Some of his ideas are novel, such as planning time to be “Unnecessarily creative.” Others are merely old ideas with a bit of a different twist. The result is a practical guide with many useful takeaways to help anyone capitalize on and expand their creativity.

To attempt to perpetually brilliant and increasingly productive, without changing the basic habits and structure of your life to accommodate that undertaking is a futile effort.

I found myself furiously scribbling notes, afraid I might miss some nugget of wisdom. I had to go back and re-read some sections to make sure I actually absorbed everything I needed to incorporate into my working creative system.

Nuggets of wisdom like:

Why it’s important to do “Whole-life planning” and stop trying to separate everything

How to cultivate a healthy diet of stimuli

Why you need to develop a study plan

Mastering an information processing system

The widely accepted practice of being slaves to productivity

Planning ahead for creativity

Scheduling “Idea time” on your calendar

And perhaps the most compelling idea presented is the concept of weekly, monthly, and quarterly checkpoints designed to provide the grounding and momentum needed for forward movement. This was so convincing to me that I printed out the worksheets and marked these sessions on my calendar.

If you’re in a creative business, or you are a creative in business…This is a resource you don’t want to be without. Plus, “The Accidental Creative” has the added bonus of being exceptionally well written in an engaging, conversational style that makes it an enjoyable read, while you’re learning something valuable along the way.

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We all know someone – probably more than one someone – who has said, “I had that idea!” “If only I had pursued it, I’d be rich.” Well, actually that’s not necessarily true. Having an idea or concept is no guarantee of success. So many other factors come into play, but the reality is thinking, dreaming, and planning means nothing without action.

Many people have great ideas, few actually act on them. And believe me, if you don’t somebody else will. It’s what you do with your creative notions that matters, not what you think. Whether it is an innovative design, a brilliant invention, a fabulous book idea or a unique business concept doesn’t matter. The world needs pioneers who have ground-breaking ideas.

So, you have a dream, an idea, a splendid thought for a new and improved or never before done…something. Do something with it. Just start moving forward. If you don’t know how…ask, research, find out. There are many resources available. Get a mentor; pick the brain of someone who has done something similar.

Tell someone

Get support

Brainstorm possibilities

Flesh out your idea

Determine what need it fills

Decide what end result you want

Make sure you have the proper motivation or desire

Make a plan of action

Now, do something!

Just start in some small way to take steps to move your idea forward. Otherwise, in a few years you will be that sad, pathetic person who says, “if only…”

Is there something you’ve thought of but never pursued? Care to share?

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Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google +, that’s all we hear about. Bang, bang, bang goes the social media drum. But what if it’s not the answer for you? What if it’s not the marketing miracle that everyone thinks it is? Maybe it’s just a big, fat waste of time… Gasp! I can hear the roaring thunder of the vehement outrage of all of the “social media marketing specialists” and “branding gurus”

There are a surprisingly high number of businesses out there that are flourishing, with sizeable profits that have refused to jump on the current social media marketing band wagon. They conduct business via personal relationships, phone, mail (maybe email) and by offering a great product or superior service they remain extremely competitive.

Now, before you get your panties in a twist, I’m not saying that social media marketing does not have value; in fact I believe it has tremendous value…for some. The point is this… don’t spend all of your time on Twitter and Facebook at the expense of developing your product or service and don’t forget about the value of  in person relationships. You might just be cutting off your nose despite your face.

Do you spend too much time on social media? What could you accomplish if you spent that time developing your skills or broadening your network?