“My good ideas are shy. But if they see that I treat the stupid ideas with respect, they come forward.”―Gail Carson Levine
RICHARD BRANSON
While Sir Richard Branson struggled with dyslexia in 1950, few, besides his adoring mother, could have imagined the heights he would achieve in the entrepreneurial world. He is arguably the World’s Most Interesting Man. His reported net worth is around the $4 billion mark from building an empire called Virgin Group. Virgin Group spans many industries and includes over 200 businesses. He also left his mark on the world by tackling a handful of bold feats. In 1987, he broke a world record by crossing the Atlantic in a hot-air balloon. A year later, he drove a military tank through Times Square. Throughout all his success, Sir Richard played a vital part in global philanthropy with Nelson Mandela. He’s also the author of six books and finds time to surf, kite, and play tennis with his family.
A key to his success is revealed in the advice he gives the most: carry a notebook. In a 2006 interview, Sir Richard said, “It may sound ridiculous, but my most important advice is to always carry a little notebook in your back pocket. I think the number one thing that I take with me when I’m traveling is the notebook…I could never have built the Virgin Group into the size it is without those few bits of paper.”
Sir Richard advocates his predisposition for list-making in his books and blog. He uses these lists to “give shape” and form to his visions. He goes through a pile of notebooks a year, writing lists ranging from small goals to outlandish challenges. Sir Richard credits the meteoric success of many Virgin Group companies to a random spark that originated in one of these notebooks. “Write down every single idea you have, no matter how big or small,” he says, “You never know what’s going to hit.”
HANDWRITTEN NOTES
Sir Richard isn’t the only successful creative with a strong habit of daily note-taking. Creative giants such as Mark Twain, George Lucas, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Thomas Edison shared a robust love for carrying little notebooks everywhere they went. Leonardo da Vinci’s notes were so sacred to him that he wrote them using special codes. He also wrote in reverse, mirroring his handwriting, to make it difficult for others to read. He only wrote in the traditional direction when the text was intended for others to read. In 1994, Bill Gates paid $30.8 million for Leonardo da Vinci’s notebook at an auction. It was the most expensive book ever sold.
A more modern example comes from researching Drake, one of the most successful and influential artists in hip-hop and pop music. Like da Vinci, he keeps a private notepad that is the starting ground of his hit songs. “I keep a constant notepad of just ideas, play by play,” he said in an interview. “If you read through that notepad you could really see where my mind is at. Where my life is at. But nobody is allowed to read that notepad.” What benefits about writing in a notebook do creative geniuses know that most people don’t?
Turns out, science supports handwritten note-taking, too. You may be tempted to take digital notes in today’s tech-driven world. Digital notes are great to store your thoughts and ideas in a searchable way. I’m also an advocate for digital notes, but while taking notes on my phone makes storage, safety, and self-expression convenient, it isn’t as cognitively beneficial as writing notes by hand. Research by Pam Mueller of Princeton University suggests that “when people type their notes, they have this tendency to try to take verbatim notes and write down as much of the lecture as they can. The students who were taking longhand notes in our studies were forced to be more selective—because you can’t write as fast as you can type. And that extra processing of the material that they were doing benefited them.” Although the study was in a classroom context, the research holds true in other walks of life. Writing out things by hand forces you to process your thoughts in real-time. This engages your mind much better than any digital medium could. When generating ideas, use pen and paper. When storing and building on your ideas, use technology.