Practical advice from a fellow IM'er to all my buddies who are looking for a direction.

The smartest thing you can do for this is to get away from your computer, away from your work environment for a while, so that your mind relaxes and allows the ideas to flow in. Do something entirely different for a day. GO TO THE BEACH, or maybe a day of golf does the trick for you.  Maybe going to a movie will quiet your monkey brain long enough for an idea to happen. You absolutely have to break the routine once in a while to keep your mind creating and creative. Keep a notepad handy so that as ideas hit, you can record them before you forget.

You can't  force ideas to happen any more than you can force seeds to grow. You just have to give both things what they require: fresh air and sunshine and stand back, wait patiently by while both things happen in their own due time. Are we not part of nature?

Sometimes the solution is as obvious as the nose on your face, but when you're up so close, you can't see it. So you just have to create some distance in order to have clear vision.

I've been straining over a name for a project I am currently working on, plus the key element that will put the whole thing over. I was trying too hard, it just wasn't happening for me.

My sister had a day off, very rare for her, so I suggested that we grab a couple beach chairs and head for the water. It was great. Only one other person on the beach. He had a laptop and a telephone, but had dozed off  for a while, so the place was quiet, only the sound of the waves lapping up to shore. We had the place completely to ourselves. We both sat there and meditated, looking at the water for a long while, then we finished reading a couple books, then did some stream of consciousness writing, then we started talking about ideas for everything. Guess what? The name I was looking for popped out of my head, as did the key element. No effort.

You see? It works.

Don't stress over your niche. Just go to the beach with a notepad.

Have a great day.