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Become An Idea Machine: Because Ideas Are The Currency Of The 21st Century
HOW DO I TRANSFORM MY LIFE? The answer is simple. Come up with 10 ideas a day. Every day. It does not matter if they are good or bad, the point is to exercise your idea muscle, to make it sweat.
People say ideas are a dime a dozen but that is NOT true. Ideas are a dime for three, but if you try to come up with ten by opening this book to any page, you will feel your mind stretching, working, sweating.
People say execution is everything, that is ALSO NOT true. Execution is a subset of ideas.
When you exercise your idea muscle every day you become an idea machine, you are unstoppable.
When a GREAT idea comes your way you are inspired, you feel moved, you HAVE to take the next step. Execution happens automatically.
Try the 180 prompts in this book, list your ten ideas every day and see your life transform, in magical ways, in front of your eyes.
People say ideas are a dime a dozen but that is NOT true. Ideas are a dime for three, but if you try to come up with ten by opening this book to any page, you will feel your mind stretching, working, sweating.
People say execution is everything, that is ALSO NOT true. Execution is a subset of ideas.
When you exercise your idea muscle every day you become an idea machine, you are unstoppable.
When a GREAT idea comes your way you are inspired, you feel moved, you HAVE to take the next step. Execution happens automatically.
Try the 180 prompts in this book, list your ten ideas every day and see your life transform, in magical ways, in front of your eyes.
252 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 27, 2014
574 people are currently reading
1230 people want to read
About the author
Claudia Azula Altucher
6 books29 followersClaudia Azula Altucher is a writer, podcast host, speaker, and teacher of yoga. She is the WSJ bestselling co-author of 'The Power Of No', and author of 'Become an Idea Machine', and '21 Things To Know Before Starting An Ashtanga Yoga Practice'.
She is the host of 'The Yoga Podcast' and co-host of the 'Ask Altucher' Show.
She writes for national media outlets including Thought Catalog, Mantra Yoga + Health, and Positively Positive.
Her blog ClaudiaYoga.com has attracted 2.5+ million visits since inception.
You can find her on Twitter @ClaudiaYoga or listen to her show at TheYogaPodcast.com.
Claudia would like to hear from you, she answers direct questions on AskClaudiaYoga.com
She is the host of 'The Yoga Podcast' and co-host of the 'Ask Altucher' Show.
She writes for national media outlets including Thought Catalog, Mantra Yoga + Health, and Positively Positive.
Her blog ClaudiaYoga.com has attracted 2.5+ million visits since inception.
You can find her on Twitter @ClaudiaYoga or listen to her show at TheYogaPodcast.com.
Claudia would like to hear from you, she answers direct questions on AskClaudiaYoga.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
June 1, 2015
This is not so much a book as it is a list with an introduction.
Claudia Azula Altucher wrote a companion to her husband's Choose Yourself, a completely redundant book. For an idea what it's about, please read the first review on its GR page.
I'm giving this book 3 stars because it's a nice idea in principle, and 'Become An Idea Machine' is a better title than 'crank out a lot of stuff of questionable usefulness'.
The author is of the notion, certainly correctly so, that if you make an effort to produce a lot of things, anything really, something of use will eventually fall out, so she produced an entire book to be summarised thus: If you have an idea, write it down, even if you're not going to act on it immediately or realise it's potential usefulness.
Revolutionary! Life-changing!
What follows is a list of possible topics to think about.
The idea is solid, of the sort that many self-help books containing advice of the 'well duh' variety are, but is it a book you need to read? No.
Claudia Azula Altucher wrote a companion to her husband's Choose Yourself, a completely redundant book. For an idea what it's about, please read the first review on its GR page.
I'm giving this book 3 stars because it's a nice idea in principle, and 'Become An Idea Machine' is a better title than 'crank out a lot of stuff of questionable usefulness'.
The author is of the notion, certainly correctly so, that if you make an effort to produce a lot of things, anything really, something of use will eventually fall out, so she produced an entire book to be summarised thus: If you have an idea, write it down, even if you're not going to act on it immediately or realise it's potential usefulness.
Revolutionary! Life-changing!
