The INFP Idea Process (Moving From Idea To Creation)

I have a lot of ideas. Like, a lot. So many that I would never be able to follow through on all of them. I think this is a good problem to have.

But when I do follow through with one, I’ve noticed that there tends to be a certain process I follow. In a nutshell, the idea begins very vaguely and only starts to take shape when I start to move forward with it.

Let me illustrate this a little further. When I feel the pull to start something or create something, it’s usually not much more than that–a feeling. I may, and often don’t, have any specifics about this thing that I’d like to create. But what I have are my feelings about it.

I may feel curious and excited. My intuition may be giving me a green light to walk forward. My attention and my energy feel drawn toward this thing. And the funny thing is I may not have any other information besides that. I will have absolutely no specifics about this thing, I just know I’m going to start walking forward with it.

The image I use to represent the idea at this stage is an amorphous blob. The idea has no shape at this point, but it does exist. I see it as being made of gas so it’s kind of moving and pulsing as it floats in my mind.

Now, I’ve gotten stuck here before because there is a part of me that says I need more clarity to start moving forward. I need to shape that amorphous blob into something before I can begin to walk forward with it. Right? I need to know where I’m going in order to get going. Seems to make sense, right?

Wrong.

If I try to force that blob into something, it seizes up. My excitement and energy fade away. I start to feel frustrated and I may being thinking that this wasn’t such a great idea after all. I’m disillusioned with my blob.

But, if I let the blob just be a blob for a while things start to take shape.

Because, there’s no real reason that I have to try to shape that blob right away before I begin to work with it. I can hold the excitement and energy of the idea and let it draw me forward.

I may decide to take some small step with my blob like sending someone an email or writing a blog post or jotting down some ideas. Maybe I’ll begin to play around with whatever it is I think I’d like to create, just to get some energy moving.

And then I may notice that certain things in my environment seem to be “speaking to me.” I’ll happen upon an article that gives me an idea to try. I’ll be talking to a friend and they say something that gives me a missing puzzle piece. I’ll find an online course that will help me learn something to move me forward.

And suddenly the blob is looking a lot more shapely.

To give a recent example, back in February I was a speaker in The INF Summit hosted by Lauren Sapala and Jas Hothi. As I watched some of the other speakers in the summit, there were many of them who did coaching and also taught online courses, and my ears perked up. I immediately felt some energy around doing those things myself, though I didn’t know what I would create a course on or what kind of coaching I would do.

And I still don’t exactly know because both of those ideas are in the blob form. But, I have taken some action and come across things that have helped me clarify them a little.

It sounds kind of odd to say “Hey, I’d love to create an online course” without first knowing what you’d want to teach, but that’s exactly the kind of thing I do all the time. The temptation is to try to push for that clarity right away, but at this point, I know to let it be for a while and let the next steps in the process come to me.

The likely candidate for the course would be something on Productivity For INFPs since I recently published a book on the subject, and I could have just dug right in and started creating the course. But that felt like I was pushing the blob a little too much and that it just needed to remain a blob for a while.

I have to remember that there was one point in my life where I said to myself “I’d love to write a book” and had no idea what the book would be. Now, I have five published novels and one non-fiction book. 🙂

Ideas take shape over time and you can begin walking forward with them before you have a plan or an outline or all the clarity you want. Because the more you work with it the more that blob will start to have defined edges and it won’t be moving and pulsing so mcuh, and, hell, it might even have a color.

It may be that trying to force clarity onto something will kill it, but taking small steps forward and working with your blob will allow it to take shape naturally.

Get the first two sections (“Starting and Moving Forward” and “Goal Setting and Completing Things”) of my book, Productivity For INFPs, free when you join the For INFPs newsletter!

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Amanda Linehan is the author of North, about a young woman on the run from her past, the law and an old adversary out to get her. Her newest release is Bored To Death: A Vampire Thriller, about a 300-year-old vampire trying to restore the balance between life and death. She has published five novels. Get a free short story every month when you sign up for her newsletter.