Isolate

So many times, the idea is right there. It’s perfect, it needs no development. It will do exactly what you want. You don’t need anything else to create it.

So why can’t you grab it?

It’s covered in detritus. Rubble buries it from collapsed buildings. It’s overgrown with moss. It’s in the back of the ancient garage. It’s at the bottom of the tar pit.

It’s lost in the clutter.

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel, because you already have it. You just need to excavate it. Remove all the distractions, weed the garden. Put your mind in the autoclave so only the idea can survive.

This can mean different things. It can mean physically going somewhere that junk can’t follow – running, hiking, driving. It can mean surrounding yourself with people who only want to talk about that idea, or it can mean getting away from people entirely. But it almost always means change.

A rolling stone gathers no moss, as they say. An active mind gathers less clutter. Like a rock tumbler, the dull sand is worn away. The idea remains.