What follows is a list of possible topics to think about.
The idea is solid, of the sort that many self-help books containing advice of the 'well duh' variety are, but is it a book you need to read? No.
July 16, 2017
I downloaded Become an Idea Machine as I’d started a 10 ideas a day practice and it's become one of the most useful parts of my morning routine. I picked up this book already sold on the premise, hoping for inspiration and more background on the original idea. I’ve been using it each day for three weeks and have mixed feelings about it.
The book has a brief introduction followed by 180 ideas for lists.The ideas for lists are helpful, fun, interesting, and have encouraged me to think outside my comfort zone. Some parts of the introductory content are useful and clarify how to use this daily exercise, others seem redundant and feel more like filler.
My biggest issue with this book, however (and the reason for the two-star rating), is the poor quality. This book needs a thorough edit and proofread. Reading it, my guess is English isn't Claudia's native language. If that's the case, it's commendable she's written a book in a second language (no mean feat), but it's all the more reason to get a proper edit done. As other reviewers have pointed out, the book is only 99c, but out of respect for readers even a non-professional proofread would make a big difference. There are basic grammatical and syntactical errors that make the reading experience jarring at times. Unfortunately, this kind of basic lack of editing gives self-publishing a bad name. I wanted to like this book, and the suggestions are valuable. As a reader, however, I found myself distracted by obvious errors. As a self-published author, I find it hard to give a high rating to a book that contributes to the idea self-published books are poorly written.
The book has a brief introduction followed by 180 ideas for lists.The ideas for lists are helpful, fun, interesting, and have encouraged me to think outside my comfort zone. Some parts of the introductory content are useful and clarify how to use this daily exercise, others seem redundant and feel more like filler.
My biggest issue with this book, however (and the reason for the two-star rating), is the poor quality. This book needs a thorough edit and proofread. Reading it, my guess is English isn't Claudia's native language. If that's the case, it's commendable she's written a book in a second language (no mean feat), but it's all the more reason to get a proper edit done. As other reviewers have pointed out, the book is only 99c, but out of respect for readers even a non-professional proofread would make a big difference. There are basic grammatical and syntactical errors that make the reading experience jarring at times. Unfortunately, this kind of basic lack of editing gives self-publishing a bad name. I wanted to like this book, and the suggestions are valuable. As a reader, however, I found myself distracted by obvious errors. As a self-published author, I find it hard to give a high rating to a book that contributes to the idea self-published books are poorly written.
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February 18, 2021I tried, I really did... The idea of 10 ideas per day is actually really cool... but the topics proposed for the ideas to write down were to me very stupid and boring... Maybe I didn't get it...
May 14, 2023
A superb book containing 180 prompts to write 10 ideas each. I did them, it was a great exercise.
June 13, 2015
I listened to the audible version, which makes the lists mostly useless but from reading the reviews here is much better on the content side than the written book.
I got this audible book because I had a long drive and I was curious- I'm pretty sure I have more than 10 ideas a day almost every day. As a content and social media manager for a variety of brands, I have to. I had just generated a mind-map with more than 200 ideas for one one project.
The author recommends writing down your ideas, which I think is essential. Spend some money getting a nice pen and stationary. And I recommend Evernote for storing ideas (hand writing is searchable).
But the most important thing she had to say was about expanding the range of things you are allowed to have ideas about to include the whole world. I had been focusing my ideas on my sphere- my projects, my clients, my near potential clients. I even attended a Penelope Truck webinar on ideas that was about selling your ideas.
This author recommends giving away your ideas- every day! Think about it - if you are giving away your ideas there are NO LIMITS to what you can have ideas about.
I got this audible book because I had a long drive and I was curious- I'm pretty sure I have more than 10 ideas a day almost every day. As a content and social media manager for a variety of brands, I have to. I had just generated a mind-map with more than 200 ideas for one one project.
The author recommends writing down your ideas, which I think is essential. Spend some money getting a nice pen and stationary. And I recommend Evernote for storing ideas (hand writing is searchable).
