The only real valuable thing is intuition. The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery.
~Albert Einstein
You’ve got a good sense of your own interests & energizers, and also for your grandchild. So now what?
Your thinking self will now sit there and stare at these lists of interests, while your unconscious whispers doubts & distractions into your brain…
Our interests don’t intersect!
I guess this isn’t going anywhere…
I’m just not good at being creative…
I don’t understand how this is helping…
What should I eat for dinner?...
Take heart. This is NOT a simple exercise, because it is quite difficult to tap into your inner-self, your intuition, your soul on demand as most exercises request. Even great authors who thrive on their creativity go through bouts of writers block. Expect it.
Memorize the lists. Chew on them for a while.
Ask your subconscious mind for help…how can I combine one or more of these interest lists towards defining a legacy?
Sleep on it. Remind yourself about it…and have the faith that your question WILL BE answered. Sleep on it again. Take your time.
But be prepared to embrace the spark when it comes….and when that moment hits….write it down. Have a notepad and pen handy at your bedside as many a epiphany have come through our dreams when our subconscious is working vigorously.
Once you have captured a concept, expand on it. Try the What-If exercise as explained on the Indoors webpage sidebar. The secret is to prevent your thinking-self from taking charge. That means that as you expand on your idea, it should simply FLOW. Don’t judge each idea. Simply take notes feverishly as they come. If you can get in this groove, it means you are tapping into your intuition. Up until right now, intuition has been helping me write this paragraph! As soon as my mind shifts towards critique (is my grammar correct?)….the FLOW simply shuts down.
I read a great book on the concept of FLOWyears ago and suggest is as a good read.
There's also a current book The Medici Effect by Frans Johannson. I saw Frans speak live at a corporate event & his message is quite inspirational. Basically, he teaches that by combining two seemingly unrelated concepts, a new and unique idea pops out. Wala...innovation.
Fairly straightforward really. But, if you find yourself struggling to combine your interests with your grandkids into unique new twists...try these reference materials above to get you moving.
Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.
years ago and suggest is as a good read.