One of the funniest parts of this world is that you’re never not at work.

Which, for some, might seem rather lame.

“Work,” as we’ve been programmed to think about it, in general, is kind of boring.

It sucks.

It’s a necessary evil.

The thing you have to do so you can do the other things in life that you actually enjoy.

And that’s pretty much the MAIN reason this place exists…

Because I don’t like that.

I don’t like the idea that there’s work… and then there’s life.

Work sucks but must be endured so you have the means necessary to enjoy the part of life that is not work.

I want work and life to be rolled up into one messy, exciting little ball that gets you fired up to get out of bed every morning.

And when you start thinking about the money you make as something YOU create and control, things just look different.

You no longer have a list of tasks handed to you by another person, with deadlines they impose, that are then reviewed and accepted or rejected.

No more pats on the back or reprimands.
No more performance reviews.
No more resumes.
No more “job” searching.

The method of operation when you start operating outside the “system” is to constantly be on alert for ideas that could be turned into a business.

And once you start thinking this way, the ideas will start to flow.

And you won’t be able to stop.

From the minute you fall asleep to the minute you wake up, it’s constant.

Everywhere you go.
Every person you talk to.
Everything you read or listen to.

You’re always scanning for ideas to test.

Once you really get going, you’ll shift from:

“Are there even any ideas left?”

to:

“There are so many ideas out there, I don’t even know where to start.”

The latter is an abundance mindset.
The former is one of scarcity.

Once you make that shift, the real hurdle becomes the discipline to implement and stick with something—which has been, and still is, a real struggle for me and most people like me.

But before you even worry about that, you need to get to the point of…

seeing the ideas constantly.

Without an idea, you’ve got nothing to work with.

And as mentioned in a prior email, the odds that your first idea—or second, or third, or twentieth—is actually a good one are very, very low.

So what does that mean?
That you suck?

No.

It means you need MORE ideas.

And to get more ideas, you have to be constantly thinking about them.

That’s the fun part of this existence—always seeing, scanning, and thinking of new ideas.

They’re literally everywhere.
All day.
Every day.

Unless you lie in bed all day with the TV off, no phone by your side, and no books to read, you should be able to come up with 5–10 ideas per day to research and look into.

Heck, even if I laid on my back in bed all day, I think I could still come up with at least 10 crappy ideas.

Hey—here’s one.

The ceiling in my bedroom is just a plain, white, textured ceiling.

I’ve often thought it would be cool to have some sort of coffered ceiling or beams or something.

I imagine other people might feel the same way.

What if I sourced some cool-looking ceiling beams (I happen to be in that business, so I’ve got a bit of a leg up—but you get the idea), added them to my ceiling, took some before-and-after photos, and advertised as 

“The Coffered Ceiling Guy”?

I’m in and out in two days or less, and your bedroom goes from bland to badass.

So on days when you feel like laying in bed all day, at least you’ve got a gorgeous ceiling to stare at.

…

See? I just laid in bed and thought of one.

Are you picking up what I’m laying down?

Keep your scanner running nonstop.
Become an idea freak.

You don’t need to—and probably shouldn’t—talk about your ideas with people. That would get annoying fast.

Ideas are garbage without actual attempts at bringing them to life.

So just store them as they come to you.
In your phone.
In a notebook.
Whatever.

I’d say get to around 200 ideas before you even try one. It shouldn’t take very long to get there.

Once you’ve got a long list, pick one and go do it—whatever it is.

Crash and burn.
Prove that it sucks.

Keep generating new ones along the way. When the first one bombs, move on to the next best one.

Eventually, something will grow tiny little legs.

To start, though…

Focus on the ideas.

Alright, I’m done for now.

C-ya,

Kurt
24/7 idea scanner