I, like most of us, have experienced an uptick in my social media consumption over this quarantine period. This has come at the expense of my exercise regime, writing and ‘in real life’ socializing.

It was only six months ago that I was at the peak of my marathon training and I was on a roll, waking at 5am, writing for one or two hours over my morning coffee, going to work and then running ten miles of an evening. My days were full, but momentum was carrying me through.

Today, the hours in the day are just as long, but my home is my office and work has dissolved all boundaries filling the expanse. As a result, I am anxious about leaving my computer for too long. I fear going for a run, in case of missing that urgent text or email. My computer is now just a medium for work, the thought of using it for leisure or to pursue my interests just does not appeal.

Work comes in flits and starts. Therefore, my cell phone with LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube fills the ether. A reward for that email sent, or conference call ticked off. Something, I can transition in and out of at a moment’s notice.

Online consumption has become that black hole in my life, a time sync that sucks away the minutes little by little, imperceptibly mounting into hours per day. But even in the darkest of spots comes a spark, a moment of enlightenment.

And so, it was when I decided to watch an episode of the Rich Roll Podcast with James Altucher. I watched passively, distracted by moments of scrolling through my phone, until James spoke about his daily ritual. There, something lodged in my psyche, filed ready to be recalled and mused upon.

James’ practice was to write down three ideas every day. When he began this exercise, his ideas were no good. But the more he practiced, the more he was able to exercise his brain and the more readily neural connections were formed, the lifeblood of ideas.

While on reflection, most of his ideas were useless, or not fully formed. There are some that have significantly changed the course of his life. And in hard times, it became the route to a better life. An insurance policy which meant whatever happens he would always be able to bounce back.

At the time, I thought how difficult it would be to produce three ideas a day, where would the inspiration come from? I mean, I have thought of ideas. In some cases, I have even tried to action a few but none were successful, although learning did indeed come along with those failures.

My main learning point has to be to follow my interests, or what I find meaning in. Also, I learned that some of my passions, such as running, were totally personal. They are not meant to grow beyond those boundaries.

Running, was not an idea machine for me. I thought about custom insoles, therapeutic devices and made some prototypes. But ideas were few and far between and I was left with this nagging feeling that I was just trying to think of a product to make money. And in so doing, there was no meaning.

After my experience exploring my running interest. I wanted to do something in and of itself, just to see where it takes me. And that is how I began to explore my interest in self-improvement and writing.

Over the twelve months since I started this blog, I have tried creative writing courses, developed blog posts on improving one’s mindset and became a broader and more prolific reader. All this has been incredibly beneficial in my personal life as I have become more comfortable with failure and learned to experience discomfort for what it is without further interpretation.

The growth I have experienced through these pursuits and writing about them has aided me in questioning the elements of my current job role and exploring them further. In so doing, I became aware of my struggle with the idea of mass manufacturing and continually growing consumption.

It is through this reflection that I found the topic of ‘Sustainability’ to be incredibly meaningful, but also one in which I can explore making an impact through using my engineering skills, in addition to my interest in wellbeing.

This is where I come back to James Altucher’s idea machine. Since I have moved from thinking about the means rather than the ends, the ideas have started to flow. Over the past couple of months, I have generated approximately 30 ideas. And generating these ideas has not been strenuous, they come to me in quiet moments, while I am reading, or on my daily run.

In some cases, the ideas are beginning to compound and I am starting to flesh out a few of them further. This has been incredibly exciting for me, but I know without further action I will not be able to turn these ideas into something tangible.

And so, my plan is to keep reading, writing and giving myself permission to generate ideas. But I also, need to learn how to move from idea into realization. I need the confidence to take a few steps in this direction. By taking these steps, I will be able to stress test my ideas and then pivot or evolve them further. From there, I will develop my niche and create something meaningful that others can engage with.

I need to no longer be just a consumer of literature or social media which can become a self-fulfilling loop. I have to start taking more action, like I do with this blog. It may not be much, but laying the foundations are what take the longest. And I want to start laying them piece by piece. Until next time . . . .