulses that go pumping through the mesh to indicate a thought.

That’s the Factory. It’s electric. It’s vibrant. It buzzes with energy. Ideas spark each other at lightning speed. And they gather momentum — if you let them. This idea sparks the next idea, which sparks the one after it.

Imagine all that going on in your brain right now. It’s happening right now! C’mon, at least take a moment to think about how cool that is.

And when you do think about it, I want you to realize it’s where your ideas come from. Those bolts of electricity.

Each idea — each lightning bolt — that pops into your head, can spark a thousand more. But you’re in control of the Factory, so you’ve got to give it permission.

If you’re struggling, start a chain reaction. Let one idea spark the next, which sparks the next. See where it takes you.

I guarantee you one thing. If you truly let go, you’ll arrive at the greatest and most compelling ideas you’ve ever come up with. You will genuinely astound yourself.

But it only works if you let go.