Just as you get stronger as you lift more weights over time, she suggests that after coming up with 10 ideas per day for 6 months, you’ll develop the “gift of trained spontaneity.”
The point of the exercise isn’t necessarily to develop a patent for the next world-changing technology. Instead, it’s to exercise your idea muscle and “make your brain sweat.”
As such, she writes that it’s OK even if the ideas are bad, and includes 180 prompts in the book to help you get started. Here are a few examples:
- 10 titles of books that you could write
- 10 ways that you could help a friend
- 10 words that you can erase from your vocabulary
Altucher credits this exercise with giving her the confidence and creativity to transform her own life: from becoming a bestselling author, to creating
The Yoga Podcast, as well as writing
Become an Idea Machine, which she completed in 6 weeks.