{"id":38499,"date":"2017-03-23T06:00:35","date_gmt":"2017-03-23T13:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=38499"},"modified":"2017-02-17T14:01:32","modified_gmt":"2017-02-17T22:01:32","slug":"how-to-come-up-with-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/03\/23\/how-to-come-up-with-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Come Up With Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dear friend,<\/p>\n

I wanted to write you an essay on how I come up with ideas:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Read old books<\/h2>\n

As a blogger, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m always trying to come up with new ideas. Let me share some personal techniques, which might or might not work for you.<\/p>\n

First of all, I read a lot. I prefer to read what is older. I believe that the older the text, the longer it will survive, and the more relevant it is to today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s society.<\/p>\n

For example, a book that was published a year ago, might live for another year. But a book published 2,000 years ago \u00e2\u20ac\u201d probably has a chance of existing another 2,000 years. I learned this \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcLindy Effect\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 from Nassim Taleb, in his book \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAntifragile.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n

Therefore, ideas that have existed for a long time probably have been around for good reason. People who saved that information found it valuable and useful enough to preserve.<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t remember anything I learned from any book written in the last 5-10 years, except \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAntifragile\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 from Nassim Taleb, and \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcThinking Fast and Slow\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve read at least 50 books that have been written in the last 5-10 years, and I remember no quotes or anything from them.<\/p>\n

Yet for me, the wisdom that always sticks with me is from the past. I have re-read Seneca\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Letters (Letters From a Stoic) at least 10 times, front-to-back, in its entirety. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve re-read Marcus Aurelius\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcMeditations\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 at least 8 times. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve re-read the Enchiridion and Golden Sayings of Epictetus at least 5 times. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve re-read the sayings and teachings of Jesus (ever since I was a kid, and even now). I re-read the Tao Te Ching at least 10 times.<\/p>\n

The best hack for coming up with ideas is to re-read what has moved you in the past. The reason is that by re-reading a book is this: you really let the ideas permeate and soak into your soul and mind.<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even need to re-read The Meditations or Letters from Seneca to remember most of it. I can quote them off the top of my head, without consulting my notes. And not only that, I have integrated their words into my actions and deeds.<\/p>\n

And generally what I will do is when I think of one of their ideas, I borrow their ideas, and re-mix their ideas in my own flavor.<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe any idea is original. All good ideas have already been created. Unfortunately there will be another philosopher who will overtake the wisdom of Plato.<\/p>\n

However, our purpose today is to re-fashion ideas, and re-fit ideas, that fit our life today.<\/p>\n

For example, Stoic philosophy from 2,000 years ago in ancient Rome is quite applicable to today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s society. Yet the ancient Romans didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to deal with distractions from smartphones, social media, and email. So how can we take their wisdom, and integrate it into our modern lives? That is the purpose of coming up with \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcremixed\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 ideas.<\/p>\n

So my suggestion is this: steal liberally from the past. All good ideas are common property (Seneca). And any good idea belongs to me (also, Seneca).<\/p>\n

Ideas are useless without execution. Ideas should exist to improve our lives. To reduce our suffering. To overcome our fears and anxiety, to build more courage and confidence.<\/p>\n

So for the best ideas, read old stuff. Very old stuff. The older, the better.<\/p>\n

2. Learn the root\/history of words<\/h2>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know Latin. But studying the etymology (the roots of English words in Latin) has helped stir new ideas in my mind.<\/p>\n

For example, the word \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcphotography\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 means \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcpainting with light\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. This already gives me a hundred blogging ideas.<\/p>\n

The history of the word \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcgenius\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 meant that the ancients believed that an inner-genius dwelled in your mind and soul. We as human beings weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t geniuses. Rather, everyone was appointed his or her own inner-genius, to inspire and motivate them. Kind of like a \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcguardian angel.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n

The word \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcinnovate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 comes from the Latin word \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcinnovate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u201d which I think means to breathe new life into. So innovation is simply breathing new life into old ideas. Kind of how Steve Jobs turned the 2,000 year old tablet (think the 10 commandments) into an iPad (digital tablet).<\/p>\n

Whenever I come across a word that inspires me, I go to wiktionary.org to study the root and history of the word. What I discover, often surprises me, and helps stir up new ideas for me.<\/p>\n

As of now, here are some words which are currently inspiring me to come up with new ideas to write about:<\/p>\n