Quixoting™ - A Quest for New Ideas

Testing An Idea On Twitter: My Results

A number of months ago, I began a test on Twitter.  To see if an idea had any merit.  I was curious if Twitter could be used as a free test market for a concept. After all, I could expose it to thousands of people, right?

So I announced my intention here on the blog and launched it:

Using Twitter To Launch And Test A New Idea

The idea was a website/platform that could be expanded to Facebook and other social media sites called Public Dreaming.  It was conceived as a community where people could share their dreams and life goals.  You see, a lot of people keep those things stuffed so deep down that the dream or idea never gets out to breathe. 

So I wanted to give people a place to express it.  And, I thought, the reward for that might be to have others view that dream.  If inspired, they might even offer some ideas of their own.  Or, in rare cases, grant that wish.  If they were all-powerful.  Or loaded.

The web concept was something like Twitter.  A public stream of dreams, goals, objectives.  Some simple, some grand and far-reaching.

Now my first impulse was to just get started on the website.  Build it and they will come.  But instead I shared the idea with a few people and got a funny look.  So I decided to do the test.

And now the results:

It was a miserable failure. 

While I got a lot of people to follow me (a few thousand), most were MLM folks or others wanting to do business on the internet.  One guy had a Twitter wishing well.  Similar, but different.  His idea wasn't working either.

I tried to get people to send me an @ message with their dream so I could re-tweet it.  A few did.  Most did not.

Perfect!  There's nothing like a good shot of clarity.  And here I was about to spend some good time and money building a site.  

Some could argue that this was not a real test.  That you can't take an idea out of context (without the real web site).  And you could argue that I quit too soon.  But I haven't quit.  I still own the url. 

I just am not diverting valuable time to it.  Because I know it is not an obvious hit.  Not on Twitter anyway.

Good to know, right?

The Things We Covet And Keep. Some Of Us, Anyway.

Sometimes writing is like a rifle shot.  A single bullet sent with targeted force at the reader.  Other times it seeks to reach a broader audience with content that is more generalized.

And sometimes we write because we need to do so. To get an idea out of our heads.  An idea that needs a new home.  A new place to dig.

Over the last 3+ years, I lost my Mom. And my Dad.  And what is striking is how different their passing became after we mourned.  Months and months after they died.

Of course there were many differences in their lives.  They were very different people.  And while they lived together for 22 years, their lives were not intertwined in matrimony beyond 15. 

They were very different people.  With some initial compatibility.  But not enough.  Not enough to stay together. 

And one of the key things that made them different was the things they kept.  And as a child you don't appreciate or seek to understand the stuff of your parent's lives.  Not really.  Until they are gone.  And then you get sentimental about items that you've walked past for years in the hall closet.

Jewelry they wore.

     Their favorite scarf.

          A military name tag.

               A college memory book.

          It even includes silly paperwork like the report from their driving test.

But you go through all of it as part of the remembering process.  And have to decide what to do with it all.  While very little of it has any practical value, each item is difficult to drop into a trash can.  I found it easier to place items in a grocery bag.  An interim place.  Prior to dropping that in a trash can later in the day.

 = = =

Now if you've read this blog before, you'll know that the principle driver is to take ideas from the idea book or active mind and release them to the world.  Well, as I write this, I am still waiting for the idea to take hold.  To find an opening in the writing to make itself known.  No luck yet.

 = = =

So I mentioned that my Mom and Dad were different.  Different in what they kept. And skipping forward, let me say that Mom kept it all and Dad kept almost nothing.  Mom gave us a house full of memories.  Dad left us a few small file cabinets.

After Mom died, there were months and months of decisions.  What to keep and what to donate.  What to release back to the earth.  It was hard to do.  But it was incredibly rewarding to touch and experience her life in this way.  To learn about her life as a family voyeur.  A thousand ways to say goodbye.  Every time I touched a piece of clothing or a trinket from a trip she took.  To Africa.  To China.

After Dad died, there were similar decisions.  Sure.  But the decisions were no where near as compelling.  No where near as powerful.  Because Dad keep next to nothing.  Over 70 years on this earth and so little saved.  No trophies.  No old letter jacket.  No golf clubs.  His old baseball mitt.

