Great ideas are cobbled together, a combination of all the other adjacent ideas that you’ve brought to bear.

It’s for this sole reason that I value so highly bringing raw material into your life, whether that be meeting new people, trying new things, reading new books, listening to talk radio and podcasts, watching good TV, or traveling. Anything that provides massive new inputs into a brain starving for raw materials with which to create.

Repeating the same patterns every day, not learning anything new, holing up inside your own head is akin to running a furniture factory where no wood has been delivered. No matter how good your craftsmanship is, or how fancy your machines, don’t act confused when you find yourself sitting on the floor of the factory while your competitor is sending out beautiful pieces of furniture.

As Steven Johnson says in his recent TED talk, “Chance favors the connected mind”.