Have you ever heard someone talk about how “they” should invent some revolutionary product, or how “they” should make a particular movie, or “they” should change a certain thing in the government, or “they” should change a certain thing on campus? It’s great to come up with an idea, but immediately deferring the idea to others inhibits you from doing anything with it.
Who is “they” anyway?
Andrew Brand | Argonaut
Ideas are as common as rocks, and about as valuable as them too. A rock by itself isn’t really worth anything, but if it gets carved into a statue, or used to create a castle, it becomes something priceless. Even diamonds, by themselves they are gritty pieces of rock, but once they are cut and polished they become expensive and desirable.
An idea by itself is pretty much worthless. It’s all about what you do with it.
Everything starts with an idea. It is the essential ingredient to make things happen. But it’s just the first step. The rest is execution. implementation, dedication, vision and drive. A bad idea executed well is more successful than an amazing idea executed poorly.
Unfortunately, the execution phase of an idea the most difficult. It’s easy to brainstorm an entire chalkboard full of ideas, but creating a strategic plan for how you will make it happen is challenging work.
The best way to confront any challenge is to just do it. We probably hear that phrase too much so we just zone it out, but it’s incredibly profound.
It’s so simple. Don’t think too much, don’t second guess yourself, don’t defer to others. Just do it.
If a cool idea pops into your head, take action on it. It could be an idea for a book, an app, a business, an art piece, a song or a website — absolutely anything. If you want to do something, then really do it. And when people tell you that you can’t do it, it’s OK, because you are the only person responsible for your actions. Other people don’t define what you do.
Saying you will, isn’t enough. Actions are the currency of success. Anyone can think of a million-dollar idea, but only a select few will execute that idea — they are called millionaires. And I’m not saying that if you just go for it you are guaranteed to succeed. But if you never try then you will never even have the chance to succeed. And success doesn’t have to look like big monetary numbers — success can be simply doing something that’s meaningful to you. You really can change the world. That’s another phrase that we probably hear too much and zone out when people say it, but it’s true.
Sometimes just going for it means failing. Failure isn’t something to fear, but to embrace and learn from. The key is to not give up. When you fail, get back up and try again.
Go do it. Whatever it is that you want to do. We’re all only here for a little while, so why wait?
Andrew Brand can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @theandrewbrand