You see Dad was divorced.  He didn't have a garage.  But to me that's no excuse.  He should have kept a few things.  Things that mattered to him.

So they could matter to me.  Upon his passing.

So here's the idea, I guess. 

Keep your special things.  Somewhere.  Not as your way to live in or focus on the past.  Rather as a way to remember important moments in your life.  And as a way to share those special things one last time with those who want to remain close. 

After you've enjoyed your life and are ready to begin the next.

Ideas In The Idle Mind

I've been taking stock lately. Of my ideas.

Or at least the few that are coming these days. Oh sure, I'm still having them. But they are different.

Different in that they come at new intervals. And they are very focused.

Before I got busy with Spin Strategy, the new job and a new flurry of kids sports, I had a mind at idle. To the extent that can be true of the mind.

An idle mind is allowed to rotate at its own speed. It takes in, I think, more random data and delivers more content back to the conscious mind. And more ideas.

Now I will say that the ideas produced in an idle mind are more quirky and niche. In fact, many are absolutely not worth a hill of beans. Except perhaps to provoke. An idea to build upon.

And because they come from data seen by the eyes and heard by the ears, they often are off-shoots of other ideas. Or, as dreadful as it sounds, may not be a new idea at all.

The idle mind produces more breakthrough ideas. I think.

I say that because my mind today is churning out a lot of content. But not necessarily any new ideas per se.

Part of the reason is that my mind is very busy today. I am forcing it to do a lot. Constantly. Early morning until late at night. And the ideas aren't coming in my sleep.

The other reason is that my mind is also highly focused. A few months back I decided to place limits on what I would focus on in life. At least for a bit. And I decided to put a big focus on the job search idea.

You see, Spin Strategy allows me to put ideas to work, to share in a space where I have a passion and, importantly, help others.

So, busy and focused has not left much time. For just pure idea generation. And writing about the process. Here.

I've missed it and look forward to more fun here on Quixoting. Maybe the key will be finding a way that my writing here can help others.

That seems to be a new and key motivator for me in life. To focus on significance vs. success. Interested? Read a book by Bob Buford called "Halftime".

So, how can I help?

Signs That Your Idea Needs Love And Attention

Sometimes I get lost.  Not real bad.  But lost enough that I'm going to be late for something that matters.  A few weeks ago I was on the way to pick up my daughter at soccer practice.  At her normal field - one I've been to many times before.

This time I got lost.  Turned around.  Took a wrong turn.

I ended up two streets away and had to do a u-turn to get back.  The u-turn I took was an illegal one that forced me to do a 3-point version.  These are slower and potentially more embarrassing if someone comes driving up the other way.

And someone did.  Right as I was completing my turn.  And they were not happy.

But before I get to that, know that I found a purpose in the middle of my u-turn.  One that caused me to sit there in the middle of the road.  Facing the wrong way.

You see, I was in the middle of my turn (grumbling about making the original wrong turn) when I came upon the street sign above.  And decided to stop, get out my Blackberry and take a picture of it.

That's why I held up traffic for a short while.  After all, it's not often that you get a "sign" suggesting something in life that is actually a street sign.

But in this case, this sign is yet another quirky reminder that I am on a good path with Quixoting.  If you don't know the story, Don Quixote lived in "La Mancha" and his horse's name was "Rozinante".

So these signs and others along the way keep me going on this path.  To find the true path.

As blogs go, this one has a pretty small number of page views per day.  About 5% of the views that Spin Strategy gets.  But that is OK.  That path is more clear.  And I found the right path sooner.

In the end, if this blog ends up being my own personal place to play and generate ideas that's OK too. 

But I'm going to keep looking for signs that something more is there.  Something that will allow Quixoting to live an authentic and well-followed existence.

As long as the signs keep coming.

Hungry For Breakfast? I Have An Idea.

So I had an idea this morning.  But I'll tell you that I'm a little bummed out that it came down to this.

You see, I had big plans this morning.  A little background story for you . . .

I was going to take my Triumph TR6 down to a little breakfast place called Corky's in Ladera Ranch (Orange County, CA) and enjoy a nice warm breakfast. 

