3 Ways to Be Inspired, All of the Time

Here’s one of my favourite things about our brains: if you present two people with the same stimulus, they will have different responses.

We’ve had different experiences, so the memory that the word ‘apple’ elicits for you might elicit something very different in me.

Have you ever seen an improv comedy show? They start with an audience member offering a one-word suggestion. The show that follows is comprised of the improv team’s individual gut responses to that suggestion. This might mean a memory, a feeling, an intricate idea. Those responses stimulate other responses. The show becomes an agglomeration of each performer’s reaction to the stimulus they’ve been presented. This can go for up to an hour, if not longer. All from one single word.

Using a prompt is an easy way to get inspired. It’s even better if you have the right prompt. Here are the three categories of prompt that I use to ensure that I am always richly inspired, every time I sit down to write.

Universal Concepts

I made a list of things that could be considered ‘universal concepts’ — notions that are likely to resonate with every person on earth for one reason or another. You can check it out (and add your own comments) here.

For source material, I use things like religious texts (e.g. The Ten Commandments), books on human nature (e.g. Robert Greene’s The Laws of Human Nature), articles about biology and psychology, and more. Using one of…