Earl Nightingale’s 20 ideas;

Have you ever heard of Earl Nightingale? Nightingale was a radio personality who dealt primarily with the subjects of character development, motivation, excellence and meaningful existence. I have posted one of his radio broadcasts before; check out Earl Nightingale and 19 minutes that can change your life.

But that is not for today; today I want to share Earl Nightingale’s 20 ideas. This is a method of creative problem solving, and it is discussed in the video at that link. The next big problem you have, find a quiet place to sit, with a pen and paper. Write the problem you are working to solve, in explicit terms, at the top of the sheet of paper. Now, write out 20 solutions to your problem.

This works for goal setting, for problem solving, and for most other creative tasks. Now, we all primarily are paid for our problem solving capabilities. At the end of the day, we make all keep the world turning in our own way. If you can tackle a problem that has plagued your organization, you can dramatically increase your value to your employer, to your customers, and your self worth.

The Earl Nightingale 20 Idea Method:

1. Take a blank sheet of paper and write your current problem or goal at the top of the paper in the form of a question.
2. Think of 20 answers to this question.
3. Go back over the ideas and select at least one to be acted on immediately.
4. Optionally, consider taking your idea, and repeating the exercise. Think of 20 ways to put your idea into action now.

One idea is all it takes to change your life. If you create 20 a day, you will create a whole lot of bad ones. But some of them will be good. Some of them will be great. A few will the really worthwhile. And with a level of commitment, you can create a big idea that will make a difference in the world.