Your subconscious is your most powerful ally. In some ways, it’s a black box: stuff goes in, some it disappears, some of it comes back out synthesized and transformed into epic ideas. Some of it comes back out looking like a cross between a lost sequel in the Hellraiser movies and Yo Gabba Gabba.
Well, okay, maybe that’s just me.
Stuff can stay in that black box for a long time, incubating. It’s kind of like a slow cooker, where you put in the ingredients and then many hours later, you have a delicious melt-in-your mouth roast or stew. Over time, the flavors come out and meld with other flavors, producing something unique.
And tasty.
Two Challenges
In the online business world of the solopreneur, your main acts of production are the creation of marketing content and product content. The constant creation of this content is a challenge, and time is precious. Two big questions always on your mind are:
- What am I going to blog about today?
- What is my next product going to be?
I’m not going to get into a discussion on whether or not there should be a next product for you. Clearly, you could put more efforts into selling the ones you already have (and by “product” I mean anything that you sell–just keeping the language simple, here). We’ll accept that as a given and move on.
In my book, How to Write an Ebook that Doesn’t Suck, I tell you how to accomplish both of these in order to rapidly create an ebook which you can then either sell or give away as an email sign-up incentive.
But sometimes, rapidly isn’t what you want at all.
Instead of zap-frying something in a microwave, you want to take the slow cooker approach to content.
The Slow Cooker Method – Harness the Power of Your Subconscious
Many of you are already doing this to some degree if you keep an idea journal or a notebook of some kind. I use several tools, such as Evernote, Google Docs, and index cards (the last vestiges of my hipster PDA, lol). And yes, I just put an Amazon affiliate link in there for fucking index cards.
There is a difference, though, between randomly receiving unrelated ideas from your subconscious and actively putting your subconscious to work for you. And it’s the latter I want to talk to you about.
I have a particular product I’m creating. I’m creating it right now, even as I type this post. My subconscious is hard at work on it while my conscious mind is thinking about what word to type next in this paragraph. And that word is incommunicado, simply because it’s an awesome word and I love it.
There are certain things I know already about this product and these aspects are guiding my subconscious to generate specific ideas. Every few days to every couple weeks, an insight or idea floats up from the murky LSD-scarred depths of my subconscious and I capture it using the tools I mentioned above.
I’m not entirely sure anyone can scar their subconscious, but if you can, I surely did. That was many, many years ago, of course, but the flashbacks are always like yesterday…
Anyway…
Collect Slowly Over Time
If I had been in a big hurry about this product, it would have ended up looking entirely different than what it’s currently shaping up into. And that would be sad and unfortunate, because it’s coming together into something which I don’t anyone has ever done, before. Had I rushed to ship, it would have been totally lame. And by the way, I’m not talking about perfectionism here or even evolutionary perfectionism.
The Slow Cooker method is just entirely different:
- Instead of rapid brainstorming, you collect ideas slowly over time
- Instead of using your conscious mind, you use your subconscious mind
How to Do It
- You’ve got to plant seeds in your subconscious mind for the slow cooker method to work. You’ve got to provide some kind of framework your mind can build onto.
- Once you have come up with a new post or product idea, create a document of some kind according to your preferred method (mine is usually to copy it from its original location in my Evernote “loose ideas” notebook into a Google document).
- Often at this moment you will have a little brainstorming session. If that comes over, let it take you and run with it. Jot down whatever comes to you, because this is planting more seeds or building out your framework a little more.
- Close the document and just let it go. Forget about it if you can. If you can’t, you might still have some more initial brainstorming to do. But you want to reach a point where you’ve squeezed everything out of you for this idea for now.
- Because you planted specific seeds and have jotted down some ideas, your subconscious will now set to work on growing those seeds to fruition by giving you more ideas. Capture these ideas in your note-taking tools, and later move them into your product or post document. The human mind automatically tries to solve problems or answer questions you put to it. By using this “slow cooker” method, you’re taking advantage of that.
- Over time, more ideas will come to you, and they will be much better ideas than if you had hurriedly rushed through creating a product or writing a post all half-assed.
- The ideas you collect into your document will begin to synergize with each other in your subconscious, and you will see new connections and have yet more ideas. Add all this to your document.
- When you’re ready, take these ideas and mind map them out or otherwise start to consciously create your product or write your blog post.
How Long is Too Long?
That’s different for everybody. But I think at the most when it’s been a few weeks and no new ideas have come to you at all, then it’s time to begin developing your product or writing your post. What you really have to be wary of is jumping the gun and starting too soon before you’ve had all the really good ideas.
Creating the Seed Document is Key
What really has made this work for me is not keeping all my random ideas in a random idea journal, but moving the good ones out into their own document as soon as possible so that it can become a seed document. This seed or framework document now provides a direction for my subconscious so I can harness its amazing power.
And now I can stop making pictures in my head of Foofah with a grid of needles on her face.
