Generate, cultivate and activate higher-value ideas using visual thinking Content creators: What if I told you you’re missing a big opportunity to elevate the quality of your thinking as well as the value of the content you produce? To a large extent, the tools we use shape our thinking, either limiting it or giving it wings to fly. Plus…

Accelerate your success by “thinking about your thinking” If you want to be more successful as a creative entrepreneur, you need to elevate the level and quality of your thinking. A critical skill that will help you get there is metacognition — the practice of thinking about your thinking. Imagine you’re sitting on a perch above your mind…

Envision what’s next — and make it a reality! Imagine if you had an enchanted notebook with a very special power: Any idea you write in it, it will show you how to make it real. That’s the fanciful but profound picture Packy McCormick painted in a recent newsletter. No one owns such a magical writing device, of course…

Use these shortcuts to jump-start your muse now! Want to radically expand your creativity but don’t know where to start? This skimmable list of 40 tips can help you supercharge your muse in no time! No useless platitudes or truisms here — just industrial-strength ideation strategies that work. Let’s go! Cultivate a creative mindset Creativity is NOT a rare capability that only…

A profound, eye-opening upgrade to “connecting the dots” For years, creativity experts have told us we should generate new ideas by “connecting the dots.” It’s been moderately effective as a brainstorming technique. I’ve used it for years to imagine new possibilities and opportunities. …

News flash: Your digital note-taking tool is NOT going to transform you into a genius. Digital note-taking has ignited a ginormous revolution in personal knowledge management (PKM). Millions of users are employing these tools to capture their research, insights and ideas. But their ideas usually aren’t big enough to help them make a dent in the universe. Linking related ideas together has become a hot…

Want to create extraordinary results? Then you need extraordinary thinking. Asymmetrical thinking. What do the Trojan Horse, guerilla fighters and hackers have in common? They’re all examples of asymmetrical thinking in action. Understanding what it is and how to employ it can give you a gargantuan advantage in your career and life. Asymmetrical thinking challenges assumptions and often uses wildly different tactics…

Entrepreneurs and creators: Use your powerful and mysterious subconscious mind to supercharge your results As a creator, you need to come up with a steady stream of high-value ideas to engage your audience and grow your business. A big ally in this process, which most people overlook, is your subconscious mind. How it works Your subconscious mind is like an infinite memory bank. It contains memories of…

What if you could simply brainstorm out loud for 30 minutes — and have every one of your ideas captured on your smartphone — hands-free? I’m one of those people who loves to figure out what a tool can do and how it can be turned to advantage. Otter.ai offers a smartphone app that’s designed to transcribe and make a complete record of team meeting discussions. It has intrigued me that it’s capture time is…