What to do with ideas

The Daily Drip

I have lots of lists. Some of them are lists of ideas.

I have a list of cool band names.
I have a list of cool domain names.
I have a list of all the subjects that would make an ideal curriculum for k-12 schools.
I have a list of podcast interview questions.
I have a list of productivity techniques.
I have a list of productivity apps.

Obviously, I could keep going.

Most people have ideas.

In fact, recently, I was part of a workshop where I gave a bunch of ideas to people. They wrote them down furiously.

I've been on the other side of this, too. I've sat on the other side of the panel and fiercely captured those elusive "get out of jail free" cards . . . those . . . ideas.

It turns out, ideas aren't really worth very much and most people don't actually do anything with them.

But for some reason, we need to capture them. Record them. Store them in a Google Drive folder and pay $9.99/month to hold onto them.

For some weird reason, just having the idea locked away makes us feel better about it.

You can see this in the bookshelf you have with all of those books you never read but surely intend to read.

What separates the ideas and knowledge from the thing we want is immediate action.

Yes, there's the conversation about long-term, sustained motivation, but that's not about the idea that's about feasibility, execution, and accountability. What we're talking about here is the spark plug that ignites us to go from idea to starting something.

It's okay to quit--but it's not okay to not start.

I'm not saying you have to launch every idea you've ever had, I just bet there are one or two that keep popping up in your brain as ideas you know you want to execute but are waiting for the right time.

The top reasons most people don't start?

I don't have enough time.
I don't have the money.
I don't have a team.

Yep. Those are the three most common excuses. What's worse is that they're usually true!

Since they're true, we can't let them stop us, we need to find another way.

The only other way is small, immediate action.

Quitting is great. I'm a fan of quitting.

Not starting is going to leave you with long-term regret.