Yes, that's my TR6 pictured below.  A car I have been waiting 20 years to buy.  And Quixoting helped me get it!  Yes, that's right.  Acting on my ideas.  Allowing in a little madness. 

 

So by now you have surmised that I did not go to breakfast because I decided to write this morning.  My family is out of town and I have an opportunity to get a few posts in the books. 

Now you might think the reason I am bummed is that I didn't get to drive the car.  Not true.  I had a full day with the car yesterday starting with Cars & Coffee and the Ford Design Center in Irvine, CA.  After that I joined a few Triumph and Austin-Healey owners for a quick drive down to Laguna Beach to a privately owned garage - owned by five car guys.  Very cool - see picture below.

 

A short but nice drive.  And then home to wipe the car down.

So are you ready for the idea?  Here I am starving to death writing to you instead of eating a warm breakfast.  Oh, the sacrifices.

Why isn't there a Dominos for breakfast?  Has anyone ever tried to deliver a hot breakfast?  Am I the only one who wants coffee, OJ, eggs over medium, hash browns and toast right now?  Hard to believe.

And knowing a little bit about the food business, breakfast is "HOT" right now.  It is a big area of growth.

Maybe it's because the experience of going out for breakfast is so great.  Or people wouldn't buy it because it might get cold.  Or perhaps it is too easy to make a few eggs and toast at home.  And cheaper.

But what if you came up with the world's best breakfast burrito?  One that could only be made by your company.  Unmatched.

Would people order a few?  And would they do it any other day but Sunday?

If you are an entrepreneur, take a look at this one.  I'm starving and feeling lazy.  Just give me your number and I'll call.  And order.

New E-Book Now Available! "30 Ideas. The Ideas of Successful Job Search."

So if you've followed along here for a while, you'll know that I started another blog the same day as this one. 

That other blog is called:  Spin Strategy™ - Tools for Intelligent Job Search

And as that idea grows bit by bit, I want to share pieces of it - perhaps you can see how an idea can begin to take root and how you can slowly over time create a brand and a following.

I'm not saying I'm there yet.  Far from it.  After all, so many other great bloggers and job search experts are out there trying to reach the same people.  I mention a number of them in my new e-book.

One way that I decided to build Spin Strategy is through the expansion of my ideas.  A book of ideas.  And since the new ebook is about ideas, I figured why not share it with you here at Quixoting.

It is called: "30 Ideas.  The Ideas of Successful Job Search"

You must know a few people who are out looking for work, right?  And maybe, just maybe, they'd appreciate a few new ideas to help them succeed along the way.

The blog post that includes the free download can be found here.  

Let me know what you think, OK?

Need A New Place To Share Your Ideas?

In my last post, I discussed how easy it was - utilizing social media to launch a new idea.  Importantly, without cost and without risk.  

Using Twitter To Launch And Test A New Idea

Although if your idea is really bad, I guess your reputation can get t-boned.  But that's a risk we should be willing to take if we believe in our ideas.  Note: if you have any concern that your idea might be a stinker, tell 5 friends about it and tell them you can take the bad news . . .

Today I'm writing about another place you can share your ideas.  Or, in this case, a second home for an idea.  Quixoting is now also available as a "lens" on Squidoo.  Through the use of modules, you can build page after page on any topic you like.  You could even build a page for each idea you have.  And let the world tell you what they think.

Here's my new lens on Squidoo:

You can go there live by clicking here.  Stop by, vote on the content and leave a comment!

So there you have it.  No more excuses.  Twitter or Squidoo.  No cost, no risk.  

Priceless.

Using Twitter To Launch And Test A New Idea

The day I started acting on my ideas was one of my best ever.  All those years (20) of sitting on them was starting to build up as a bad headache.

So, on September 1 2008, I decided to start writing two blogs.  Quixoting™ and Spin Strategy™

And since then I have been looking for ways to share all of my ideas - even if I lose ownership of them by doing so.  I've found that ideas left in a bottom drawer don't find soil, can't feel the warmth of the sun and cannot grow. Duh.

So as I find new homes for my ideas and as I come up with new ideas, I share them.  Publish them.

So today I'll share a new idea.

