7 Secrets for Creating Million-Dollar Ideas

I sat in a cold and dusty basement, searching for ideas that could change my life.

Being 21 years old, I was ready to take my life to the next level, but I felt stuck for three reasons: I lived at my parents' house, I had an $8 per hour job, and I was enrolled in an never-ending MBA program. Deep down inside, I knew I had to escape. However, I wasn't going to run away from myself, which was something I always did.

This time, I was determined to make a change. I was deeply inspired to become successful, but I needed an idea. For some time, becoming a millionaire seemed to be an impossibility. After all, I had never met one. I only saw them on television and online. They seemed untouchable and even unreachable.

But it was an idea. The idea was to become a millionaire.

To make it more of a reality, I emailed and phoned 100 people who were millionaires. Only a dozen of them answered and gave me a conversation. That same year, I spend thousands of dollars going to conferences and ordering books. I even sold my Mercedes Benz to fly to San Diego to meet and hire my coach, who was presenting at a conference.

"Listen, I'm willing to do anything. I'm 21 years old and I know I was born to be successful. I don't know what to do or where to start, but I need your help. When I called you several months ago, you said 'Find a way to make it to San Diego', so I sold my car to get here. If I paid you 'X dollars', would you show me how to make this happen?"

Without hesitation---he obliged to become my mentor---and it changed my life.

This idea led me to the creation of multiple businesses, which has produced millions of dollars in revenue. However, if I had not procured that idea in my parent's basement, I would have acted on it. Fortunately, all you need is one highly-developed idea, which can take you anywhere.

Moreover, everyone thinks differently. Some are very analytical and others are creative. Regardless of how you think or what your circumstance may be, ideas will dramatically alter your life, if implemented correctly. Therefore, let me share 7 Secrets for Creating Million-Dollar Ideas:

1. Gather Information: Ideas are simply new combination of old ideas. Before I determined to become a millionaire, I read hundreds of books and learned nearly everything I could about my future industry. This information, both general and specific, gave me the ability to expand my mind to infinite horizons, even though these new ideas were still 'raw' and unusable to me.

Many of the ideas you will study may be completely unrelated, yet, it can give you a new sense of understanding. These ideas, regardless of their originality, can lead you to the creation of your million-dollar empire. Heed them without bias or filtration and store them in your mind. Even a gardener can benefit from a milkshake at a jazz concert. Frankly, you become what you study.

You can't make dollars if you can't make sense.

-Daniel Ally

2. See Relationships: Any idea, little or great, can be connected to other ideas. Absorbing ideas are wonderful, but you must think about its meaning and see potential relationships with other ideas. When you associate these ideas with the rest of your knowledge, it will unlock infinite combinations in your mind, which will present many options to you.

People may receive copious ideas, but do nothing with them. They have great knowledge, but no insight because they fail to make associations. For instance, John might hear from many people that he has a 'great voice'. He believe them and accepts it, even though he doesn't see how his voice may be relevant to his job. However, he still tries to see all relationships regarding this idea.

3. Incubation: Not all ideas come at the perfect time, therefore, you must let it wait. In this stage, you must allow your subconscious mind work your ideas by constantly dwelling on it. Let's say John believed he was 'gifted' with a great voice. Now, he must consider all of his potential options and ceaselessly look at every avenue of expressing his 'gift'.

As he waits, John discovers that there are many mediums of sharing his voice, but doesn't know which is the best format for him. Since he understands this, he searches for platforms and resources that will help him do it. While focusing on his potential approach, he studies the greatest voices in the past 100 years: Paul Harvey, Dick Clark, Dan Rather, Andy Rooney, John Madden, etc.

You'll find boredom where there is the absence of a good idea.

-Earl Nightingale

4. Testing: You must test your idea by allowing criticism from the judicious. This way, you'll be able to determine if your ideas are valid. For John, he tries out these voices, but doesn't find any of them working for him, leading him to frustration. After another night of incubation, it dawns on John that he has to use his own voice, while still adopting the characteristics of the greats.

He begins to utilize his voice by practicing for hours while no one is looking. At his full-time job, he plays around with his voice to see what his friends will say. Later, he uses feedback to adjust to his real voice. This way, he avoids being mocked and castigated. By doing this, he enables himself and deflects all discouragement from outside sources.

5. Implementation: Eureka! After birthing a new idea, you must find a conduit of expressing your idea. John finds his platform in the capacity of a podcast, which allows him to consistently use his voice. As he shapes and develops his idea for practical usage, John takes a few hints from current pod-casters. Thus, he is able to make more relationships pertaining to the idea.

However, this doesn't mean he should strain for the idea. Some of your best ideas come from rest and relaxation. Your ideas can come from many places. More particularly, I've noticed that great ideas beget themselves while being in the hardest places to write them down: showering, driving, sleeping. Either way, using your idea will help to expand it even more.

A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.

-John F. Kennedy

6. Refinement: There have been many times where you'll have to revisit and massage an idea to make it better. Many times, I revisit my articles and speeches from the past to create my new ones. Sometimes, I'll take an hour to fully edit an article that took me 30 minutes to write. Amazingly, the refining process allow your to create the greatest results.

After obtaining a following for his work, John learns more about his fans and expands his message. He understands that specificity builds credibility and builds his niche, earning trust in the process. Over time, John works with first-class people and resources, allowing him to be recognized by a many individuals in his industry.

7. Mastery: Pioneering greatness takes constant effort. Only years of practice can give you an inimitable act. At a certain point of mastery, your ideas will need added complexities as you create a message of perfection. Many will see you as the paragon of your assignment and consign you to the echelon of your industry, giving you immense wealth in the process.

John, now a virtuoso in his field, has a following of millions of people because of his impeccable podcasts. There isn't a day where he goes without feeling the joy and excitement that comes from mastering his work. Masters of their ideas usually have the highest places in society as they indulge in the best in the world.

Summary:

Whatever you do, write your ideas down! Ink it when you think it. An idea can be lost forever if it isn't captured. Even if you have to pull over on the highway to write it, the endeavor is worthwhile. Your ideas can drive you to indeterminate amounts of health, wealth, and happiness. Use your ideas to shape your reality.

Ideas rule the world. Ideas lead to income.

Daniel Ally

www.danielally.com