How to know what idea is a good idea?

Something new is brewing & your thoughts matter in the process

According to research, the average human has approximately 60k to 80k thoughts per day. That’s a new one every 1,2 seconds; our brains clearly go wild during waking hours. And while every meditation app under the moon will tell us that we aren’t our thoughts, we do get attached to some of them, don’t we? The good, the bad, the ugly…

For the sake of this trail of thoughts, let’s stay with the ones that inspire us today.

How and where do you catch a good thought?

Many people seem to have their best ideas in bed, just before they fall asleep or when they wake up. Obviously, being on a walk comes second, nature always does its magic.

Personally, as a creative and curious person, however, I have lots of ideas, all the time. In the shower, on the bicycle, while cooking. Anywhere, any time I’m in the flow and relaxed, often totally out of nowhere.

I get excited instantly, if I could, I would hit the breaks, let the food burn or write under the shower. Not always possible though. So I have a new thought: I think I’ll write them down in a minute, just finishing the meal, drying myself after the shower or cycling to a place I can get off to take notes… and by then, I’ll have forgotten about them again and life has moved on.

It feels like a hide-and-seek game sometimes, until the next idea comes along, of course, and I’m fast enough.

When I am able to catch them, I scribble them down on a piece of paper or my phone, in words that I actually also understand when I look at them again later. By no means is that a given. But it’s needed, I am a visual learner with a photographic memory.

How do I know which idea is good?

Aka which idea is worth catching?

Catching THE thought amongst 70k thoughts a day, when looking at it statistically, seems daunting. However, since 90% of them are repetitive, we can watch our thoughts over time.

We could surely also apply some clever strategies to dissect our ideas and analyse them in detail to justify if they’re worth pursuing… but this sounds rather boring and stale to me.

I prefer a base of creativity, mixed with a grain of gut feeling and realistic thinking, including a pinch of good conversations and to serve, baked over time.

You get the idea, right?

Long story short: because I know I have lots of ideas, and the excitement doesn’t always outlive them, I nurture those precious ones for longer, until I get a better feeling about whether I should pursue them further. If I didn’t do that, I would get lost in half-baked things all the time and eventually burn myself out.

There’s an exception to every “rule”

Sometimes, you just know right away whether an idea is THE idea. Everything just feels easy and aligned. You get fired up. It’s basically love at first sight and that’s when I make the exception.

While I’m just a gal with lots of thoughts, maybe a good reminder for all of us: let’s not forget that there is generally no right or wrong.

One idea can lead to another and maybe you have to open 100 doors to get to the holy grail of ideas. Finding the one idea is not a mental game, you actually have to put on your shoes, leave the house and go live life and explore. 💃 It’s an illusion and by chasing we may not find what we’re looking for, rather when we least expect it: when being in the flow.

Why do I ask myself these questions?

Over the last year, I’ve regularly questioned what the bigger picture of my writing could be. I’ve been finding it hard and pondering over how I could possibly marry all my interests, passions, knowledge and also my professional experience working at the intersection of well-being, technology and education for over a decade.

It feels like I have all the puzzle pieces in my hands, I just can’t seem to understand how to fit the different shapes together. (I can so relate to toddlers getting frustrated over learning shape sorting)

Forgetting all my other passions, skills and knowledge for a second and just looking at my writing, you can already see a clear golden thread waving together well-being and (thought) leadership all while bringing nuance to the discussion in a world that wants to force us to think black and white.

My first post on Substack from 2020 was about inspiring women in leadership and getting out of our comfort zone. However, back then I was obsessed with titles, achievements and certifications.

What has changed is that I realised neither titles nor certificates, and not even fancy business names or senior positions make you a leader. It’s the impact you have on others that matters most. I have a separate trail of thought on this in my draft. Who knows, maybe it will see the light of the day at some point soon.

What stayed is the passion for leadership and being a cheerleader for LeadHers of all walks of life.

- What is a LeadHer?

I’m totally making this up and am not sure if there’s a) a definition and b) if I’d agree with it.

• A LeadHer in my eyes holds the space for others to flourish.

• A mother of five, a community elder, a student volunteer, a writer or a business woman all can be such LeadHers, if they have the emotional qualities to lift others up.

• I want to add the conscious leadership concept¹ to the narrative, as that is what sets true leaders apart, they lead, not their egos and elbows.

- And what ideas did I catch?

I am considering launching the Conscious LeadHers Collective - to feature the stories of women, who are NOT the typical leaders we may think of at first. I want to share stories of how these LeadHers show up for their communities, what inspires them, what gives them hope, and why they keep going on their unique paths, that are not society’s high streets everyone walks on.

I was a bit nervous to share this idea, because…

• Will people see the value of sharing and hearing these stories, will they want to follow along as I set this up?

• Will anyone read or listen to interviews (none longer than 15 mins)?

• Should this be a completely separate publication or can I just sprinkle these in here amidst my other shares and rename my publication to root to rise to marry more of my passions?

• Does anyone even do that, am I crazy? I really want to make the production async only, which means no live meeting with the interviewees, either just written words or audio swaps that can be edited together without much hassle…

• Of course, I already created a list of potential women 5 years ago, when I first had the idea… but I have added lots of recent names, too. Also, I want this to be community-driven so share your faves, please.

So dear people of the universe, please tell me if you’d be interested in joining me and celebrating LeadHers in this new way.

I’ll leave you with these heartfelt thoughts on creative ideas

Ideas need space to breathe.

The more we cling on them, the less they can blossom and bloom.

They need to be shared and let free to make a difference in the world.

The good ones will always find ways flourish, the others will just pop and disappear like soap bubbles.

Either is fine, because new ones will come.

We cannot ever use up creative thoughts as their spring will not dry up as long as we are alive.

Hope to see you in the comments, friends! 🫶 Until next time!

1. Conscious leaders strive to be their best selves having a deep sense of purpose, self-awareness, integrity and mindfulness. They understand that we're all connected and therefore need to inspire and empower others to thrive and create a positive impact in the world, too.