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.