But the most important thing she had to say was about expanding the range of things you are allowed to have ideas about to include the whole world. I had been focusing my ideas on my sphere- my projects, my clients, my near potential clients. I even attended a Penelope Truck webinar on ideas that was about selling your ideas.
This author recommends giving away your ideas- every day! Think about it - if you are giving away your ideas there are NO LIMITS to what you can have ideas about.
December 7, 2016
This book is a little silly, a little gimmicky, and a bit eyeroll-inducing. So why 4/5 stars? The darn book actually did what it advertised. I was in a rut in my life, and this one helped me out of it.
The premise is that every day, you're given a prompt and must come up with 10 ideas that would satisfy the prompt. Some are easy, some are quite difficult. Some reference past prompts. All of them fall in the "things I could do with my life" category.
I am certain that this book led me to write my own book. And not because I quite literally came across that epiphany in one of the prompts. Rather (and the book states this at the beginning), it was an idea that just came to me about a third of the way through the prompts and wouldn't go away. I made it almost halfway through the book before I actually set it down for good. My philosophy with self-help books is to take what you need and leave the rest. I definitely got out of it what I needed, and I feel no compulsion to finish it (nor do I feel guilty about not finishing it).
The premise is that every day, you're given a prompt and must come up with 10 ideas that would satisfy the prompt. Some are easy, some are quite difficult. Some reference past prompts. All of them fall in the "things I could do with my life" category.
I am certain that this book led me to write my own book. And not because I quite literally came across that epiphany in one of the prompts. Rather (and the book states this at the beginning), it was an idea that just came to me about a third of the way through the prompts and wouldn't go away. I made it almost halfway through the book before I actually set it down for good. My philosophy with self-help books is to take what you need and leave the rest. I definitely got out of it what I needed, and I feel no compulsion to finish it (nor do I feel guilty about not finishing it).
February 11, 2015
Ideas are important, they are truly the currency of life. Claudia Altucher reinforced my belief in this. I used to think my mind was cluttered because of all the ideas rattling around. In this book she assures me it's not. It's important to discipline ideas. For those for whom this discipline seems difficult, it's no different than doing ten pushups a day, eating healthy, or forming any healthy habit. Thinking of things in a whole new way is simply a new habit. It's a life-changer.
In "Become an Idea Machine," Claudia shows us how to do that. Half meditation, half activity book, this book's a keeper. I suspect there'll be a sequel, and hope for a workbook or Idea Machine journal as well. This isn't just a book, it's a lifestyle.
In "Become an Idea Machine," Claudia shows us how to do that. Half meditation, half activity book, this book's a keeper. I suspect there'll be a sequel, and hope for a workbook or Idea Machine journal as well. This isn't just a book, it's a lifestyle.
September 3, 2015
This is more of a workbook than read front to back back that tells a story. The first part follows the common theme of a personal development book then it goes into asking the questions and finding 10 solutions for each. That is the idea creation part. Get the ebook and just skim the first few chapters. I have been using questions and idea creation from the other parts of the book daily for many months. If nothing else it forces you to think different.
July 17, 2015
A Good Subject, a Bad Structure
The book subject is good but putting it into lists wasn't a good idea at all, by time you will find yourself skipping through the lists without trying to apply or filling them and will end up fast-reading them without even thinking of them.
The book subject is good but putting it into lists wasn't a good idea at all, by time you will find yourself skipping through the lists without trying to apply or filling them and will end up fast-reading them without even thinking of them.
September 9, 2020
Many of the suggestions for 10 ideas lists were not prompting creativity but memory. "Think of 10 times when..." is not a prompt for thinking up ideas, it's a prompt for quizzing your memory. It defeats the whole point.
October 2, 2017
Great idea - goodly executed
I love the idea and did the whole process. I didn’t love the spelling and grammar errors and occasional poor questions.
I love the idea and did the whole process. I didn’t love the spelling and grammar errors and occasional poor questions.
November 1, 2020
I really love this idea. I can honestly I experienced a noticeable change in my ability to brainstorm ideas. For work, I'd receive an email and found myself instinctively replying with multiple options. At home, one of the kids would have a problem and instead of telling them an answer I'd start helping them brainstorm possible solutions.
