Here’s a guest post from Seth Simonds. We had a few interesting chats lately on Twitter. I’m glad he was willing to throw some ideas my way in more than 140.
You can land a flathead catfish the size of a 10 year old child with your bare hands! It’s a sport in the southern United States known as “noodling” or “hand-grabbing.” It works on the premise that if a catfish thinks you’re a threat to its eggs, it will try to eat your arm. Follow these simple steps to put catfish on your table:
- Get in the water.
- Get a giant catfish to eat your arm.
- Get your friends to help drag your prize out of the
water.
With all the uncertainty about money these days (as if uncertainty were a new thing!), there has been a lot of discussion about ideas.
How do you come up with new ideas? How do you find ways to create revenue and improve your surroundings while making the most of your skills and talents? Look no further than the champion noodler:
- Put yourself in a position to be inspired. Champion noodlers work year-round to improve their chances at success by finding new hunting spots and installing custom boxes for the fish
to nest in. Any veteran noodler will tell you, there’s no chance of catching the “Big One” if you’re not getting in the water and making an effort. Write down a new idea each day at lunch for a week. Make it
a habit to ask questions and seek out solutions to the challenges around you. You’ll find the ideas soon flow faster than you can write them down! - Don’t just come up with ideas. Take the next step! It’s not enough to just get in the water. A champion noodler wants to get a bite and reads the muddy water for signs of the prize. When you have an idea, find out where it leads! Search for your idea online and see what others have said on the topic. Read industry magazines and expert blogs. Get a feel for where your idea fits into the greater scheme. If you find that somebody has already developed your idea, it’s okay! Not finding a fish doesn’t mean the noodler read the signs wrong, just that another noodler got there first. There are many fish in every pond and even more ideas swimming out there for you to grab!
- Get others involved! Dragging a 70lb fish out of the water with your arm stuck in its gullet is quite the task. The champion noodler always has friends around to help. Friends can be some of the best sources of inspiration. You might not worry about being dragged to a watery death by a large catfish, but you should make a point to have a support system in place. Great ideas can quickly grow into daunting tasks. Friends will help you weed out the lesser ideas, plan for the great ones, help you reach a finish,
and celebrate your victory! Get involved in the broader conversation by joining Twitter, Friendfeed, or another social media platform. Having expert friends just a click away can be a tremendous help in weeding through your ideas and discovering new possibilities. Joining a conversation also means you’ll be able to help others discover ideas to be passionate about!
It’s great to be cautious and not give away valuable information indiscriminately. Be smart! Just know that as new media expands, success will show less favor to those who insist on pursuing ideas alone. Grab a few friends, pick a pond of ideas, and jump in! By working together, you make it possible to pursue the big ideas and increase your chances at success.
Your friends will share in your failures as well. Sometimes, when you’ve nearly got that big idea in the boat, it gets away. Failure is part of the sport. Don’t worry, your friends will be there to remind you that frozen fish sticks taste better than that muddy old fish that got away.
Happy Fishing!
Seth Simonds writes a fantastic blog over at The Dating Papers
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons