Creative Paralysis

Recently I mentioned to a friend an idea that I had for a blog topic I've been wanting to develop. His initial response was to question if I would bring fresh insight to the topic that wasn't already on the web somewhere.

I froze. I stopped writing that post and almost decided to delete all my work to that point.

I think most of us let these kinds of questions keep us from acting more often than not. Maybe it's a friend throwing that question at us or our own internal voice, but they can haunt all of us at times. If we decide to do nothing simply because lightbulbs, telephones, peanut butter, sliced bread, and computers have already been invented, innovation will ultimately stop. We don't know when we will discover something amazing, but that can only happen when we routinely put our creative juices to work.

I was recently listening to one of my fav tech podcasts and a question came up that neither host had a great solution for, at least in that moment. The conversation about the same problem I had previously encountered (yet set aside) sparked an idea in my mind. Just listening to someone else describe the problem and admit they didn't know the answer sparked enough of an idea in my mind that I was able to solve the problem within a few minutes. I'm glad they decided to discuss something they could've left alone if they had filtered against the idea of having something fresh or insightful to offer.

Here is what I'm trying to say: you shouldn't wait to do something until you have that million dollar idea or wait to post a blog until you have a perspective to share that is fresher than anything else out there. You can't have a million dollar idea or a fresh perspective unless you are revving your "fresh idea engine" on a consistent basis. Edison didn't invent a lightbulb that worked until he had manufactured and tested hundreds of filaments. Besides, you never know when your ideas might spark an idea in another person who may want to collaborate with you and help your idea become better.

So get ready, I've got some stuff coming your way that you might have heard before, might be new, or it might just be my take. I hope that maybe something will come of it that's positive for someone, maybe for both of us.