This is the second time I've read about the unconscious mind this week. Perhaps it's trying to get my attention?
At the moment I'm writing a quick eBook, it doesn't need slow incubation, but I will certainly make use of your ideas in the future. I think I already manage it to a small extent; where my method falls down is in not writing those ideas down. I know I've lost some great thoughts because I thought I'd remember them – and I didn't.
Yup, I think there are many different ways of concept-building. Sometimes in
a short span we can rapidly develop ideas and express them in a white-hot
blaze of glory. Other times it's like watching a mystery unfold and
capturing insights as they come so you can incorporate them into something
later.
You are obviously a man after my own heart – I reckon my posts take about 10 days to germinate and then 20mins to get down on paper! OK maybe I'm exagggertaing slightly – but only slightly
Looking forward to your next product.
Cathy
When I look back on certain projects I can see this at work repeatedly. My
recent redesign was able to happen in the midst of other projects simply
because I had spent so long envisioning it that executing it took almost no
time at all. And I've had a few posts like that, too, but I think I'm more
sporadic than you when it comes to posting. Many of my posts are actually
triggered by insights I gain working with my clients or at least getting
into their heads, rather than coalescing after a long incubation.
Thanks for commenting, Cathy, hope to see you around here more!
Fantastic post! I've been blogging about a year and it has taken some time to get in a rhythm (and still a work in progress). I just finished reading Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich – this post about allowing the subconscious to work is so timely.
Michael, this is brilliant as always.
I've been working with a few people who feel they struggle with procrastination. My belief is that procrastination is simply a concept we use to beat ourselves up about and that our delayed actions are actually our subconscious minds telling us that either 1) the idea/task is not done percolating yet (slow cooking) or 2) there is something else that needs to happen first (usually a self-care issue).
Holy crappola, I do believe that's the longest sentence I've ever written. At least I hope it is.
Anyhoo, this post is a great reminder that it's OK to take it slow. Brilliant creativity is not something to be rushed.
“And yes, I just put an Amazon affiliate link in there for fucking index cards.” Bwahahaha!
Amazon affiliate links are something I'm seriously neglecting. I've been slow-poking it in that department. You on the other hand are in BEAST MODE with it and I salute you!
Psychocybernetics is one of my favorite resources when it comes to putting your subconscious mind to work for you. Teamed up with these action steps you've laid out, I've got the recipe for slow-cooking success!
Thanks Michael for dropping your wisdom here in a flavor I favor!
It's just more of a pathetic joke at this point (Amazon affiliate links).
May as well have fun with it.
At least I have a name for what I do. I get random ideas and I'll put down everything that pops into my brain about them, and then they sit and wait for the next surge of energy I want to place into them. When the right time comes to develop them, I feel like I'll know and it will be awesome!
That's good to hear. It's cool how everybody does it a little differently,
too. Thanks for sharing.
G'Day Michael,
Thanks for this post. Because I'm an old bugger, I remember reading “Psycho-Cybernetics,”
Maxwell Maltz' 1960 book, early in the 1970s. Then I came across the concept of self fulfilling prophecy in the mid-70s. It was through a movie called “The Pygmalion Effect.”
The combination of the power of the subconscious mind and the power of expectation is really valuable. Your application for writing blog posts is a useful contribution.
Enjoyed it a lot.
Best wishes
Leon
I never read Psycho-Cybernetics but did read the Alvin Toffler books which
had a huge influence on me. I only mention that because they're the “oldest”
books of their kind I can recall from my own lifetime which were so
influential. Thanks for your comment and insights!
I find it easiest to blog when I'm not thinking about it too much. Sometimes I want to produce a post so badly that I'll sit down in front of my computer with a purpose: produce a post. This often doesn't end well. I'll come up with something but it'll suck. It sucks for a variety of reasons, but mostly because it's forced. There's nothing special about it. Nothing sets it apart from any other post that can be found on anyone else's blog and I have a major problem with that.
I agree with you Michael. I often have random ideas for blogs that I'll start and not finish until a couple weeks later. I'd rather wait until I can write a real post rather than force one.
Good points, Kelley. If you think the idea itself is good, just that writing
the whole post right now is not a good idea, then save that post idea as a
seed and let it incubate in your subconscious.
Just got here today via @jennybbones.
Great post, directly relevant to me right now. I've got a product brewing in the darkness, bubbling out one snippet at a time. I'm reconnecting with insights from ten years ago.
I love the idea of deliberately partnering with my subconscious to do cool stuff that is me.
Great post, and thank you.
Ah, the power of social media! When other people like your stuff they'll
promote it for you and grow their own following doing so. That's a win-win.
Glad this speaks to you, Peter. “Sleeping” on a problem is another way we do
this.
[...] example, over time, using my “slow cooker” method for harvesting awesome from my subconscious, good editing takes those ideas and manifests something [...]