I did an experiment: journalling every day by writing at least 3 inisights I gained from the day. A year has past and more than 1000 insights gained. I just worked through all those insights and there is only one thing I can say: wow, this really works.

Journalling has been like a mentor for me – me mentoring myself to find out what every day has taught me about myself, training, my dreams.

You become your own mentor and develop clarity in who you really are and what you really want.

So what should I write in my journal?

Things I am grateful for:

• Which moments bring me joy?
• In which fields am I doing well currently?
• In which ways have I lived at least piece of my dream today?

What do I want to experience in the future?

• What is my ideal day like? How does it start and that takes place?
• What do I want to be happy about when looking back after a year  from now?

What did I learn about myself today?

• What was interesting about today´s events? What kind of new ideas I gained?
• What did I learn about myself and my personality? What kind of person am I and how does this discovery help me forward?
• What can I do differently or better (next time) to succeed?

When journalling, keep it spontaneous, honest and positive. This helps you to keep it as a ritual, not routine

An awesome composition of wisdom to start the day. Here´s some of my favorite concepts:

Give to receive

“It is more blessed to give than to receive, because in giving, although it doesn´t seem so, you receive.”

Desmond Tutu

Stay young

“You don´t stop doing things because you get old. You get old because you stop doing things.”

Rosamude Pilcher

You know who you are

“Nobody can teach me who I am. Who can describe perhaps of me. But who I am and what I need. These are things I have to find out myself.”

Chinua Achebe

You create your own success

“If I give you a recipe and I will give 5 people the same recipe, I will have 5 different dish on the table.”

Jacques Pepin

Keep learning

“One of the reasons I haven´t slipped into some sort of retirement, is that I always feel like I´m learning something new all the time. “

Clint Eastwood

Be willing to offer your life for it

“You don´t have to be rich and you don´t have to be an army. If you find yourself in a situation that needs to be changed, if you´re willing to offer your life for it, you might actually get something done.”

Bernice Johnson Reagon

I´ll take both, thanks

“Life is not perfect, it never will be. You just have to make the very best of it. You have to open your heart for what the world can show you. Sometimes it´s terrifying, sometimes it´s incredibly beautiful. And I`ll take both, thanks.”

Graham Nash

Which ones were the most insightful for you?

Reverse brainstorming – how not to solve the problem

Tired of doing routine brainstorms on “how to get more clients” or ”how to get more sales” etc? Turn it around and brainstorm on how to make the problem even worse and after that turn the ideas around again – stating them in positive.

1. Define your problem.
2. Reverse your problem.
3. Brainstorm ideas for the reversed problem – be bold and provocative. Get as many ideas as possible.
4. Reverse those problems, turning them into ideas for your initial problem.
5. Take massive action and get results.

Example:

Interesting side-effects: by stating ways how not to solve the problem you often develop a deeper understanding of things you are actually doing wrong at the moment. Having them written down and finding ways to turn it around makes you more motivated for positive change.

Superheroes technique – borrowed brains

Don´t just use all the brains you have – also use all the brains you can borrow. Map your superheroes – people you admire – and get ready to rock´n roll!

1. Define your problem.
2. Brainstorm 10-50 superheroes – people who are better than you in some specific domain. Take a note on each superhero´s unique skill.
3. Ask yourself “How would x solve this problem?” or “What can I learn from x to solve this problem?” or “What has x done that could also work for me?” etc. Take notes on ideas that come to your mind.
4. Select the most interesting ideas and find ways in which you can adopt them to your current situation to solve this problem.
5. Take massive action and get results.

This technique is very similar to benchmarking, where the leading “superheros” can be your competitors. Turn your rivals into your superheros – use their brains and ideas to ignite your progress. Shift this paradigm and get results.

Forced connections – the art of combining

There is nothing totally new in this world. The difference between innovators and non-innovators is simply the fact that innovators make better connections that are of value.

1. Define your problem.
2. Brainstorm different keywords that come to your head (relevant and irrelevant to the topic) – sometimes the more irrelevant they seem, the better it is. You can write those keywords down to Post-it notes and attach them to the wall.
3. Start combining those words with each other and making up new connections asking yourself “what kind of ideas does this connection give me to solve my problem?”. Make wild connections by playing with the words and ideas.
4. Select the best ideas.
5. Take massive action and get results.

