“Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.” ~Theodore Levitt

Innovators get things done, that is what separates them from merely being dreamers. They know when to wake up from dreaming and do it. If you can’t take your ideas and get them done you will never be successfully creative.

There are 2 phases we must pass through if we want to make things happen…

1. The DREAMING Phase

This is the creative time where you think of new ideas. EVERYONE should have scheduled times throughout the week, and even throughout the day to simply DREAM. If you can’t DREAM you will never have anything to DO. This is the time where you are creating and playing at the 50,000ft level of productivity. Most people get lost on what to do with their life, business, family, ministry, etc… because they don’t spend enough time dreaming. The most successful people spent intentional time dreaming. Look at DaVinci’s notebooks to Steve Jobs’ idea files, the most successful innovators never stopped dreaming up new ideas. Just a quick few tips about dreaming…

a) Pick a specific topic to dream about

Don’t try to just go into the dreaming phase without a plan. Pick a singular topic to focus on so your mind doesn’t get overwhelmed with all there is to dream about. Tackle one issue at a time and stay with the issue. Albert Einstein said, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”

b) Schedule a time to dream about it

If you wait to get time to dream it will never happen. The immediate needs will always steal future planning. If you don’t pick a specific time to dream you will never do it. Don’t wait till you have left over time to plan. We have all heard the VERY powerful statement, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

c) Write down what you dream about

Have a system to capture your thoughts. Every person needs a net to catch their thoughts less they disappear into vapor. Take a notebook, computer, whiteboard, whatever it is you like (if you don’t like your system you’ll never do it, so make sure you have a system you like) and capture your ideas.

Alright back to the phases…here is phase 2

2. The DO IT Phase

This is where you have to prioritize your ideas you dreamed about and start working on it. Don’t get stuck dreaming…it can easily happen. Ideas are great, but worthless unless you do something about it. Everyone has ideas, but successful people executer their ideas. Stop saying one day I’ll do it, and simply pick a day/time that you are going to do it! Schedule your DO IT DAYS…NOW! Literally pick a time on the calendar that you are going to commit to start WORKING. Think of this as the assembly line phase, this is where you go from dreaming at 50,000ft to working at 5,000ft. Here are a few tips to the DO IT Phase…

a) Break down your project into small chunks

Lay out an execution plan with specific checkpoints. This will help you break down your project into more bit-sized tasks, so you don’t get overwhelmed or stuck. The more you break down your project into specific actionable steps the more likely you are to do it.

b) Give yourself deadlines

If you don’t have a deadline you will procrastinate forever. Be realistic about your deadlines but push yourself to get thing done. Get accountability by sharing some deadlines with a trusted friend or co-worker, sometimes when you go public you get productive so do it.

c) Get results

You can’t improve a result until you get a result. Don’t be a perfectionist and get stuck in re-dreaming mode. Just get things done and then go back and tweak them. Motivation comes when you get going. If you wait for it to get going you will always be waiting. Motivation and momentum come with movement. You don’t find motivation…you create it by doing! The more you start getting done the more momentum you create. So just get doing something…anything…now. Get quick results then you can go back and improve them.