Birthing Idea Babies
Whether you use a midwife or go solo, these need to come out!
Welcome to Hope Sparks Substack. This week I’m diving into :
The why - birthing, nurturing and launching idea babies for a fulfilling life.
The how - an action plan for generating more ideas in your life.
Spotlight - on a corporate maven making way for her creative side. Meet Maryam and her Next Phase era (ahem, idea baby).
Reads and Recs - idea creation
Birthing, nurturing and launching idea babies.
Creativity, much like a muscle, needs regular exercise to stay fit. Yet, many of us neglect our creative minds, allowing them to wither and fade. We fall into the trap of excuses—too busy, too tired. Some of us even convince ourselves we are not a creative person.
I find myself amid a sea of individuals grappling with weak idea muscles. The good news? You can revive that little muscle, and bring it back to life by nurturing it.
Over the past 20 years I've become adept at midwifing and launching ideas into the world. Collaborating alongside people willing to explore, I see how game changing it is to have someone in your corner to birth idea babies.
My equation for idea babies involves creating ample space for exploration, embracing messy and free-thinking, trusting your gut instincts, and cultivating a healthy tolerance for failure. The result? A burst of creativity that breathes life into new and exciting possibilities.
Idea Baby Recipe
There is no lengthy gestation period, swollen ankles or morning sickness. Here’s more detail into how to lean into your idea babies.
Safe space:
Ideas need room to breathe. They need a safe, consistent space, free from trolls and naysayers. Protection is paramount. There needs to be room for silly and nonsensical ideas to emerge alongside the gems. I call this messy moments.
“Great ideas often have no reference points. We have nothing to compare them to. They are original, and awkward. And so they are the most vulnerable to people trying to kill them. They do not conform to what exists, so they challenge us.” Excerpt from my David Hieatt book: Do Purpose.
To create these safe spaces, pay attention to people who keep you small. You know, those people who shy you away from goals, ideas, creative ventures. They could be well intentioned (your mother, your friends, your partner). Be mindful of their influence on you for fresh idea babies to take root.
If we listened to everyone else about what we needed to do with our lives we’d end up with…someone else’s life.
Action: Join an inspiring mastermind, a coaching group, commit to an accountability buddy OR work with me in your corner. I work with humans of all ages and stages to bring their creativity muscles to life with tried and tested frameworks, support and connections.
Trust Your Gut:
Cultivate your inner voice. Lean into the full-body yes. Feel your unique signals when you've struck gold with an idea baby worth exploring. A Whole Body Yes happens when you are in aligned. This means your head, heart and gut are all in tune in as you consider a choice.
Action: I love this full body yes , meditation and guidance. When I’m exploring idea babies to further, I grab this somatic tool from my tool belt. It never leads me astray.
Set Constraints:
Set boundaries and timelines to experiment with your idea. Why? Using the term ‘experiment’ tricks our brain into exploring new territories. Human brains are hardwired to keep us safe; locking us in situations that are familiar. Our logical brain can get scared off when we start exploring novel pathways. By entering into an ‘experiment’, you allow yourself to venture only for a temporary period of time. This tactic works well to curb overwhelm. Instead, you are safe to get curious about what pops up over the course of your short experiment.
Action: Give yourself a 3 month window to run at an idea baby. Why 90 days? It's enough time to see patterns emerge. Three months is time to instigate new thoughts/behaviors. It's not too long or onerous to feel overwhelming. Pssst....my client ALWAYS see progress during that window.
Check your Capacity:
We want quick fixes, easy wins and simple processes. I remind myself that birthing a successful idea baby is ALL about the journey. It's a path full of learning and reflection—fails, stops, starts, wins. Big or small ideas can often take up a bunch of brain space, or creative energy. I call this capacity. We need to check our capacity stores from time to time. It's imperative to restore and refuel our capacity.
