It’s shocking how protective the creative class can get about an idea. So many creative people treat their ideas like it’s the last one they will ever have, or at least the last good one. We get so paranoid about our ideas that we hide them, guard them, and rarely let them ever see the light of day. Ironically enough, most of these ideas have some element of being borrowed, stolen, or adapted anyway. The truth is, there are two things that we should always count on when it comes to our ideas:
- We can stop protecting our ideas because we will have more. Our best ideas are always ahead of us. As creative people, we are always coming up with ideas. It’s what we do. The more we use our creative muscle and practice coming up with ideas, the stronger, better, and more powerful our creation process and ideas become. We should never buy the lie that our best ideas are behind us. If we are breathing and have the ability to create, the potential exists for us to come up with our absolute best stuff – TODAY and TOMORROW! We should stop wasting so much of our energy on protecting an idea and start to focus more energy on executing that great idea, an idea that might change the world.
- We can stop protecting our ideas because very few people have the hustle necessary to make those ideas come to life. One of the most amazing things about an idea is that it usually has your DNA embedded inside it. The creator of an idea understands its unique character; a character that only those closest associated to the idea understand. They see how it should be executed and to whom it will matter – the most important parts. Further, the creator of the idea brings their own filter, experience, and history to the idea. No one else has that back story to apply to the idea. The best someone else can do is imitate it. Finally, the hustle we bring to our ideas is uniquely our own. Hustle is not just the work, it’s the approach we bring to the work. In this case, it’s the unique approach we bring and our plan to take over the world with these most amazing new ideas!
So, stop freaking out. Stop being so paranoid. You are creative. You create stuff. Start sharing your ideas. Start collaborating. Rather than being an idea hoarder, start being free with ideas. Share them. Give them away. Start helping other people come up with better ideas. The more we intentionally act freely with ideas, the faster the next idea gets a chance to be birthed, developed, and executed.
Do you battle protecting your ideas or do you live free and share ideas? Why?
This is truth. So glad you wrote this. It always makes me laugh when people make me sign a non-disclosure before I can give them my opinion on an idea they have.
This is good. I have thousands of ideas and hundreds of thousands of words written down in notebooks, journals, and Evernote that nobody has ever seen because I was afraid that sharing them would mean someone would steal them.
I think part of this can be traced to something deep inside us – lack of self-confidence. We don’t believe we can continually come up with good ideas. And we lead ourselves into the Land of Scarcity. Which is dangerous. Because it’s a city. We get a room and stay there. When we finally believe in who we’ve been made to be – that we consistently have good ideas – it’s so much easier to scatter ideas like seeds because we know some of them will take root.
Great post, B.
Man, I needed this today. I struggle with not sharing ideas, but then most of them go undone or unfinished. I need to start sharing!
Reminds me of something I heard once, Christians should live “open handed with palms up.” Forcing us to give up control and and allowing God’s timing for us to give, let go, and receive in God’s timing. We need to give God control of our creativity creating “open handed, palms up” …so we can share, release, and be inspired! It’s fun to hear stuff like this, but hard to practice 🙂