Tweet

LISTEN TO YOUR IDEAS

Written by: Jonathan Payne

Article Overview: How many potentially great ideas come to us each day? And how many ideas do we allow to grow into fruition and how many pass through our minds and disappear? What do we do with those ideas? And if we don’t act on them – why not?

LISTEN TO YOUR IDEAS

Last year I discovered a couple who are making their living from earthworms. It is a brilliant idea. A forest floor, for example, is covered in vegetable matter, and in amongst it all are hundreds of earthworms devouring it and producing liquid and solid waste that is high in nutrients. The average household produces a fair amount of kitchen waste – which is largely vegetable matter. This either goes into the rubbish bin where it has to be hauled off to landfill sites, or it goes on a compost heap where it spends ages rotting (and stinking) until it is finally used in the garden. Now, bring in the earthworms and house them in their very own, custom-built “wormery”. Throw the kitchen waste into the wormery. Voila! In no time, and with no pong, the worms pass the kitchen waste through their wriggling bodies and it comes out in nutrient rich liquid and solid form.(I hope this isn’t getting to graphic for your tastes). Your rubbish has now turned into plant food – you will never have to buy the stuff again.
While I am highly impressed with the concept, I am even more impressed with the entrepreneurial spirit that takes an idea and makes it reality.
I wonder how many people, when looking for ways to make a living, would have thought - “Earthworms – yup, let’s do it with earthworms.” Yet, there it is. The idea came, the determination kicked in, the research started, the hopes and disappointments taken in their course, and the product is great.
How many potentially great ideas come to us each day? And how many ideas do we allow to grow into fruition and how many pass through our minds and disappear? It is not only about moneymaking ideas. It could be a thought to contact a friend and rekindle a relationship. It might be an idea to start a new hobby. Perhaps a plan comes to alleviate someone’s suffering. The point is – what do we do with those ideas? And if we don’t act on them – why not?
The route from idea to action has a number of obstacles. The first hurdle to get over is our own judgment – whether we think the idea is worth pursuing or not. Then there is the hurdle of the other people’s opinion: “Sell earthworms! You’re joking, hey?”. “A movie about a talking mouse – what are you thinking Walt Disney?!”. “A computer in every home! Bill Gates, you’ve lost it.” I wonder how many great ideas collapse at this hurdle.
I think our ideas are worth holding onto – at least giving them time to take root if not actually grow. I like to think that ideas are the product of some subconscious factory that takes our experiences, churns them around, matches them up and pops out a thought. Ideas are an expression of who we are, and are the starting point for our contribution to life. A pity so many of these wonderful products of our being die before they have had a chance to breathe. With a bit of confidence in the product of our “ideas factory”, a touch of courage to overcome negativity and a little stamina to jump the hurdles, that next idea could be the start of great things – hold that thought!

Related Articles
  How to be more creative in business
  How to Add Innovation to Your Business
  How to Coach Your Employees - 5 Simple Steps Anyone Can Do!
  Dealing with Difficult Discussions
  Top 10 tips for giving feedback

Article Tags: brilliant idea, compost heap, disappointments, earthworms, entrepreneurial spirit, forest floor, fruition, hurdle, kitchen waste, landfill sites, moneymaking ideas, nutrients, obstacles, plant food, pong, rubbish bin, solid waste, vegetable matter, voila, worms



Related Forum Posts
Re: Winton Churchill Talks About "Email Marketing" - Hi Shri, I misinterpreted your invitation to "download the show later". I just clicked the link and I "get it" now! It looks very interesting so I will definitely LISTEN later today and report back here. Best wishes, David H
Re: Video Blogs: Yes or No? - I think different kinds of videos - and podcasts - need different treatment. When I produced some podcasts back in April I felt that detailed notes were needed to supplement the recording or provide an alternative for the site visitor. With a short "talking head" video, I would add a brief introduction to cover the main points. In both cases, resource links are very helpful. When it comes to consuming the information, I don't sit there and passively watch the videos, but LISTEN to them and just check back from time to time usually while doing other routine jobs. As I've said before, I save up videos and listen to them while packing orders. It's just like listening to the radio while ironing! === Edit: Oh, so, to answer the question... Video blogs, yes or no? Yes, fine to have a video blog, but I agree that some kind of text-based support is important both the the site visitors and presumably for the search engines too. The more choice visitors have, the better.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Convening a focus group for a niche product

Providing Feedback

Designing Employee-Enhancing Training Programs

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.