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8. You’re Overwhelmed Because You Have Too Many Ideas

ONE OF THE PROBLEMS my creative clients experience is a surfeit of ideas. No sooner do they have one, vivid, glorious, full-blown idea (which, in and of itself, overwhelms them, because how could you even begin moving forward on such a big idea?) than they have another and another.

Should you create a gallery show featuring the photographs you took at the end of your grandfather’s life? Or move to Oregon and open a yoga studio? But you’ve always wanted to publish your poetry, too. . . .You can see how a person could get immobilized, watching brilliant ideas shoot across their mind one after the other, like falling stars.

If you are this kind of a person, you have a beautiful, fertile mind. (Please tell me that you’ve found yourself a line of work where this quality is appreciated.)

Start writing these ideas down. You don’t need to commit to any of them, but you can start enjoying the flow of innovation. After all, not every idea is meant to be acted on. Also, once you start writing your ideas down, you might realize that some of them are recurring, and you can take the persistence of the idea as a sign of its vigor. Or seeing them all together, you might notice that some ideas could be combined. For example, you might find that making a short Ken Burns–style film or slideshow featuring your photographs with you reading your poems as a voice-over might create something poignant and wonderful. Who knows, maybe you could even play it as a closing meditation when you teach yoga in Oregon.

Stop thinking that you have too many ideas and start appreciating and managing your ideas instead. You may find that taking the pressure off makes it easier to turn some of those ideas into reality.

LITTLE CHANGES ACTION STEP: Start writing down all of your ideas, no matter how far-fetched, foolish, or plain-Jane they may seem. Next, find a good place to store them all. I like to use those cardboard magazine holders as a kind of stand-up vertical file, but accordion file folders, large envelopes, and old tea tins work fine, too. Or perhaps you’ll prefer an online solution. Whatever works for you is what’s best.