I have been playing soccer regularly for the first time in several years. It’s been a lot of fun to reconnect to a sport I love. I have noticed that when I play frequently, that I find myself thinking about the game in my off time. I was playing with my son and he wondered when the game was going to end. At a certain score? After a certain amount of time? I told him that as adults, we just play until we’re ready to stop. After the game ended, we spent the drive home discussing what he should do to improve and what things he enjoyed. Now we frequently talk about different aspects of the game.
I realized this is the same experience as I have had with my business ventures. I go to work from 9 to 5. Well, sort of, it’s more like 7 to 7. But I have found in the off time, that I find myself thinking about the business and what I need to do to be more successful. The physical work of my business happens during the day, but the mental work happens all the time.
Napoleon Hill, in his book Think and Grow Rich, says that we need to always have a clear and definite picture of what we want in our minds. After we plow through the daily work, we need to not shut down in the evening. I have been keeping a journal of ideas on my phone in case something useful pops into my head. I’ve found that ideas multiply as they are written down. The interesting thing is that as they multiply, they typically improve in utility.