I used to save ideas. When I thought of a good idea for an article I would often justify not writing it until I was a better writer. If I had a good idea for a joke I would often save it for a “good time” instead of telling it as soon as I thought of it.
I thought that good ideas were a scarce resource that needed to be carefully rationed. But I’ve discovered that they’re not. In fact, the more ideas I use the more I find I’m capable of creating high quality ideas.
Take writing for an example. I recently received inspiration from Seth Godin to try writing everyday instead of only twice a week, and although I’ve only been doing this for three days, I can already feel a greater abundance of blog post ideas forming.
Maybe I was wrong. Perhaps ideas aren’t a scarce resource needing to be rationed. Perhaps they’re a muscle in the brain requiring constant exercise to prevent atrophying.