With a headline like that, I’ll get straight to the point:
Ashamed is how you feel in the morning.
Or at least that’s how I felt.
Can’t-look-myself-in-the-mirror-ashamed.
And despite the awful shame, it happens again and again.
It starts innocently enough:
An adventurous glint in my eye, a pep in my step,
The seed planted deep within my mind, nothing else will satisfy…
I rush impatiently through my “regular” work and chores and errands. Sometimes it takes hours, sometimes days, but it always happens the same. Sooner or later, I can wait no longer. The pull becomes too great.
Everything else pales in comparison to the singular fulfillment of this one desire:
I HAVE A SHINY, NEW IDEA!
Bolstered by sheer will-power and determination, I start out confidently, thinking I know exactly how this love affair with a new idea is going to go:
“Why, hello there, Idea. Ready to change the world?”
But this Idea is not so easily tamed.
After one or two rough nights of unmet expectations, I awake in the morning – bleary eyed and ashamed – and slip back into my “regular” life. Leaving the idea behind without so much as a phone number.
I try to pretend it never happened.
Have you ever had a great – I mean lightning-bolt-great – idea? Maybe while driving? Maybe in the shower? Maybe in those moments just before you fully wake up in the morning?
Ever felt that idea slipping through your fingers the moment you do a little research and find a similar (or identical) idea already out there?
Has an idea even broken your heart the moment you try to say it out loud to another human and end up blurting out half-whispered, sweaty, disjointed phrases that confuse even you?
It’s easy to have an intellectual “one-night-stand” with the ideas all around us. But ignoring them can be costly.
Think about all the new products and services that have changed the way we think about things in just the past 10 years. Every one of those came as a result of a really great, well-executed game-changing idea.
But here’s the secret: game-changing ideas don’t start out well-executed. They start out as a glint in your eye and a pep in your step. The difference between an idea and a great, well-executed idea is your commitment, persistence and skill to lead that idea through a system that produces results.
Which ideas do you need to stop fooling around with and take to the next level?”
So many ideas but no way to produce them.
That is such a real problem! I’ve faced it many times. Thank you for reading and commenting!
I suffer from idea ADHD.. I cannot stick with my ideason long enough before ..squirrel! Another one distracts me with its shiny object syndrome.
I know that feeling so well! Ideas are so much fun – but hard to focus and follow through! Thanks for your comment!
Yeah, too many great ideas. So many that my mind is flooded and I get paralyzed. I’m good at a lot of things. That makes it even harder to concentrate and invest in just one. Fitness is my “right now” project, but art is there, adventure is there, inventions innovations, books, blogs, clothing lines, fitness drinks. I would need an army to build all of this and make it a reality. “God send me and army dedicated to these pursuits.”
I think we’ve all been there – it’s a sign of a creative mind! Now to focus and move things forward!
What a great post Liz! Just what I needed this morning. I tend to let that pep in my step get tamed down all too often. I’ll be bookmarking this post to re-read often! Have a great weekend!
Thanks so much, Kristin!!
Two amazingly great ideas right now. Everything is built, ready to go, and ready for the world to see, but no money to market it and get it out there.
I know that feeling so well – it’s tough! Can you look into free marketing ideas – start an email list, a Facebook group, etc? I’d be happy to brainstorm marketing ideas with you! Email me at liz clark at reachwhatmatters dot com!
Been there Done that. Possible solution ORGANIZE, PRIORITIZE,SCHEDULE.
YOUR LOVING GRANDFATHER —–POPPY
Good advice, Poppy! Thank you! Love you!
Fantastic post, Liz! Thank you so much for sharing.
You’re welcome, Kirsten! Thank you for reading and commenting!