What Are Your Top Ideas?
I've been thinking a lot about this lately. Ideas. Such a novel concept. I had an idea to have dinner with my dad today. Was it one of the best ideas I've ever had? No, but it came to me out of no where this afternoon, I asked him about it, and we both enjoyed pizza and wings today while my mom was at an evening cake decorating class. It's the simple things sometimes...
But Top Ideas... those are supposed to be the creme of the crop. The ones that make or break you. And they can come from anywhere at anytime. They're usually the thoughts you can look back on that define you, or changed your life. I look back one of the best ideas I ever had was to pick up and move to Korea 3 years ago. It's all a matter of perception too - my idea of scrapping my entertainment career to go live in the far east was my example of a top idea, but my coworkers/parents idea of someone who had clearly lost all their marbles. I can say in hindsight that my coworkers/parents were wrong.
I recently spoke at Syracuse University about my career trajectory and the weird path it has taken. I entitled the speech "Mapping Out Life After College" but really I never had any surefire directions as I was doing it. Instead, I wanted to play on the word MAP to my audience, and chose it to take the form of the words - Motivation, Action, Plan.
Ideas play big into that whole concept for me. Without ideas you couldn't conceivably get past any of these three stages. You can only be motivated when you've had your big top idea to get started, you can only take action once you've formulated the ideas in your head as to how you might proceed, and you can only think out your plan by brainstorming ideas on how to do it.
Ideas are important in every moment of your life - from the small to the big. Thinking through them is the next big step, and finally - acting on it to make sure that they become one of those Top Ideas that you look back on that defined your life and who you are. The real trick - is making them go from just an idea, to reality.
What were some of your Top Ideas throughout your life? How did you navigate through the mundane to the extraordinary to realize which ideas had the most potential?
But Top Ideas... those are supposed to be the creme of the crop. The ones that make or break you. And they can come from anywhere at anytime. They're usually the thoughts you can look back on that define you, or changed your life. I look back one of the best ideas I ever had was to pick up and move to Korea 3 years ago. It's all a matter of perception too - my idea of scrapping my entertainment career to go live in the far east was my example of a top idea, but my coworkers/parents idea of someone who had clearly lost all their marbles. I can say in hindsight that my coworkers/parents were wrong.
I recently spoke at Syracuse University about my career trajectory and the weird path it has taken. I entitled the speech "Mapping Out Life After College" but really I never had any surefire directions as I was doing it. Instead, I wanted to play on the word MAP to my audience, and chose it to take the form of the words - Motivation, Action, Plan.
Ideas play big into that whole concept for me. Without ideas you couldn't conceivably get past any of these three stages. You can only be motivated when you've had your big top idea to get started, you can only take action once you've formulated the ideas in your head as to how you might proceed, and you can only think out your plan by brainstorming ideas on how to do it.
Ideas are important in every moment of your life - from the small to the big. Thinking through them is the next big step, and finally - acting on it to make sure that they become one of those Top Ideas that you look back on that defined your life and who you are. The real trick - is making them go from just an idea, to reality.
What were some of your Top Ideas throughout your life? How did you navigate through the mundane to the extraordinary to realize which ideas had the most potential?