Did you know that:

• All the modern English literature is a pattern of 26 letters.
• All the paintings that have ever been done are made of 3 fundamental colors – blue, red, yellow.
• All the music that has ever been written consists of patterns made out of 12 notes.
• All the information you see on your computer screen is a pattern of binary code (“1″ or “0″).

Impressive? I want you to redefine the amount of resources to come out with something totally new. You just have to become a great connector of existing elements. “What if I combined these things?”

The journey – adventure for ideas

Switch your thinking by switching your environment. Go out to get some fresh stimuli.

1. Define your problem.
2. Explain the problem to your team-mates and get out from your office (go to the library for example). Ask each member to investigate around to find ideas that could solve the problem and meet in one hour. They can take things with them or make notes and photos for example.
3. Meet, take notes and share the ideas that you developed during your journey.
4. Select the best ones adapt them to your current situation.
5. Take massive action and get results.

Step out from your box, read materials you normally don´t read, talk to people you normally don´t speak. Get fresh ideas by getting fresh input.

Experiment by using elements from different creativity techniques, create combinations that suit you the best and create the ritual that helps you most effectively develop fresh ideas.

Are you using some cool creativity technique already? Let people know what it is and how it works by adding it as a comment. Let the world know what works, because there are hundreds of poeple longing for fresh ideas.

We possess a powerful tool – the internet connection. All the secrets, knowledge and perhaps even the truth can be found in there. But the main question is:”What do you type in after starting your web-browser?”.

I´ll make it easier for you – all the best stuff about creativity can be found using these links on creativity.

Use online tools and creativity techniques to ignite your thinking

www.mycoted.com/Category:Creativity_Techniques – large database of creativity techniques.
www.creax.com – big database of creativity links.
www.virtualsalt.com/crebook2.htm – creative thinking techniques and about creativity.
www.infinn.com/innovationhouse.html – tools for creative thinking.
www.creatingminds.org/ – creativity tools, techniques and methods.
www.thinksmart.com/ – creativity tests and entrepreneurial creativity.
www.kennieting.com/mousebrains/ - very cool tool for developing advertisements.
www.gocreate.com/tools/ – loads of creativity tools.
www.thinkature.com/ – thinking visually online.
www.mindmeister.com – team mindmapping online.
100 Excellent Online Tools to Feed Your Creativity

Get inspired by great thinkers

www.ted.com – Ideas worth spreading.
www.poptech.org – leaders of thought on making the world a better place.
www.dailyroutines.typepad.com/daily_routines/ – how artists, writers and other creative people organize their daily activities.
sethgodin.typepad.com/ – Seth Godin´s marketing blog.
www.einsteinpicasso.com/7.html – Big link database on creativity and innovation compiled by Peter Fisk.
www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_creativity.html - quotes on creativity.

Use connections and search-engines

www.soople.com – searching from different mediums.
www.slideshare.net – PowerPoint slides online.
www.visualthesaurus.com – displays connections between words.
www.kartoo.com – visual search engine.
www.pdf-search-engine.com – find pdf documents.

Get inspired by pictures

www.panimages.org – search engine that is independent from search-engines.
www.worth1000.com – Pictures with a little Photoshop touch
www.adsoftheworld.com – good ads.
www.quasimondo.com/tagnautica.php – animated Flickr photo search.
www.creativity-online.com/ – digital creativity, advertisement and design.
FFFFound image bookmarking – browse through bookmarked pictures.

Investigate what is happening at idea contests and idea-banks

www.moreinspiration.com – interesting innovations for inspiring you.
www.inewidea.com – inventions and innovative products.
www.designboom.com – industrial design competitions.
www.globalideasbank.org – global ideas bank.
www.halfbakery.com – ideas to be developed further.
www.dellideastorm.com – Dell getting ideas for product development.
www.inventnow.org – for young inventors.
www.fastcompany.com/100 – 100 most creative people in business.

Peek in the blogs

www.blogsearch.google.com – search from blogs.
www.technorati.com – blog network.

Use checklists

www.7ideas.be/7-letters-van-scamper.html – 700 idea stimulators for product development.

Keep your eye on trends

www.trendwatching.com – trends in world.
www.trendhunter.com – differentiating trends.

Give the right fuel for your brain

20 Super Brain Foods

Any good links missing? Let us know by adding them as comments.