I agree with most methods described, but I am slightly bothered by a bit of hypocrisy amongst the various guidelines. Guideline 2 is "Immerse", meaning to completely surround yourself in a concept. Conversely, guideline 8 is "Take A Break". I think these are both good guidelines to follow, but you can not do both at the same time. This leads me to believe that each of the guidelines should always be considered, but only one or two will ever actually be performed at any given time.
I do find taking a break to be helpful when trying to think of new ideas. I think that too often we immense ourselves so deeply in the subject of thought that we overlook more general ideas. A lot of good ideas came about this way, almost by accident. When we allow ourselves to take a break, we allow ourselves to think of completely different possibilities in completely different ways. I often take this approach myself when I produce music. I often become so immersed in the environment i am creating that I miss many details that a first-time listener would pick up on. I often find myself so unable to move past certain aspects of a production that I will take a break. I generally head to the outdoors, something completely different from the electronic sounds I produce. This helps my brain recharge and immerse myself in completely different things to inspire new things in my productions.
I also find that guideline 10, "Hang Out With Diverse Groups of People," is a great way to conjure up new thoughts and methods. This can be related to the "Take A Break" method. When you are always around the same people, you are immersed in the same ideas and thinkers. Being around diverse groups of people will give you different points of view. Along with those comes different ways of thinking. These diverse groups of people will also give different answers to problems that would have otherwise gone unseen.
I use this method of thinking and learning on a daily basis. I try to be around different people every day. This gives me many different perspectives and shows me that there is often more than one right answer. Many times the solution is a combination of thoughts gained by conversing with multiple groups of diverse people. Too often people limit themselves to a certain group of friends they are secure with. Going outside your personal comfort zone and interacting with many groups of people is the best way of thinking and the best way to become successful.
Method number 4, "Make New Connections", is also very important to me. If you continuously turn to the same people, you are limiting yourself to finding many new methods and thoughts. Other methods being used outside of your 'connection circle' may be just what you are looking for. New connections may not necessarily have the answers to your problems, but they will provide fresh views and possibly different methods of thinking that can be applied at a later time.
I am not the best at meeting people outside of my field of interest. However, this is often a great way to get ideas outside of your normal realm of thinking. It is very easy for me to to make new connections with people in my field of interest. I am generally as enthused to meet them as they are to meet me. I am sure this can be said for any field of special interest.
This next section is in response to the prompt given in guideline number 9, "Notice And Challenge Existing Patterns And Trends." The trend in the marketplace that most intrigues me is the shift of income for musicians. For years, the primary source of income for musicians has been from the sale of their music. Because so many people now have access to this music for free, the primary source of income for musicians is shifting towards live performance. Some musicians are now getting paid more to play at huge concerts and festivals than release a new album of music. I believe this trend will continue until purchasing music becomes virtually obsolete, save for the nostalgic purpose of owning the physical copy of a music album.
My most inspired idea and biggest life goal is to bring the huge dance festivals held in Europe to America. This is the future of income for musicians, and every fan wants the next event to be bigger and better. America seems to be several years behind Europe in music preference, and these large-scale events have just recently begun to take over the music scene. It is my belief that these events will very soon make it to America, and I want to be a part of the people who profit the most from this surge of musical performance.
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