Where Your Best Creative Ideas Will Come From

I believe that progress in life is predicated directly in proportion to the number of "AHA's" we receive then act upon.

These are the epiphanies of life. The sudden realizations that hit us, that can change us forever for the best, or that can also protect us from harm.

This is the foundation for all creativity, life changing innovations, from the greatest writings in the world to "C" movies that amazingly got produced. Some actionable thought that hits us in a much bigger way than normal that is followed by our inspired actions.

If you're like me, you get these ideas from time to time then wonder how in the world you could implement them. Some of them are outrageous. Some are so thought provoking it's hard to let go of them.

The failure to at least investigate these is the platform for life's failures. The foundation of this is often within our own disbelief of self. Who am I to...? etc.

It's not that we should take action on every big idea that comes along, but that we pay attention to them. Watch for the signs of confirmation. Synchronistic events, sometimes thought of as coincidental are often great clues.

For example, you might have an idea about an unusual type of clock. You know nothing about clocks and didn't really care too much about them until this idea hit. But it won't leave you alone. Then, seemingly out of the blue, you meet someone who has some connection to the clock business. AHA? It would be worth investigation.

The human being is first and foremost a creator. All we do is create. We create our lives, our situation, or challenges and our solutions. Those who are unwilling to acknowledge their own personal power are doomed to being, by choice or ignorance, the victims of circumstances and outside powers.

Every AHA presents the problem of how? Maybe even when and where too. But, if the AHA is big enough to excite you, it's small enough to find an answer to. What's your risk/reward ratio for going for it?

One of my memorable AHA's was on a walk through Bloomingdales in New York City one day. I saw a mother scolding her 5-year old boy in public. I wondered how long that feeling of public humiliation and rejection would stay with him.

I thought about the disappointments in my life and rejections I'd suffered through. Not only that, but how they had sometimes almost defeated me and yet had always made me stronger. That was a real AHA.

That night I was giving a speech to over 500 top sales people at the New York Hilton. I tossed out my prepared notes and told the story of that little boy. I discussed the power of rejection and how it could actually vault us to greater success. I imparted some very personal stories that night. It was a feeling of amazing release.

I'd never had a reaction like that before. Like most professional speakers, I'd had standing ovations, but never with the flow of tears that came with it from my audience that night.

Instead of shaking hands with me afterward, people were thanking me and hugging me in gratitude. I was in shock.

"How To Take No For An Answer And Still Succeed," became the most popular speech in my career as a professional speaker. I later wrote a book by the same title that got the endorsements of Larry King, Jack Canfield, Og Mandino ("The Greatest Salesman In The World") and many others.

I eventually got the rights back to the book and converted it into an electronic version, which has now gone around the world, selling more copies in the first three months that the original publisher sold in the first two years!

That single moment of AHA was life changing for me and others. I'm glad I paid attention to it.

So, I urge you to allow for the AHA's in your life. Never shut them down, but explore them with an open-mind.

Amaze yourself with the possibilities of potentiality. If the AHA hits, then so does a way to realizing it, as long as there is a passion, belief, and gratitude behind it.

Who knows, the next one could be life changing.

AHA!

Like a mental martial artist, you can use the power of rejection, disappointment, failure, and humiliation to your benefit.