Weekly Quote: Austin Kleon on Collecting Good Ideas

This week’s quote comes from Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon. Inspiration might be found everywhere. Whether reading a book, watching a classic film, chatting with some old friends, or taking a long hike, be ready to make a note in your project ideas list, journal, or commonplace book.

I’d argue the next step is actually going back and taking a look at these ideas. They’re easy to collect and forget about, yet I think you really start to find the influence and build a creative narrative from the ideas you’ve collected when you take a second (or third or fourth) pass and get another look at them.

The Wisdom Project from Merlin Mann

Merlin Mann is a funny and thoughtful guy. He’s started 43 Folders nearly twenty years ago, created that whole Inbox Zero thing, and these days spends a lot of his time writing and hosting podcasts.

He’s also created The Wisdom Project, filled with things Merlin has learned throughout his life. Some of it is poignant, some is funny, most is useful, and the parts that aren’t useful, as Merlin writes, aren’t for you.

Take a look. You can also hear him discuss The Wisdom Project in more detail on the latest episode of the Mac Power Users podcast. Here’s a favorite from the list that I try to embody whenever I’m out in the world:

Treat every person you encounter as though they are having a way worse day than you.

Related: ask yourself how you might become the least annoying stranger that a given person met today. If you became the subject of a private anecdote, how great would you feel about hearing it?

-Merlin Mann

I have an informal rule that whenever anyone has grabbed my attention, either through storytelling, humor, or otherwise, shares something, often in list format, I check it out. Give this rule a try. you'll rarely be disappointed.

The Two Definitions of Zettelkasten by Chris Aldrich

This deep dive of the history of Zettelkasten and commonplace books by Chris Aldrich is a great read. It is FULL of references and links to explore further, which is something that presses all of my nerd buttons.

I used notecards years ago for projects and book notes before I knew the deep history of the format. I liked the system and am considering implementing it into some of what I’m working on now. I’m pretty much all digital at the moment, and while that’s not likely to change significantly, I think an analog component could be an exciting experiment and perhaps a way to drive some new ways of thinking.

I found Chris’s piece via a link posted by John Johnson on the always great Mac Power Users Forum. Thanks, John!