For the last few days, I’ve been brainstorming. I keep a journal in which I periodically write business ideas including subjects for future blogs and even ideas for physical stores because online shopping still doesn’t compare to going into a store to browse or touch and see an item we are considering. Sorry for the mini lecture, but I have thirteen big ideas in my journal for 2026. Four of them already exist, and I want to improve them. Two are in the works. The others are still all in my head. The point is that I put them on paper so I could see what my brainstorming looks like.
I have one basic rule: Brainstorming has NO limits.
Brainstorming should have no financial limits, business regulations, or anything to hold back your imagination. Knock down the walls, think outside the box, and remove the guardrails. Take off the blinders and throw caution to the wind. (Okay, enough with the cliches.)
What is the biggest idea you can imagine? Professionally? Creatively? Personally? What do you really want to do? If you had all the money at your disposal to carry out your dreams, what would those dreams be?
Brainstorming is not the time to throw a wet blanket of reality and hard truths over your creativity. Life will do that soon enough. Brainstorming is the time when you THINK BIG! Think of the most amazing things you’ve always wanted to do. If you had no responsibilities, what would you do with your life? Your plans? Your creativity? How do you imagine your future if everything went just the right way to make it your idea of success?
Brainstorming isn’t about avoiding responsibilities. It’s just a few minutes in your head in which you imagine what you would do if you didn’t have to worry about other things. However, if it isn’t about avoiding responsibilities, why bother brainstorming in the first place?
First, using your imagination and creativity can get your brain into a positive, even happy, space. You’re building, working, and designing all in your mind. I don’t know about you, but I’m not who I am without my imagination where I build my ideas before they get to the page or screen.
Second, brainstorming can help you realize when ideas you thought were impossible might actually be possible. Reality will intrude at some point, but using your creativity helps you to solve problems. The more you brainstorm, the more you may find you can make a dream work even with responsibilities and the everyday issues of life.
Make brainstorming a part of your life. Grab a notebook or open a new document or notes app and start writing. When inspiration hits, put it on the page or screen. Imagine what you would do if you knew it would all work out. Does it inspire you? How can you implement your ideas where you are in life? How can you tweak things to make an idea fit into your everyday experiences? Your imagination and creativity matter whether it’s at work for someone else, in a business you are building, or at home with family and friends. Just because you can’t do everything you imagine doesn’t mean you have to push those ideas out. Write them down somewhere and come back to them later. They will keep until you are ready.
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Inspirational Verse for the Day:
And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17, CSB)
All Things Subject to Change 