“A short sprint followed by a longer rest, can get way more done. But, we think of resting up as some badge of dishonour. As humans, we are built for short bursts. Our attention span is built for short bursts. Our creativity is built for short bursts. Yet mostly, we work like we are built for marathons.” - David Hieatt
Action: Fuel up after short, dedicated, safe sprints. This gives time to pause and reflect. What’s working? What’s not? What needs to change and why? Most importantly, rest and let our capacity engine refuel for the next sprint.
"Completely unplug when you’re done work. Rejuvenation is about making yourself, your enthusiasm, your excitement, and your ambitions young again." - Benjamin Hardy
Ok. But what if I don’t have any ideas Hope?
We ALL have stores of ideas waiting to spill out. It’s a matter of how we access them.
These a few of my tried and tested ways into generating more ideas in life.
Note: ideas don't always have to be for our professional lives. Some of my greatest idea babies have been on the personal front: travelling with family here in 2014. And again a year long global family adventure here in 2018. Then again in 2019 our Scotterson family moved from Canada to Bali and our kids went to Green School.
Action Plan for Generating More Ideas in Life:
Making space for ideas is like giving your brain a breather.
It's not about fancy rituals. It's about embracing calm, listening for our own signals, and letting go of the constant buzz. By doing this, you're creating a cozy nest where your creativity can hatch and grow.
The big win? A more vibrant, exciting life. One filled with ideas that make your everyday experiences extraordinary.
Mindful Observation: Practice observing the world around you. When you slow, let your mind wander, even for a minute, new insights and ideas can come into focus. Most of us don't stop our pace and miss out on what's sitting right there.
Curate Diverse Inputs: Consume content from various sources to fuel creative thinking. Check your inputs. Are they the same as everyone in your orbit? Try switching up what you're reading, who you're listening to. It will add a layer of perspective.
Connect the Unrelated: Find connections between seemingly unrelated concepts. This is where some of the most original idea babies are sourced. A mashup of different can pop out unique configurations.
Embrace Failure as Feedback: Shift your mindset toward failure as a feedback loop. Explore different ways, or ideas for doing the same things you've always done. You may discover a better way.
Daily Idea Generation Ritual: Carve time out for intentional idea sparking. I use my Best Self Diary daily practice to jot ideas in the morning or night. If I don't write them out they slip away.
Collaborate and Brainstorm: Engage in brainstorming sessions with peers, friends, or mentors. This is one of the reasons I start Braintrusts!
Challenge Assumptions: Question your assumptions and challenge the status quo.
Continuous Learning: Stay curious. Invest in lifelong learning for a fertile ground of ideas. Build in time to read books, blogs, take mini courses. Even 20 minutes a day will move your needle of learning!
Spotlight on Clients
Get ready for the spotlight because I'm thrilled to showcase the incredible work my clients are unleashing upon the world. I want you to meet these remarkable individuals too!
Meet Maryam - a corporate maven, turned entrepreneur-networker-podcaster-writer. She’s amidst her idea baby launch of a podcast, bravely storytelling her journey of jumping into new realms. Maryam is open, creative and wonderfully frank. And she doesn’t just think about her ideas. She acts on them.
She’s pulling back the curtain on her process, her emotions and the people she’s meeting along the way. Her conversations with people making big life changes and leaps are inspired and revealing. Follow her and the weave of humans in their next phase.
Reads & Recs
Do Lectures is a hotbed for ideas. Started by an idea factory: David Hieatt - https://thedolectures.com/ideas/
10 dangerous ideas - with James Victoire, author of Feck Perfection
The ripple effect of an idea - The Butterfly effect = the small tweak (or idea) can create massive and nonlinear changes to the overall whole.
Embodying Change & Embracing Failure. Two rebels talking failure and ideas - I dig into real talk with Tanya Scheckley of Rebel Educators on her powerful podcast.
See you next week. If you enjoyed this read, please invite your friends.
In your corner,
With love,
Hope