My Top 3 Tips for thinking big ; healthy distractions, read read read and risk taking… 💡
My top 3 brain boosts for visioning and thinking big ;
- Healthy distractions
- Read read read
- Risk taking
A mentor once said to me “do the hard stuff it’s what matters” — it’s always stuck with me and it’s always been true to where I’ve achieved the greatest outcomes.
In June, just ahead of Cannes, I met with Creative Salon, where we discussed the work on I Came by Train as part of their Most Creative Marketeers series. Proud of the work, the impact and the recognition I Came by Train and our core brand work at Trainline has received, I took a moment to distil the thinking big journey for the brain.
We’re all so different and understanding how you unleash your creativity and bigger thoughts is vital for continued generation and success of your ideas. What works for me might not work for you, but it might also give you some clues or help you refine this.
Here’s how it works for me …
When something is gnarly I usually get a headache or a feeling of mmmm I definitely need the 3 brain boosts to figure this one out. It’s rare I’ll have the answer fast, I might have an idea of the direction it should point in but it’s still vague and baggy. Or I might see the end point fast but not any rigour around how to get there.
Over time I’ve learnt what I need to do to reach clarity of thought and in no particular order..
Healthy distractions;
Gardening — I live in the Norfolk countryside and am lucky enough to have a garden overlooking a field of crops. Tending to plants, redesigning and reimagining a look for a planter, creating a courtyard, weeding — are hugely mindful moments. Where any thoughts of work or life are somewhere else.
This enables me to park the idea or the opportunity and not even think about it, it goes to the back of my brain to go to work in my sub conscious.
Hey presto! Clarity of thought arrives when I least expect it to.
Read Read Read;
As bonkers as it may sound but E V E R Y book I read, I write a synopsis.
I have a stack of beautiful and inviting notebooks with key learnings. I revisit these time and time again, especially when I’m trying to think big or solve a creative challenge.
I read new books frequently, most often anchored in a concept, a learning, a success story.
These give me provocations to build my thinking around.
Risk Taking;
At this stage in developing ideas or proposals think nothing is a barrier, push the idea to its biggest possible space it could exist — make sure you reach all the corners and edges of your mind with it.
Then ask yourself what could this be, what could it become and get to work.
These 3 ingredients have proven over time to provide clarity of thought, which then moves from the sub conscious to the conscious and beautifully formulates the ideas.
I hope this has helped you think and reflect on what’s worked for you and how to develop a path for “think big” that works for you.
Jo
