Some ways to come up with good ideas:

1. Listen to the people around you. What challenges are they facing? How can their daily lives be helped? What ideas can you think of?

2. Read a lot. Read internet articles, newspapers, magazines, books. Explore what’s possible, what other people do and whether that would work in our own community.

3. Find inspiration.  From others, from life itself, from friends. Ignite that engine and energy that gets your mind going.

4. Keep a list. You can use Google docs, keep a notebook to write them down, or jot them down like I do, in my phone notebook.

5. Reflect.  Look at your life –  What are you doing? Where are you going? Who are you? What are you all about? What’s important? What are you trying to achieve? What are you doing that works and doesn’t work? Ask yourself these types of questions, think about what it is you do every day and why. This kind of examination can produce dozens of new ideas.

6. Question everything. Ask yourself ‘why?’  Develop an enquiring scientific mind that examines facts. When you find yourself thinking or following traditional ideas that everyone assumes are right, question them. Ask yourself if it’s really true, and if so, why? Why does everyone think this? Is it possible there are other ways of doing things?

7. Change things up. Drive home a different way. Get out of familiar territory, break out of your niche, look at new things, new websites, new books.  This can open up new ideas.

8. Brainstorm with others.  Get together with 1 or 2 other people and bounce ideas off each other.