Join us every Monday morning for Motivation Monday, where we share a helpful “homework” assignment that gives your business a creative boost and gets you thinking (and moving) outside the box each week.
We've said it before, but we'll say it again: spending time away from our direct work can have incredible benefits- it helps us keep our sanity, but it can also spark new ideas. We like to dabble in areas that are on the "fringe" of our own- so, if you're digital marketing, social psychology might be a fun and relevant area to explore. If you're looking to be more efficient, reading recruiting blogs like Boolean Black Belt could be beneficial.
Here are some ideas for getting your creative juices flowing. We hope at the very least that it gives your constantly-whirring mind a little break but you never know- something cool might come of it!
- Skim the documentary section of Netflix- Freakanomics, Craigslist Joe, and Happy are all our on list!
- Listen to a new podcast- we recommend Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, RadioLab, Planet Money, and Side Hustle Nation
- Grab a book about social psychology from the library- Sparring Mind has a great list of 50 social psych books
- Spend some time jumping from one YouTube video to another- LifeHacker and TED are great places to start
- Find new blogs to read- Feedly allows you to add content by topic but you also ask your Facebook friends and Twitter followers if they have suggestions
As you're absorbing your new resources, see if the business-related ideas start to flow naturally. If not, ask yourself the following: what is the lesson here and how can I apply it to my business or others' businesses?
Use your new inspiration to brainstorm blog post topics, come up with topics for speaking engagements, or just inform your thinking about a certain topic.
Did you all catch Mike Rowe talking about the meaning of success on The TED Radio Hour this week? It was excellent, and relevant to this blog for sure! RadioLab was excellent, too. I do a lot better during the week when I force myself to take a break with NPR weird stuff! This is a great post btw.
Surprise yourself with a business (or Life!) insight from a novel – even books I’m reading just for fun throw lessons my way, if I’m open to seeing ’em.
Don’t instantly dismiss a thought or an observation as “not relevant” – Intuition IS on your side.
Bright Monday Blessings ~
My favorite source of *new blogs to read* is in the comments of blogs I’m already reading.
An intriguing statement, an attractive (whatever that means at the time) avatar, even just an interesting name: Open Link in New Tab and see what’s there :).
That’s how I found you, Christina, though the bread crumbs seem to have disappeared, so I can’t say now where I found you – (pout)
Aha! Just found enough crumbs to follow back: last Friday’s Cordelia Calls It Quits Link Love post! 🙂