My insatiable need to form new and progressive meaningful connections with like-minded individuals that has, over time, morphed into being part of my natural mien has led me to discover that nearly everyone I interact with has a brilliant applicable idea (with varying degrees of impact, of course, but still all the more relevant). From the polished and overly-zealous investment banker I met last week at a networking event to my forever-cool and irie mutura-vendor compadre, Kamwana (who I, ever so frequently, indulge in casual exchanges about the current state of the premier league proceedings, above other things) close to everyone I talk to has a feasible solution to an existing modern-day problem.

With my growing experience, I have come to realize that it takes much more than just having an idea to impact it in this natural world. Both Kamwana and the investment banker might have had genius ideas, but they were perhaps too fidgety and nervous in their explanation of them, qualities that could easily be misconstrued as either having lack of faith in the idea or practice in explaining it. In a slightly skewed/bastardized version of one of Captain Jack Sparrows’ many wisdom-fueled moments of enlightenment in the obvious movie series “It is not so much on the idea as it is about the packaging and presentation/delivery of it.”

An obvious follow-up question would be how then would one be able to achieve these somewhat heightened level of presentation and expression of one’s idea, particularly to someone of considerable value to the actualization of the idea (an investor, if you may)? One sure way of ensuring that this reality is by talking about something that one has earned the right to talk about through long study, research and experience. Talk about something that you know and you are aware that you know. By so doing, you will achieve the much-needed level of confidence and grasp on the topic in order to fully and comfortably express it to anyone interested enough to listen.

You start by forgetting. You forget everything you thought you knew about the topic so as to clear your mind off of any pre-existing false notions or clutter on the subject. This clears one’s mindset by allowing one to develop a fresh perspective on the problem one is trying to solve and the solution one is developing to solve it on a real-time basis while also considering bits like the income generation and value addition side of things.

Secondly, you become active about the idea. Indeed, though the brain weathers in stagnation, it flourishes creation. Practice it the holy grail of fully mastering any concept. If one is truly passionate about an idea, one should constantly actively involve themselves in matters that pertain to the idea. They must put in the work. The gist is to equip one’s self with the right, relevant and current informational prowess on the subject matter. Be it reading daily blog posts about it, be it visiting websites or knowledge banks, be it making a prototype version of the concept, be it writing it down or talking to experts, there are so many things you can do to be active the key is to find which one is most convenient for oneself.

The third tip would be to try and achieve a positive mind-state when you are working on the project. It would be wise to ensure the proper state of one’s current mind and body mood while your thinking about/ working on your project because information garnered in a state of good/positive emotion creates an undying personal connection to the idea. The action of expressing it would be almost reflex and the zeal and passion in narrating it will be from a point of genuine interest and heart.

Lastly, one should always practice the idea with the intent of expressing it in the simplest and most layman of ways and within the shortest amount of time. It is often referred to as an elevator pitch. The basic notion of it is that if one suddenly meets a potential investor in an elevator, he or she is able to introduce oneself and lay down the idea in a cool and composed way fast enough before the person of interest exits the elevator. This is excellent practice as it allows you to declutter your idea and maintain the important bits that encompass the idea for easy understanding. You learn the idea with the intent of teaching it to somebody else and by so doing, you would be learning it twice.

To part with, we are all humans living on, pretty much, the same physical plane and plagued with the same day-to-day challenges. With this in mind, it would be rather lob-sided to assume that one’s idea on a particular issue is the grandiose Eureka-moment that no human being has ever dared to tread before. Although the possibilities of coming up with a uniquely original idea are still quite probable and every professional should strive to achieve the highest degree of novelty in their concepts, it isn’t as too much of a frownable fault to reinvent a pre-existing idea/concept in a way that addresses the current, real-time shortcomings of it in a fresh and new way. The wheel has already been invented, ladies and gentlemen, but in all honesty, it could definitely use a little tweaking and fine-tuning.

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