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You’ve been assigned a project that requires a certain level of creativity and imagination. And you’re feeling a little antsy about it because you don’t feel particularly inspired.

Maybe you’re challenged because you’re not the best out-of-the-box thinker. You tell yourself repeatedly that you’re just not that creative. You wish that your offbeat, ingenious, visionary, clever, girl-essence would show up, but unfortunately, it’s missing in action.

Maybe you’re not a lost cause and maybe you can get it back. I’d like to offer you 8 ways to inspire your ideas for support.

1. Leap in, heart first.

Your brain and all that thinking can get in the way of an inspired idea that truthfully, should come from your heart. Your heart, the center of your emotions and soul may lead you to discover the significance and impact of your idea. Your head, the center of your logic, may lead you down another path that causes stinking thinking and analysis paralysis. 

2. Find time to daydream about your idea.

Find the time to daydream when you’re not busy. Here’s a perfect time…when you’re sitting in your dentist’s waiting room. Instead of reading about Angelina and Brad’s divorce rumors again in US magazine, daydream about your idea. Daydreaming can lead to possibilities that you wouldn’t have imagined before because you’ve been too serious. Relax a little and go to lala land in the waiting room.

3. Take one baby step.

Sometimes actually taking one baby step will spark movement toward the next step. When I have to write something, I usually start with a free-write to develop the rough draft. Taking this very important, first step usually leads me to the final copy. 

4. Take a different road.

Literally, change your driving route. You might see something on the way to your destination that turns a light bulb on for you. Figuratively, ask an unlikely person for advice, try a different brainstorming technique, or listen to music that’s different from what you normally listen to. 

5. Look for ideas in unsuspecting places.

One day in the grocery store looking for a special brand of olive oil, it finally hits you! The packaging of the bottle is the same exact color that you imagined for your project’s theme! Go figure! Who would’ve thought that the color you were looking for was in aisle 7b at your local grocery store?

6. Be open, yielding, and agile.

Ha! Me trying my darndest to practice my bridge pose so I can stay open, flexible, and agile.

This definitely coincides with #5. When you are open, yielding, and agile, ideas will come to you. I’ll say more about this later in the post.

7. Make room for your creative spirit.

When you are in a space that is crafted, designed and equipped to resonate your essence and your creative spirit, you’ll feel a certain way. I call this A Room of One’s Own. It’s my belief that we should have a space that’s inviting, makes us feel alive, and provides room for our authentic self to just be. For some, this space could be outdoors like your front porch or indoors like your office, or even bathroom!

8. And if all else fails, go to Pintrest!

For those of you with a Pintrest account, need I say more? If you are not on Pintrest then shame on you.

Having an inspired idea means that something in you and around you has been aroused. You’ve been imbued with the spirit to take risks, explore alternatives, and seek answers. The key to this is being open to receive it. Yield a little and stop being so inflexible (Remember #6?). Because I’m imbued with this spirit and possess an open and yielding essence, my ideas come from everywhere, seriously.  

As I feverishly work on GoneGirlGo, I’m in constant need of a fresh pool of ideas. Because I’m open to a creative influence that’s floating around in the universe, I constantly receive inspiration for various aspects of GoneGirlGo. It’s like getting answers to questions that I’ve been asking and receiving gifts from outa nowhere.

• While taking a class at Case Western Reserve University recently, I rediscovered a Kolb’s Learning Style and realized that I could use it for an exercise that I’ve been contemplating to further build on one of the 4 Secrets to Make your Ideas Blossom. 

• I fell in love the black floral color motif a while ago. So much so that I created a Pintrest board called Midnight in the Garden where I collect all sorts of pins in this motif. I had no idea that it would become the inspiration for the new GoneGirlGo, but when I decided to relaunch, I realized that it would be a great schematic for the design of the website. What I didn’t know was that it would become the inspiration for my tagline – Make Your Ideas Blossom – and other design elements of my brand.

• There’s this beer ad on a billboard on I-71S in Cleveland that I see on my way to work. It reads “Here’s to Earning It”. The ad really resonated with me so in my head it became “Here’s to Learning It” because of my life-long learning mantra. I’m not sure where I’ll use this, but you better believe that I will!

• I subscribe to BookBub.com and I saw a title of a book – The Mourning After, which inspired a post and graphic about how ideas come after you’ve mourned a loss. I haven’t read the book, but when I get a chance, I will just because the title inspired me!

Listen, this influence should not be ignored. Breath it in. Embrace it. Be open and yield a little. You’ll end up finding that offbeat, ingenious, visionary, clever, girl-essence that was missing in action and achieving inspired ideas.

Which of these 8 ways will you try to achieve inspired ideas? Are there other ways that have helped you achieve inspired ideas? 

Don’t be unyielding, girl. Reflect on them in your journal this week. Share your thoughts in the comments below or on the GoneGirlGo Facebook page. If you need to speak with me personally, email me at zoe@gonegirlgo.com.

Here’s to Learning It!

Z