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In this news tip:
00:09 – A business and mindset conference
00:29 – My take on meditation
01:18 – Getting ideas in the shower
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Transcription:
James Schramko here in the Dominican Republic. Been attending a conference which is not like a pure business conference. It’s also kind of a mindset… I think woo woo, you know, mind-mind/woo woo, same thing. So, I’m going to ask you a question in this video and hopefully, it provokes some thought.
Meditation for everyone
So, they talk a lot about meditation and how important it is do every day and all the studies that show how much it improves your performance. It incorporates elements like visualization. Look, when I think about it, I think it’s just stopping some point in the day and just quietly reflecting and thinking about the day coming. Makes sense. It’s something that I’ve been doing for a long time but I work something out.
I used to do it over a cereal when I would eat breakfast. I would sit there before everyone was awake, quietly eating my breakfast and just thinking about the day in advance, and that is actually a form of meditation. So you don’t have to sit there with crystal rocks and tambourines and all sorts of other cool stuff or whatever. It’s optional. And I will be covering more topics on this and I’m going to be interviewing experts and find out more about the science.
Getting ideas in the shower
At one point, I did some brainwave entrainment and that was good. The other thing that seemed to come up, I think maybe in six of the presentations, they mentioned that they get ideas in the shower. So this episode is called “Ideas in the Shower” because I noticed that’s where I get a lot of my ideas.
Because, you’re really not able to do a lot of other stuff, unless you’ve got a fancy apartment, you’re probably not watching television, you’re probably not listening to your headphones or making telephone calls. Hopefully you’re not using electrical appliances like toasters and hair dryers in the shower. That means there’s really nothing left except the soothing effect of running water and you.
A great place to come up with ideas
My question for you
So, I’ve got a question for you: Do you get ideas in the shower, too or is it just something that’s experienced by these people here and me? Where do you get your best ideas if it’s not in the shower? Post your comments right near this video and let’s open up this discussion.
I’m James Schramko, speak to you soon.
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Please leave your comments below:
I get some of my best ideas in the shower. My friend Craig Eubanks suggests getting a waterproof kind of “whiteboard” and having it in the shower…and writing down things when they creep up.
Aloha,
Antonio
I love a whiteboard as much as the next guy. Waterproof huh? Now that’s hard core
Great video, James. The shower has also been a place of great ideas for me. Other times have been just before falling asleep or just after waking up – whether that be at my normally-scheduled times or in the middle of the night. The ultimate gadget would be some kind of waterproof whiteboard (like kauaihypnosis said) or some kind of big screen that wouldn’t let you do anything else except take notes and then sync it via WiFi back to your home network.
Thanks for commenting. The ideas are certainly coming in. Perhaps a glass and a marker pen would work. I tend to be able to remember the ideas once developed.
Hey James, At their core, ideas are feats of association, so the best way to create new ideas is to have loads of stimulus — and the shower is not exactly the most dynamic environment. I suspect we have all had some ideas in the shower because it is one of the few times we actually allow ourselves to think. Generally, we don’t dedicate much of our mental capacity to creating new and meaningful ideas. The good news is there are fun and easy techniques that we can use to load our brains with stimulus that will help us create massive amounts of new ideas in just a few hours. They are called Create Session — let me know if you’d like to learn more about them.
I was thinking I come up with ideas in the shower because of having less stimulus. It allows my mind to relax and ideas seem to percolate up from deep inside
Sure, you are exposed to so many people and ideas everyday with your work that relaxing allows your subconscious to make those connections you don’t otherwise have capacity for during the day — it’s valuables time. I’m just suggesting we spend more time actively forcing connections with stimulus. I help people with this and it’s wicked powerful.
sounds very powerful Michael
Yes exactly James.
In the past if I was trying to solve a problem I would just keep trying to consciously solve it and never really get anywhere.
Now after reading Psycho Cybernetics, (which was recommended by you, thank you excellent book) Chapter 6 talks about relaxing and letting your success mechanism work for you which has been an eye opener for me.
Now if I try to solve a problem I will study everything I can about the problem very intensely and then if I cannot solve it I will just step away and either take a shower, meditate or just do a simple task that does not take any conscious effort and generally the idea/solution will come to me.
It’s the same as forgetting someones name and you try to think of it consciously and get no where. You stop trying to think about it and it just comes to you.
The unconscious mind is a problem solving machine if we just relax ;)
Yes, I love the ideas that come from the shower. I have recently began switching from warm shower (meditative) to a freezing cold shower for just a brief time, then going back to warm. If you get loads of cold water on the back of your neck, you will instantly feel your brain firing like crazy. I love it! Aaron Sorkin is known for taking 4-5 showers a day when he is writing a screenplay. Thanks for this!
That is a cool fact about Aaron Sorkin!
Very true about the shower. Just found on amazon.com these notes called “Aqua notes”, I’ll be getting those :) Myself, I will use music in the morning sometimes (when I have a chance) before work, have my journal/notebook that I bought for writing ideas, notes etc. and I just pray and ask God for ideas and wisdom for the day. It works, and God has blessed me with many ideas that have changed my life. As soon as I get one, I write it down in detail.
Thanks James.