The new idea is called Public Dreaming™.  

And similar to sharing your ideas with the world, Public Dreaming is about sharing your dreams with the world.

In my opinion, a dream is a lot like an idea. If you secretly dream to be an astronaut and are quietly living out your life as an accountant, there's a problem. But what if you were to share your dream with your friends, family and . . .

. . . what if you calmed your fears and exposed your dreams to the general public? 

Scary, I know.  Sappy, perhaps.  But if someone saw your dream and had the ability to make it come true, would that be worth any public embarrassment?

So I've launched this idea with absolutely no cost and very little risk. You can click here to see it on Twitter.

You see, it doesn't need to cost a lot of money to launch your idea. Through Twitter, I will get critical early feedback and can, in fact, continually adapt my idea based on follower numbers and follower feedback.

The goal is to have people send their dreams to @PublicDreaming and I RT them back out to the world. Good karma if nothing else, right?

I grabbed the .com, .net and .org for "publicdreaming" just in case . . .

Will it become the next big idea?  Not sure.

But it will be bigger than any you or I have sitting in a bottom drawer.  :-)

What Motivates You? What Shapes Your Ideas?

Every one of us should have something.  Something driving us forward in life.

Yours might be desire or fear.  Narcissism or morality.

I've found that in life this motivating pressure has ebbed and flowed.  Sometime I am driven in ways I cannot slow.  Other times?  Not so much.  Life slows to a somewhat uncomfortable pace.

Of course, I know I should get comfortable with slow.  I should get comfortable with it all.

For me, many of these motivators are experience driven.  For example, back in elementary school I got into a scrap and had no idea what to do.  So I flailed around, backed off and ran.  Tough guy, right?

That motivated me to be prepared for a similar encounter in the future and, perhaps, to find ways to avoid the scrap in the first place.

In high school, my parents divorced.  And as the oldest living at home, I had new responsibilities.  I was, in fact required to be "responsible". 

In college, 6 months in, my dad lost his job and I lost my college funding.  So I got two jobs and made it on my own until, two years later, he got back on his feet.  I learned that I can make it on my own.  That "if it is to be, it will often be up to me".  I became independent after those two years.  I learned that I have a strong survivor instinct and that, if backed into a corner, I have the strength and confidence to find a way out.

This college experience was the most influencing of all.  But you combine it with the high school experience and I now see a pattern.  A pattern that explains one of the reasons why I did not launch any of my ideas up until now.

I was trained by these experiences to be conservative.  To not take big risks.

During the first 20 years of my career, I have largely played it safe.  Did what I had to do.  Late hours and long commutes (I had two separate jobs early in my career where driving 1.5 hours each way was common). 

Why did I do it? 

Well, I need to take care of my family of course.  They need primarily as a source of income, right?  Well, no, of course not.  They wanted me around most of all!

Now, looking back, I see my motivators being a bit twisted.  And as a good friend suggested recently, those motivators from high school and college served their purpose.  They got me through my hunting an gathering stage.  I made it!  A successful Vice President!

Now, as I head into my second half, I want to be less driven by conservative guarantees and more by the drivers in my heart. 

So it makes total sense that I am launching my ideas or letting them go.  Releasing them to the world. 

There's a great book out there about this time in life.  You will find something in this book by Bob Buford.  It's called Halftime - Changing Your Game Plan From Success To Significance.

It doesn't mean that you can't be successful.  Just that your reasons for wanting to succeed get adjusted (my conclusion, not necessarily the author's).

So what I am asking you to do today is: think about what has been your driving force over the past years.  And take some time to see if that force is still relevant.  Still positive.  Still correct.

Through my own discovery process, I've found a new motivating force.  One that is far less conservative and survival-focused.

I am taking more risks.  And that is a good thing.

Happiness. Where Art Thou?

So if you've read this blog a bit you know that by acting on my ideas, I now feel a sense of accomplishment.  A sense of having honored my ideas and myself. My ideas now have credibility with me and have the chance to be included in public discourse and, inevitably, be available for critical analysis.  

Meaning that people may not like them very much.

All that is pretty good.  And what I was planning for when I set out on this journey with Quixoting.