Some of the prompts are really challenging and took over an hour while others felt really easy and I finished in just a couple minutes. A friend went through this book at the same time and it was really fun to compare lists and discuss the differences.
The only reason I think it's not a full five stars is because the prompts begin to feel very repetitive. Like... "Didn't we do almost exactly this same thing 2 weeks ago?" My friend and I both stopped with the exercise around the 90 day mark.
Overall, worth giving it a try, just don't feel obligated to complete the entire exercise.
Some of the prompts are really challenging and took over an hour while others felt really easy and I finished in just a couple minutes. A friend went through this book at the same time and it was really fun to compare lists and discuss the differences.
The only reason I think it's not a full five stars is because the prompts begin to feel very repetitive. Like... "Didn't we do almost exactly this same thing 2 weeks ago?" My friend and I both stopped with the exercise around the 90 day mark.
Overall, worth giving it a try, just don't feel obligated to complete the entire exercise.
September 8, 2017
Actually, I think it deserves 3.5 stars. In fact, I am not really enjoy this book, maybe because I just spent a few days to finish this book.
As the recommend of the author I should re-read this book slowly and practice everyday, I totally agree, no matter how many books that you read you need to apply it into your real life to see or feel how it works, you cannot just read and forget it in the corner of your house and expect it would change your life.
One of the reasons I don't like this book is that It gives me a lot ideas about how I could have 10 ideas in one day, somehow I feel boring with this. It might suitable for lazier not me.
But anyway, highly recommend it for people. It's still one of my must read books when I see the title and It also gives more energy when I finished.
Thank Claudia for investing in this book.
As the recommend of the author I should re-read this book slowly and practice everyday, I totally agree, no matter how many books that you read you need to apply it into your real life to see or feel how it works, you cannot just read and forget it in the corner of your house and expect it would change your life.
One of the reasons I don't like this book is that It gives me a lot ideas about how I could have 10 ideas in one day, somehow I feel boring with this. It might suitable for lazier not me.
But anyway, highly recommend it for people. It's still one of my must read books when I see the title and It also gives more energy when I finished.
Thank Claudia for investing in this book.
April 18, 2020
Why is this book important?
Because the generation of ideas is responsible for any creation man has ever made. Ideas drive innovation. Ideas are the fuel of dreams.
Think of this book as an idea generation exercise. But the ideas in this book you generate cover a wide array of subjects.
The goal of this book is to get you in the habit of writing down 10 ideas per day.
Writing them down solidifies them in your brain
Another important fact...
Claudia co-hosts a podcast with James Altucher. And James is now part of the Agora network. Agora, if you don't know, is a billion dollar plus company who makes their money from...wait for it...ideas.
They employ some of the best writers in the world who's only job is to sell information. And the way they do this is through what they call The Big Idea.
So use this workbook as an exercise to flex your idea muscle.
Because the generation of ideas is responsible for any creation man has ever made. Ideas drive innovation. Ideas are the fuel of dreams.
Think of this book as an idea generation exercise. But the ideas in this book you generate cover a wide array of subjects.
The goal of this book is to get you in the habit of writing down 10 ideas per day.
Writing them down solidifies them in your brain
Another important fact...
Claudia co-hosts a podcast with James Altucher. And James is now part of the Agora network. Agora, if you don't know, is a billion dollar plus company who makes their money from...wait for it...ideas.
They employ some of the best writers in the world who's only job is to sell information. And the way they do this is through what they call The Big Idea.
So use this workbook as an exercise to flex your idea muscle.
March 6, 2024
Though I haven't seen Altucher's news on my feed for a while, I give it five stars for an idea-concept I found extremely interesting:
Before, a brief (Following the pattern of Altucher's career: Playing arcades while his mutual fund fell apart, his failed (and then successful) marriage relationships, his life as a dad, and finally, his huge and lasting success as a writer in a mostly Internet environment and as content creator)
Paraphrasing his insight: Execution, a huge part of entrepreneurial success is basically "just" a set of ideas... the product of ideas. If you think about it, it could intertwine your hard earned experience (backed by data) with a whole new world of possibilities.
