Day 7 of Blogging Challenge - Idea Machine Experience

This blog post is the seventh in a series of fourteen that will be used to reJumpStart my blogging habit. I started a few years ago and lost interest (and the habit) of blogging. I was looking for a way to encourage and prod me to start this habit again. Maybe this will get you thinking about blogging again or for the first time. Found this inspiration as I was reading blogs. I hope you will follow me and provide me with moral Internet support.

Over the past few years, I have been following James Altucher, I was intrigued with his candid approach and straight forward advice. If nothing else, you always get new ideas from him. His book Choose Yourself!

 was a good read. The book is of the self-help variety and he uses his own story to explain various points. This led me to hear about the next item.

One of the concepts he talks about is being an Idea Machine. This is developed by having a daily practice of writing ten ideas every day. Altucher writes at length about the Idea Machine concept here. Podcast with James Altucher on Becoming An Idea Machine . The book

Become An Idea Machine: Because Ideas Are The Currency Of The 21st Century explains the concept and gives the reader a set of questions to use for creating ideas every day for 180 days. The book is actually authored by Altcuher’s wife Claudia Azula Altucher. Altucher has his wife Claudia on his question and answer podcast. I would consider it coauthored as James talks about the concept at length himself.

I have read the book through and now am going through the suggested subjects for ideas. I am currently at about day 30. While the explanation of being an ‘Idea Machine’ is nothing new from what the Altuchers provide in their blog and podcast, the 180 days of ideas provides a sort of accountability if you are interested in started down the journey of becoming an Idea Machine. I have integrated the activity into my daily journaling as one of the last things I do in my morning routine. There are many days I struggle with the 10 ideas but I then just put something down. Altucher notes that not all ideas have to be the best, in fact many will be junk. This is not a bad thing as you produce more and more ideas. One good idea is all you need, so you can dump a few if you need.

If you are interested in checking out the Altuchers further they have a blog off his personal site at jamesaltucher.com. If you are into podcasts you are check out it out here.

Have you started the Idea Machine habit?