Some people get writers block, I just get bored. I’m the type of person that can think of many different ideas for projects but then once I get the ball rolling I often lose interest and want to move on to something else. The problem with this approach for people who are working for themselves and not someone who has minions to carry out his wishes, is that there is no one left to carry on the project once the original idea maker has decided to move on.
If you are trying to get out of the rat race then you can’t afford this approach to your ideas. You either need to plan for and recognize in advance which ideas are not even feasible, and therefore not waste time pursuing them, or you need to see things through to completion. And completion of a project can mean many different things, including years of hard work depending on what you are attempting to do. You need to be able to honestly ask yourself if that level of dedication is something you want to commit to and if not you need to bale out before you even begin.
Getting more to the heart of what this article is about though, what if you are already committed to an idea? You’ve dedicated time, resources, and money to a concept and now the day to day drudgery of seeing the idea through to completion is starting to wear you down. Maybe you thought it would be a good idea to make money from a blog and now you’ve got to have high quality original articles written on time several times a week and let’s face it sometimes you just don’t feel like it. So do you throw in the towel when the going gets tough?
That would be the easy path to take. The path of least resistance that takes you right back where you started. Right back where you can briefly follow another tangent of an idea instead of really committing yourself to one excellent idea and pursuing it with all you have. I’m preaching to myself here as well, though I’ve seen others far worse at these things than I am. I’ve known a couple people that think of lots of ideas and start making investments into the ideas only to abandon them shortly afterwards and sometimes trying to get others to develop their ideas for them for a small cut before the final abandonment happens.
I’m not innocent of this approach to projects either but here’s the best advice I know how to give: Slow down, think on it, sleep on it, keep a file on your computer of your really big impossible to accomplish ideas, and then pursue what seems best and leave the rest. Seek advice from others when possible though be aware that anyone is capable of stealing your ideas. The theft of an idea isn’t so bad in and of itself, it’s the completion of an idea that matters. So don’t be so paranoid that you can’t lean on others for advice but don’t be so trusting that you are easily taken advantage of.