So why do I not feel a powerful sense of happiness about my efforts to date?  Because I still have a long way to go? Is it that I will never be happy with what I've done? Kind of a perfectionist?

What does happiness mean anyway?  Is it the same as joy?  Is one temporary and one long-term?

Well, to give this a little bit of sense, I've been keeping track of popular references to happiness and now thought I'd summarize it here.  

Am I covering the scope of the world's philosophy?  Of course not.  But I will, I hope, begin to crack the code.  For myself.  And perhaps you'd like to chime in . . .

So how does dictionary.com define happiness?  

hap⋅pi⋅ness

–noun

1.	the quality or state of being happy.

2.	good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.

Origin: 
1520–30; happy + -ness 

Synonyms:
1, 2. pleasure, joy, exhilaration, bliss, contentedness, delight, enjoyment, satisfaction. Happiness, bliss, contentment, felicity imply an active or passive state of pleasure or pleasurable satisfaction.Happiness results from the possession or attainment of what one considers good: the happiness of visiting one's family. Bliss is unalloyed happiness or supreme delight: the bliss of perfect companionship. Contentment is a peaceful kind of happiness in which one rests without desires, even though every wish may not have been gratified: contentment in one's surroundings. Felicity is a formal word for happiness of an especially fortunate or intense kind: to wish a young couple felicity in life. 

Antonyms:
1. misery.

There are many other ways to define happiness:

Happiness = The Anticipation Of Pleasure.  

This one worked for me for a while.  Basically, fill your life with interesting things and you feel good knowing that fun things are on the way.  But what if you only enjoy the anticipation and the actual happiness of the event is fleeting?  I wrote something quick on this a few weeks back . . .

Happiness = the anticipation of pleasure

I get pleasure from productive creative time

Productive creative time delivers a tangible idea

That tangible idea is made up of my mental DNA

Mental DNA includes me plus all that I experience

Experience gives thoughts relevance

Being relevant makes me happy

Happiness = The Absence Of Pain

The tough thing here is that pain is multi-dimensional and includes sadness, physical pain, stress, discomfort and the like.  How can we ever be absent of all that at one time?  I have had moments of complete mental freedom and those do feel good.  I remember one particular time in Yakima, Washington.  It was winter, cold and snowing.  I was sitting my garage with the big door open, watching big snowflakes fall on the driveway.  Me in a beach chair drinking a cold beer.  And I had one - a moment of nothingness.  Bliss.  

Happiness - Absence Of Knowledge Or a State Of Ignorance

Think of newborns (except when hungry/soiled, of course).  Think of Thumper in Bambi.  Sid from Ice Age or Donkey from Shrek.  Is that a fair characterization of their reason to be happy?  How does one become ignorant and does it really work?  Are shut-ins happy?  Hermits?

Happiness = A Life Full Of Distraction

I guess you could argue this is similar to or related to "anticipation", but this one came from a recent interview on NPR.  They were interviewing Woody Allen and asked him about happiness.  His view was that there will always be pain and discomfort.  Life will always be hard in some way.  But through filling your life with events and people who keep you busy, you pay less attention to the tough stuff.

Why this focus and why today?  In the middle of feeling the freedom from acting on my ideas, why focus on this?

Well, I find it interesting.  Always have.  While I did not major in philosophy, I always loved the idea that someday I would.  And I think that we as thinking creatures should always ponder life in this way.

I'm not the ignorant type.  Although I'm attracted to their characters in movies.

And, don't get me wrong.  I love what I am doing here at Quixoting and with Spin Strategy.  But taking action on your ideas does not drop you into a nirvana swimming pool.  There will be frustrations and obstacles.

And having thought of them I feel better prepared to battle them.

In conclusion, I'll share a great poem by Carl Sandburg.  I wrote out this poem and had it on my wall . . . in High School.

HAPPINESS

I ASKED the professors who teach the meaning of life to tell
me what is happiness.

And I went to famous executives who boss the work of
thousands of men.

They all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though
I was trying to fool with them

And then one Sunday afternoon I wandered out along
the Desplaines river

And I saw a crowd of Hungarians under the trees with
their women and children and a keg of beer and an
accordion.