It Chose Me

A giant-sized issue this week: One hundred seconds of your mentoring intervention. Welcome to the end of Season 1, our last episode, wrapping up our nine flavors of Brain Balm, creative ways to massage your message. We covered three categories of Brain Balm: The practical approach, aspirational ideas, and the silly path to producing progress.

The three practical approaches to generating ideas are called Heal the Pain, The Toothbrush Test, and Just Dig Deeper.

The three aspirational approaches are called Stand on the Shoulders of Giants, What Would Midas Do, and The Blank of Blank

And finally the three silly approaches to generating ideas are called It’s Opposite Day, Neapolitan, and Let’s Go Crazy.

These ideas are not meant to be mutually exclusive. In fact, there’s clearly overlap among many of the approaches we’ve shared. The point is in the outcome, in the deliverable, and a process that you can rely on to bring you to the promised land… that is, the landing that YOU promised to your team, your boss, your clients. Give your ideas, and your partner’s ideas, a chance to breathe and blossom.

We’ll bring on Season Two on September 3, 2020 and help you break out of your comfort zone! Let me know what you think and share your own ideas: [email protected].

Here it comes, Let’s Go Crazy, part two. Snow melts along the edges. Change happens from the fringes. Different happens away from the normal. That’s where your crazy ideas come into play. Maybe someday your journey into the unknown, the unexpected will be seen by others as just the way things are done but for now, let’s go nuts together. Let me know what you think and share your own ideas: [email protected].

Today, part one. Snow melts along the edges. Change happens from the fringes. Different happens away from the normal. That’s where your crazy ideas come into play. Maybe someday your journey into the unknown, unexpected will be seen by others as just the way things are done but for now, let’s go crazy together. Let me know what you think and share your own ideas: [email protected].

Neapolitan: Part two of two. We opened the latest gallon of Brain Balm a scooped up some flavors that combine into something special and unique. Let’s finish talking about Neapolitan, the second of our silly approaches to generating new ideas. Just like three flavors of ice cream that somehow ended up combined in the same carton, we can create something special by breaking down barriers that keep ideas apart. Let me know what you think and share your own ideas: [email protected].

Part one of two. Let’s take ideas that don’t go together… that should NOT go together… and put them together anyway! Our second of the silly approaches to generating new ideas is called Neapolitan, and just like three flavors of ice cream that somehow ended up combined in the same carton, we can create something special by breaking down barriers that keep ideas apart. Let me know what you think and share your own ideas: [email protected].

Hold on tight, we are moving into the silly approaches to generating new ideas. Today is Opposite Day! If everybody is doing things the same way, your idea can truly stand out by going left when the world is going right, by zigging when the others are zagging. Build your ideas to defy the norm, to go against the grain, by being brave enough to go the other way. Let me know what you think and share your own ideas: [email protected].

We are unwrapping a set of aspirational approaches to brainstorming. This time, let’s fill in the Blank of Blank. Have you heard somebody called the Steve Jobs of X industry, or the Stephen King of a different genre? It’s like that, where a high-achiever in one field is used as a symbol of praise for someone in another field. For your ideas, why not move something that you’ve seen succeed into the situation you find yourself solving? Let me know what you think and share your own ideas: [email protected].

We are unwrapping a set of aspirational approaches to brainstorming. This time, we 'll finish What Would Midas Do? Now that you've come up with your Midas-sized ideas, what happens if reality forces you to scale back? Don’t let anything stop you. We’ll have plenty of time for reality checks… AFTER we come up with the great ideas. Let me know what you think and share your own ideas: [email protected].

We are unwrapping a set of aspirational approaches to brainstorming. The next flavor is What Would Midas Do? What would you do if there were no limit to your resources. Not just money, but machinery, space, time, people. Yes, of course, we all face constraints… some real, but some only imagined or self-imposed. At this stage, don’t let anything stop you. We’ll have plenty of time for reality checks… AFTER we come up with the great ideas. Let me know what you think and share your own ideas: [email protected].

We move from practical to aspirational approaches to brainstorming. The first flavor in this package of brain balm is called Stand on the Shoulders of Giants. The point here is that it's okay for your ideas to be based on the other great ideas and inspirations that you see around you every day. Let me know what you think and share your own ideas: [email protected].