4 Tips to Start Executing Your Brilliant Ideas
Your idea is your baby. I get that, and don’t worry, you don’t have to tell me what it is.
“Everyone has an idea. But it’s really about executing the idea and attracting other people to help you work on the idea.”
-Jack Dorsey
Brainstorming ideas is more fun than actually working on them. Daydreaming on how rich they will make you is way more fun than actually investing in them.
The fact remains, a single idea achieved gets you a whole lot farther than 1,000 still swirling around in your head. Thus I give you…
4 tips on how to actually start executing your brilliant ideas:
1. Pick up some hobbies.
Seems a bit broad doesn’t it? Maybe even counter-intuitive.
“If I’m spending time on a hobby, how am I supposed to build upon my idea?”
Trust me, you have plenty of time, you just need to use it wisely. Hobbies can upskill you in mysterious ways, and provide synergy with other tips mentioned in this article.
Volunteer at a non-profit, take cooking classes, find a meetup and become a regular attendee. All you have to do is participate, and you will start accumulating skills and meeting people that can help you refine and build your idea.
Practice what you preach:
I began traveling solo quite a bit in the past two years. As an introvert, this has forced me to be much more outgoing, which comes in handy when I find myself chatting with prospective clients.
2. Program your mind to be productive.
Productivity breeds productivity. Your mind will start to crave it and become addicted to it. Productivity can be a learned habit just like going to the gym. You can train yourself not to procrastinate.
Start small, and learn how to reward yourself for habits so that they will stick. You know what motivates you best. After a while, the productivity will become a routine part of your life and simply carrying it out will make you feel happy. You will start to feel ancy when you aren’t productive. How to remedy that ancy-ness? See tip #1.
Practice what you preach:
When I complete a particularly grueling task, I have been known to drop everything to snack on a banana and peanut butter while watching an episode of Friends. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
3. Break it down! Track It! Measure It!
This one seems obvious when you think about it. Treat your idea as if it is something you are supposed to do, prioritize it, and you will make progress on it.
Think of all the things you actually get done, and why you get them done. Is it because your boss, friend, or family tell you to do it? Is it because if you don’t you will get fired?
Hold yourself accountable, because nobody else will. Use whichever tool you want — an excel spreadsheet, a notepad, sticky notes — just write it down.
An added benefit to breaking down your ideas in this manner is to focus on one step at a time. Ever hear about the dog that chased two rabbits? Yea, he didn’t catch either one.
Practice what you preach:
I use a whiteboard. I immediately turn an idea into a project by writing it down, then breaking it down. I draw a box on the whiteboard, put the idea at the top, and start listing out the individual tasks to start accomplishing the overall idea. I erase a task to signify I’ve completed it, and it feels awesome. That dopamine pushes me to keep going — productivity breeds productivity.
4. Share It!
There is no shame in seeking help. If you could have done this solo, you would have done it already;
Once upon a time, a father beckoned his son down a hill. At the bottom sat a large boulder. The father told the son;
“I want you to use all your strength, and push this boulder to the top of the hill.”
The son spent all day trying to push the boulder up the hill. At the end of the day, he went home and his dad asked him if he had accomplished the task.
“No papa, I couldn’t do it.”
“Well, it is because you didn’t use all your strength.”
“Yes I did papa! I pushed and I pushed all day! I used all my strength, but I couldn’t move the boulder!”
“I know you didn’t use all your strength, because you never asked me for help.”
People sometimes treat an idea as if it is literally money. They won’t give it to anyone, they won’t tell anyone out of fear it will be stolen.
An idea isn’t money, an idea is a big fat boulder at the bottom of a hill.
An idea is a child, your child. It is chock full of potential, but if you keep that kid locked up, it won’t get far in life. It takes a village to raise an idea, and you can’t possibly expect anyone else to love your idea the way you do if you refuse to share it.
Start with the people in your life that both motivate and challenge you.
Finding the right people is what can singlehandedly help you accomplish ideas faster and better than any other, but you simply can’t control people. You can’t force them to love your idea, you can’t force them to work hard.
Luckily, people are basically an unlimited resource. You will find people who can help you, and what you can control is putting yourself in position to meet these people (again, see tip #1).
Practice what you preach:
For too long, I was a mama bear to my ideas. It got me nowhere. Now, when I come up with something that excites me, sharing it is one of the first things I do.
There are four people I typically go to first. They are essentially the gatekeepers.
This proceeds in one of two ways:
- They make me realize my idea is unequivocally nuts.
- They play a long, drawn out game of devil’s advocate with me— this is when I know I’m onto something.
According to a study by TD Ameritrade, over 50% of millennials expect to become millionaires (GUILTY AS CHARGED). Better start executing on those ideas folks…
