{"id":3404,"date":"2010-09-27T21:13:21","date_gmt":"2010-09-28T05:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=3404"},"modified":"2013-08-26T09:36:56","modified_gmt":"2013-08-26T17:36:56","slug":"3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Steps to Think Clearly and Creatively"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/a><\/p>\n

The more we stress about our problems, the bigger they get<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes the best thing to do is let go of our problems. \u00a0Not to give up, but to let up – and make some “space.”<\/p>\n

Yesterday I took the afternoon off. \u00a0Even though it was during the week I decided to go on a date with my wife. \u00a0No blackberries, hand held devices or computers. \u00a0No email. \u00a0Just the two of us hanging out for the afternoon; just like we used to when we first met.<\/p>\n

It was such a great afternoon. \u00a0I forgot about all my problems. \u00a0I forgot about all my concerns and I forgot about my work. \u00a0 That evening, 8 or so hours later I solved two of my biggest problems… one of which didn’t require any work on my part. \u00a0The other one came to me as a new idea.<\/p>\n

How did I do it? \u00a0What’s my secret?<\/p>\n

Here are the three steps to think more clearly and creatively:<\/p>\n

Step 1: Think on Paper (30 Minutes)<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a quote from one of the Rich Dad’s from the popular book Rich Dad, Poor Dad Book.\u00a0 It goes, \u00a0“Always think on paper.”<\/p>\n

I’ve always loved this quote and lived this. \u00a0I have a white board in my office where I do all of my thinking. \u00a0I draw and doodle; I connect the dots. \u00a0I look to see how things flow together. \u00a0I cut and paste. \u00a0I use words and text to mold my ideas and explore my problems.<\/p>\n

Once I’ve emptied my head I’m then ready to…<\/p>\n

2. Mastermind (1 hour)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The phrase “two heads are better than one” is an understatement. \u00a0Masterminding is when you have two or more people brainstorming and working together to come up with new solutions to problems. \u00a0It’s also a great tool for generating new ideas.<\/p>\n

My business partner and I have these mastermind sessions quite often. \u00a0We use these sessions to brainstorm ideas and bounce new concepts off each other. Before we start our mastermind sessions, we normally ask ourselves these 4 questions:<\/p>\n

What is this meeting about?<\/em><\/p>\n

What are we trying to achieve?<\/em><\/p>\n

What are the challenges we want to overcome?<\/em><\/p>\n

How will this help us? Our clients? Our business?<\/em><\/p>\n

These are great questions to ask yourself when masterminding. \u00a0Just let the ideas flow and you’ll be surprised at how crazy and remarkable the solutions will be.<\/p>\n

The last step is to…<\/p>\n

3. Take a Mini-Vacation (2-6 hours)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Take a what? \u00a0Yes, a mini-vacation.<\/p>\n

Decompress and disconnect. \u00a0This has helped me solve my biggest problems with the least amount of effort.<\/p>\n

You’ve got to give your subconscious breathing room. \u00a0It’s part of letting go and trusting in yourself. \u00a0My best ideas are not the ones I get during a mastermind session or when I’m writing them out. \u00a0They come 2-48 hours after I’ve done my deep thinking or had a really good masterminding session.<\/p>\n

So the trick is to be patient; to let go and relax. \u00a0The more relaxed you are the better. \u00a0That’s why I suggest taking a min-vacation; taking a nap, go for a walk in nature or socialize with friends. \u00a0Just give yourself a break. \u00a0The ideas will come.<\/p>\n

Think clearly and more creatively by following these 3 steps. \u00a0You’ll be glad you did.<\/p>\n

Steve is the creator of Freedom Education: Manifesting Your Desires<\/a> Download Steve’s\u00a07 Secrets of Rapid Transformation.<\/a><\/p>\n

Don’t Forget To Follow PickTheBrain On Twitter!<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Related Articles:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

How To Increase Self Discipline<\/a><\/p>\n

How To Motivate Yourself<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The more we stress about our problems, the bigger they get.<\/p>\n

Sometimes the best thing to do is let go of our problems. Not to give up, but to let up – and make some “space.” Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":12992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[45,6],"tags":[4650,712,318,714,711,66,713,710],"yoast_head":"\n3 Steps to Think Clearly and Creatively - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It was such a great afternoon. I forgot about all my problems. I forgot about all my concerns and I forgot about my work. That evening, 8 or so hours later I solved two of my biggest problems... one of which didn't require any work on my part. The other one came to me as a new idea. How did I do it? What's my secret? Here are the three steps to think more clearly and creatively:\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Steps to Think Clearly and Creatively - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was such a great afternoon. I forgot about all my problems. I forgot about all my concerns and I forgot about my work. That evening, 8 or so hours later I solved two of my biggest problems... one of which didn't require any work on my part. The other one came to me as a new idea. How did I do it? What's my secret? Here are the three steps to think more clearly and creatively:\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-09-28T05:13:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-08-26T17:36:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/fog1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"669\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Falconer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/fog1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/fog1.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":669,\"caption\":\"how to think clearly\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/\",\"name\":\"3 Steps to Think Clearly and Creatively - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-09-28T05:13:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-08-26T17:36:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\"},\"description\":\"It was such a great afternoon. I forgot about all my problems. I forgot about all my concerns and I forgot about my work. That evening, 8 or so hours later I solved two of my biggest problems... one of which didn't require any work on my part. The other one came to me as a new idea. How did I do it? What's my secret? Here are the three steps to think more clearly and creatively:\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"3 Steps to Think Clearly and Creatively\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\",\"name\":\"Erin Falconer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Erin Falconer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"3 Steps to Think Clearly and Creatively - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"It was such a great afternoon. I forgot about all my problems. I forgot about all my concerns and I forgot about my work. That evening, 8 or so hours later I solved two of my biggest problems... one of which didn't require any work on my part. The other one came to me as a new idea. How did I do it? What's my secret? Here are the three steps to think more clearly and creatively:","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"3 Steps to Think Clearly and Creatively - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","og_description":"It was such a great afternoon. I forgot about all my problems. I forgot about all my concerns and I forgot about my work. That evening, 8 or so hours later I solved two of my biggest problems... one of which didn't require any work on my part. The other one came to me as a new idea. How did I do it? What's my secret? Here are the three steps to think more clearly and creatively:","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/","og_site_name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain","article_published_time":"2010-09-28T05:13:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-08-26T17:36:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":669,"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/fog1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@pickthebrain","twitter_site":"@pickthebrain","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erin Falconer","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/","name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/fog1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/fog1.jpg","width":1000,"height":669,"caption":"how to think clearly"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/","name":"3 Steps to Think Clearly and Creatively - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2010-09-28T05:13:21+00:00","dateModified":"2013-08-26T17:36:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5"},"description":"It was such a great afternoon. I forgot about all my problems. I forgot about all my concerns and I forgot about my work. That evening, 8 or so hours later I solved two of my biggest problems... one of which didn't require any work on my part. The other one came to me as a new idea. How did I do it? What's my secret? Here are the three steps to think more clearly and creatively:","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/3-steps-to-think-clearly-and-creatively\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"3 Steps to Think Clearly and Creatively"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5","name":"Erin Falconer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Erin Falconer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3404"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}