Not all information is made equal, so what do we do?
At the top of my list - drum roll, please. You guessed it, books. To my mind, this is the best way to steal ideas from smarter, richer, happier and healthier people than you. Every interest is catered for, and if it’s not there, you can be the one to create it. For the ones amongst us who are searching for answers, there are plenty of ideas to be stolen and applied to your own life. Even the excuse of not having time to read has been solved through audiobooks. You can now listen on the bus,
metro and in your car. You could be on the toilet or cooking in the kitchen.
No excuses.
Searching for those ideas to steal should be a lifelong task.
Other sources of ideas are documentaries, YouTube, films, and articles online or offline. They are a treasure trove of ideas to steal in these places. Chances are the ideas you’re reading or watching we’re discovered, created or researched by the author, director or videographer. If you like what you see or read from the creator’s standpoint or from the subject matter, then dig deeper and steal some more.
Mentors are another excellent repository to steal from.
These are people who already have what we want. And so these are the people to pay attention to. You don’t have to be formal if you have chosen someone as your mentor; in this instance, it needs to be someone you have access to.
How else are you going to steal ideas?
Evaluate others’ life experiences and draw lessons that match your personality and your life’s context.
Be mindful when choosing who to listen to. Are they leading by example, or are they skilled at convincing the inexperienced through social media how accomplished they are, but it’s all smoke and mirrors?
When stealing ideas, remind yourself that all ideas come from somewhere. Anything of note has been built on perceiving things differently and uniquely connecting the dots. You’re going to take those ideas and apply them to yourself, and as a consequence of that, they will change.
If there is one golden rule for copying or stealing, it’s probably this: Steal in a way you would like to be stolen from. Ideas come from people, and therefore people are more important than ideas, so treat them as you would like to be treated. And use them to improve yourself, not hurt others.
One of the lessons here is that if you are inspired by the work of a person, company, or even culture, take it, recognise the source and put your own spin on it.
Stealing at its best is when you can inhabit the mind of those you wish to steal from and view the problem from their perspective.
That’s the only way your stolen treasures will be useful and make a difference in your world.
