Slow Hunch

Good ideas generally don't come from a bolt of inspiration. They first form as a slow hunch.

Here is the hard part: we have to be open and receptive to slow hunches so they grow in our brain.

The bolt of inspiration lands when a slow hunch crystalizes into an idea. Newton must have been thinking about Gravity before the apple fell. Archimedes must have been immersed in thinking about mass and weight before he had the "Eureka" moment in the bathtub. They all had slow hunches or intuitions.

Here are some of my slow hunches:

  • Re-read books from the last five years that left me sad because I had finished reading them
  • When I don’t feel like following my schedule, it is a sign that I need rest
  • Pick up woodworking again, even if I have not done it in five years
  • Take a pause on my hobby of Grassroots car racing
  • Double down on Attention, hone it, craft it, deepen the roots

Further reading on this topic is “Where Good Ideas Come From” by Steven Johnson, 2011. It’s on my reading list.