Looking for your inner Lin

February 15, 2012

It's mid-week and mid-winter. The weather is bleak, your energy level low.

Sugar and caffeine are becoming constant companions to get you through the day while your boss is looking for fresh, energetic ideas. Where do you turn?

Some people lose themselves in distractions like sports. Despite appearing to be an easy way to make a ton of money in a few years, a lot goes on in the background of pro sports. Take this week's star, Jeremy Lin, the underdog's underdog, a brainy (a Harvard grad, after all) Asian called up to the NBA. Did he cash his check and send a midcourt action photo to his mom then retire to the bench? No, he's shaking things up, surprising the jaded fans – waking up the Knicks. Lin can be a source of inspiration to all of us, someone who didn't give up despite being cut from two other NBA teams.

Or maybe you'd benefit from a coach who can draw from that untapped well of energy within you, turning your attitude from one of drudgery to one of purpose. It's all in the way you look at your job, your life, the smallest task before you: do you consider it a chore or an opportunity?

Finding a solution to world sanitation is a real challenge.

There are many places to go for inspiration. This writer says he browses images like book covers on Amazon.com, or tries to just squeeze out a good opening line to get himself started.

This blogger offers a handful of amusing videos for inspiration. You'll know that you're truly in a rut if the bicycle video (do what you love...) makes you growl. Maybe if you got out on your bike a little while you could shake that attitude?

Perhaps your project is too small and insignificant to inspire you. Consider the issues that Bill Gates is tackling: world hunger, disease eradication, etc., etc. He annually challenges people to step up to the plate with fresh innovations on old issues, like improving sanitation. Yes, that means reinventing the toilet. There's an inspiring challenge for you.

Are you still grumbling after watching this video?

A more down-to-earth approach to cracking that creativity block is to write everything down. Get those bad ideas out on paper and sort through them. Creativity and fresh ideas can come from the dregs, the shredded carcasses of bad ones.

And if that doesn't work, there's always tomorrow.