Before, a brief (Following the pattern of Altucher's career: Playing arcades while his mutual fund fell apart, his failed (and then successful) marriage relationships, his life as a dad, and finally, his huge and lasting success as a writer in a mostly Internet environment and as content creator)
Paraphrasing his insight: Execution, a huge part of entrepreneurial success is basically "just" a set of ideas... the product of ideas. If you think about it, it could intertwine your hard earned experience (backed by data) with a whole new world of possibilities.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 27, 2018
If you're looking for entertain but nothing really specifically this book is for you. It's rant with sometime useful information. Like the "Altucher(s)" have pointed quanity above quality. Write a lot of poor written books. All will sell in different numbers but the end game being to profit a little on a lot of books.
February 3, 2019
I found this book to be incredibly beneficial to organising my thoughts. I developed a form of personal meditation around it where I would follow the prompts every evening, I now do this every evening to organise my thoughts and ideas.
This definitely has not helped my serial entrepreneur nature, but it has aided my creativity greatly.
This definitely has not helped my serial entrepreneur nature, but it has aided my creativity greatly.
September 17, 2017
Great reminder...
Ideas are important, they are not good or bad ; Ideas help us reach our goals or carry out your purpose. Without ideas we will not progress. If we stop coming up with new ideas, we stifle our creativity.
Ideas are important, they are not good or bad ; Ideas help us reach our goals or carry out your purpose. Without ideas we will not progress. If we stop coming up with new ideas, we stifle our creativity.
December 29, 2017
No es un libro que transmita conocimiento. Es un libro que tiene 180 temas para hacer listas de 10ideas. El concepto es bueno y el resultado si se hace con juicio igual. Pero no es algo para sentarse a leer
September 2, 2019
Great book for its brilliant promos on creativity. IF you listed 10 ideas a day on a subject you cared about, you'd have 3,650 ideas approximately in JUST that area subject. IT is deceptively simple, but POWERFUL
December 10, 2020
Become An Idea Machine: Because Ideas Are The Currency Of The 21st Century (Kindle Edition)
by Claudia Azula Altucher (Goodreads Author) is a must read for our 21st Century Online and Digital World to Thieve.
by Claudia Azula Altucher (Goodreads Author) is a must read for our 21st Century Online and Digital World to Thieve.
March 27, 2023
awesome book
Nice book to read that helps with thinking. While i did not go through the exercises, just reading those list brought different ideas to mind. I will definitely circle back and try the 90 days
Nice book to read that helps with thinking. While i did not go through the exercises, just reading those list brought different ideas to mind. I will definitely circle back and try the 90 days
October 9, 2024
HOW TO GRIFT. The book. Complete with bad grammar, superlatives, and unsubstantiated claims! After all she says herself she doesn’t need a Harvard study to prove what she already knows! Just go to her husbands website!
0/5
0/5
August 31, 2017
Good exercise.
October 16, 2017
I've read the intro and am now starting with my first list of 10 ideas - technically, there are lists for 180 days, which I haven't read or done yet, but I will!
February 23, 2018
Fun jumpstart for thinking and writing
Quick,easy, doesn't have to be done in order, but the sequencing would help those not used to daily writing. Simple and thought-provoking.
Quick,easy, doesn't have to be done in order, but the sequencing would help those not used to daily writing. Simple and thought-provoking.
July 16, 2018
Quyển sách có thể không có gì đặc sắc lắm với một số người, nhưng với mình thì khá hữu ích, chắc do mình bình thường chậm chạp trong suy nghĩ quá, nên tóm lại, thích.
October 1, 2018
This is not exactly a book, reads more like a very long blog post.
I like the technique of writing down ideas everyday and exploring new territories though.
I like the technique of writing down ideas everyday and exploring new territories though.
October 27, 2018
The most useful advice he's provided me. You don't need to buy this, just write 10 ideas down EVERY day. No matter how crap they are. Keep them secret. Look at them as push ups for your mind
January 22, 2019
Although i find the topics really stimulating and sometimes challenging and i am enjoying writing ideas each day, i find that the English she used is not that good.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews