I think I’ve figured out what to do with my life.
Next.
I think I’ve figured out what to do NEXT with my life.
I think I just had an “aha! moment”. Family and friends, I’ll see you Monday. I’m going to be brainstorming for the next two days.
— Dana Sitar (@danasitar) June 23, 2012
I’ve been mulling through a few ideas for new products and projects to work on, and the problem I keep running into is that I have such scattered interests that it’s tricky to know how to fit them together. Should I focus on sharing advice for writers? Exploring stand-up comedy? Writing my memoir? Do I need to expand my horizons as a journalist?
Recently, I came up with a way to pull it all together into My Next Big Thing. I have a confession, though. This isn’t just my next project. It’s not just another book idea. It’s not just a way to make money writing. It’s what I will be known for. It’s my career.
Theoretically.
I can’t tell you the details now, even though I’m bursting with excitement, anticipation, and ideas, ideas, IDEAS. I have to hold back, because I’ve learned that my tendency to rush new ideas is ultimately the worst thing I can do for them.
The rush to the finish line
The problem with having a great idea is exactly the same as the amazing thing about having a great idea: Your vision of the end result. You can see the book in a special display at Barnes & Noble. Comments pouring in on the blog. Crowds gathered in auditoriums to hear you speak. The idea is that great.
I can so easily be carried away in the story I paint about this end result — a built-in obstacle for the creative mind. It blinds me to what I need to be working on RIGHT NOW to get there. Instead of working steadily toward that fantastic vision, I dive for it as soon as possible, jumping over all the little steps in the middle that are required to make a project successful.
Guess what? When I land, I am not in the middle of my fantastic vision, but a much weaker, more sloppily-thrown-together, incomplete version of what I thought my great idea could become.
That’s not fair to my great ideas.
I refuse to let that happen this time. I am slowing myself down. I have drawn up a timeline that is PAINFULLY adequate for launching My Next Big Thing. Learned and Experienced Dana is digging in her heels, gritting her teeth, and summoning all of her strength to reign in Super Excited and Antsy Dana, who wants nothing more than to shout my ideas from the rooftops and launch tomorrow.
Focus only on what needs to be done NOW
Is it time to work on cover design? Buy a URL? Plan the route for the speaking tour?
No. Nope. Definitely not.
Little things like setting up a website (but not publishing it) seem like a good way to release the excitement that you’re bottling up at the start of a big venture. But they’re a waste of time. And worse, these activities can hurt your idea’s potential. Designing a book cover or choosing a title or buying a URL are all steps that happen way down the road, because they are things that represent the whole idea. Doing them now, even for fun, assumes that you have already figured out everything that your idea will become. If you think that too early, your idea will never become Your Next Big Thing.
By making progress slowly on My Next Big Thing, I will allow the idea to grow with me. I will gain experience. I will get to know my audience. I will grow my network. I will write. I will rewrite. I will throw out stuff that’s written badly. I will think of new things to write. In order for my amazing little idea to actually grow into My Next Big Thing, I have to nurture it — not push it out of the nest early in my excitement to see it all grown up.
Holding your own interest
Because I’m kind of frivolous, my biggest fear when I have an amazing idea is that if I don’t execute it ASAP, I’ll lose interest or discover something new that will make my idea irrelevant before I can finish it.
Learned and Experienced Dana knows that that’s okay. That’s SUPPOSED to happen. Ideas have to morph in order to fulfill their full potential. And you have to morph with it.
The Comic Project was a big idea (that I began with a rush). As I figured out how to best meld all of my interests into My Next Big Thing, I realized that the original vision I had for CoPro is not going to fit on the new path. But I can’t abandon it! So I’ve adjusted my approach and folded CoPro into My Next Big Thing — just one of the crazy-exciting and uber-relieving effects of figuring out how to bring all of my interests together under one fabulous Dana umbrella.
Do you get antsy about new ideas? How do you ensure that you execute your ideas to their full potential?
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Image Credit: Stijlfoto (Creative Commons)
Filed under: Careers + Freelancing
