They say that money is attracted to great ideas.

But not every idea is a great idea…

Like the time over the summer that me and my best friends (and OG DJ partners) Marco & Curro thought it would be a great idea to kill fire ants 🐜 in my front yard with a roman candle 🧨

We killed the ants 🙌

But we ended up setting part of the yard on fire 🔥🧯😳 Oh Sh💩!!!

(My parents, who are reading this newsletter just like you, are just finding out what really happened 😬 - Sorry guys! 🤷🏼‍♂️) 

💪 Exercising your IDEA Muscle

Thankfully there are ways to come up with great ideas without setting your yard on fire. But it takes consistent practice. You need to exercise your IDEA muscle.

Why is it important to exercise your idea muscle? 

Because you need it to be strong whenever you need to come up with an idea. You don’t want to wait until you NEED an idea to start exercising that muscle.

One of my favorite ways to do this is by creating a list of 10 new ideas a couple of times a week.

I learned about this exercise a couple of years ago from James Altucher, who says that “Ideas are the currency of life - not money" 

He does this exercise every day - 365 days a year. That’s 3,650 ideas!

James likes using waiter pads and a pen for this… I use the notes app on my phone. 

How does it work? Pick a topic and start jotting down ideas… That’s it.

Think it’s simple? Not so fast, my friend 🛑

Coming up with the first 4 to 6 ideas is usually easy… it’s numbers 7-10 that are the most challenging. But this is where your idea muscle really starts to develop. 

I recommend that you vary topics… don’t just focus on business things. That way your ideas become diverse.

Here are 10 examples of some of my recent topics:

• 10 things that can be reinvented
• 10 books I should write 
• 10 TV shows that should exist but don’t today
• 10 wacky inventions that might actually work
• 10 new foods to try
• 10 experiences I need to have before I turn 50
• 10 ways to connect with my family and friends
• 10 influential people I want to meet
• 10 things I want to learn this year
• 10 places to visit or things to do in my hometown that I’ve never done before 
• 10 businesses that have successful formulas that can be adapted for other businesses (this is a bonus one in case you’re counting)

For that last one, here’s one of the ideas that I came up with…

An Airbnb for Tools 🧰 - I think this is a brilliant idea!

I was planning on doing a lot of work around the house over a weekend and realized I needed some tools that I didn’t have. I reached out to my local Home Depot and they either don’t rent out the tools or were already booked for the weekend.

That got me thinking, is there anything out there that’s like “the Airbnb for Tools”?

I have a lot of tools that sit idle in my garage for months that could be making me money from someone who needs them for a 1 off project. Some people (like me for my weekend project) only need a tool for 1 specific job and will probably never use it again. Imagine being able to search for the tool you need in an app and finding one a block or two away. I’d gladly pay for that!

Who knows? This may turn into something! (Maybe you'll turn it in to something!)

Anyways...

Just with that list above, I came up with 110 new ideas! Imagine doing this 52 weeks a year? Or every day like James?!?!?

Now, are they all good ideas? GOD NO!!! Some of them are horrible! But just like any workout, some are better than others. Regardless, they still strengthened my IDEA muscle.

So what to do with all of these ideas? 

You have to use them in one way or another. 

Think of your brain as a gas tank - it has a certain capacity. And for it to be able to be filled up again, you need to use the fuel, or in this case the ideas.

So a lot of times, I get inspired and pursue them. 

A lot of times I share them or give them away to friends and family who can use them.

And sometimes I even let them have idea sex… 

Yeah baby! That’s when two different ideas have sex and create an AWESOME idea baby 👶

But most of the time, I do nothing... They just sit those lists in case I need them some day.

By keeping them in the lists instead of my head, I can free my brain to come up with new ideas and know that I will always have a ton of ideas to revisit whenever I need to.

The other added bonus of this exercise routine is that I’ve become an IDEA MACHINE! 🤖

Because I’ve been doing this for a while now, coming up with new ideas becomes easier and easier - whether it’s for work, for new businesses, to help someone, or just for myself.

So now it’s your turn…

What AWESOME ideas are you going to come up with?

I’d love to hear about them! If you’re up for putting them out into the world, share some in my FB group or drop me a note.

✋ But Wait...There’s More

I couldn’t let you leave without sharing at least one more idea you could use…

This one is all about promoting your business or your services (if you work somewhere this would make a for a great idea to share)

Create sales or promotions for your business around different holidays or make up your own. 

Everyone does the same boring normal holidays (Christmas, Black Friday, Memorial Day, etc..) but what if you could offer a “Sweet Deal” to celebrate National Ice Cream Day? 🍦

Not sure what special days are coming up? I got’chu fam…. Here’s a daily list of holidays you can use!

You could also do what Amazon and Alibaba do, and create your own holidays! 

In case you didn’t know, on “Amazon Prime Day” Amazon had sales of $6.1 Billion - in one day! (that’s more than its sales for the past Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined!)

What’s your holiday going to be?

‘Til next time….

Ralph Q out!

P.S. - Is there anything you want me to write about? Give me some ideas (see what I did there? 😉)

P.S.S. - If you haven't figured it out yet, music is a big part of my life (and inspire the subject lines of this newsletter) - So I started a Spotify Playlist with all the songs from the newsletter in case you want to follow it. I'll keep adding to it as the new issues come out 🎶