How to Come Up with an Original Thought

When to Quit (and When to Stick)

This morning I woke up at 5:55.

I hadn’t checked my phone yet and was still half asleep when I thought, “Am I ready to get up? I wish I had a display indicating how much mental and physical energy I have right now. Only smartphones have that! Why?”

Something similar happened last night.

I was dreamily washing the dishes in my kitchen when I thought, “Why can a customer leave a restaurant review but a restaurant owner can’t leave a review for a customer? If a customer is an asshole, other restaurant owners would need to know that!”

We often look for original ideas and inspiration outside the walls of our skull. We read books, watch videos, and listen to experts talk.

But there’s plenty of unexplored content sitting in our brain.

Some of it might be surprisingly original.

One way to dig it out is to simply spend time with our thoughts and let the mind go wherever it wants to go.

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