The feeling of getting a new [brilliant] idea, which we might follow up with some sort of action, makes us feel great. The spark of passion pushes us to try to make some traction. In the beginning, it’s nearly brainless to work on our idea instead of part-taking in some other activity. However, if your experience is anything similar to mine, within a week your idea is put on the shelf–the same place all your other once new [brilliant] ideas reside.
I have bought countless domains (over a hundred), all which were purchased with the intention of being developed into niche or behemoth websites. Unfortunately, with nearly a year that has gone by, I could probably count the number of sites that were actually developed from those domains on my two hands. Not very good odds, nor cost-effective. Or how about that new book I purchased from one of my favorite authors/mentors? Regrettably, I started the book, got a couple chapters in and within a couple weeks halted any advancement into the reading. Or how about that awesome software package deal I bought? Same story. I could probably identify many more failed attempts at a goal but I think the image has been painted.
After listening up on an audiotape from Napoleon Hill, one very strong realization for my discontinuation of the development of an idea was discovered. Hill talked about the notion that you cannot get something for nothing. For anything you wish to attain, you must first be willing to give up something. This is intuitive for many aspects of life. In order to buy that combo meal at the local fast food restaurant, you know it will cost $8. If you are hired for a full-time position, you realize that you will give up roughly 40-50 hours a week to your employer in order to receive that paycheck. Or if you are going to plant a garden you must first give up a section of your grass/lot. Something for something.
Now I’m all about planting trees (see previous post), but a very important question is raised before you are ready to plant any of your trees. To read that big book in its entirety, what am I going to give up? To develop out a website for that new domain I purchased, what am I going to give up? To gain a new certification/license, what will I give up?
For the aspiring entrepreneur, the payout for x numbers of hours of work is often unknown or it’s minimal in the beginning at best. In order for the entrepreneur to succeed, he/she must be willing to give up x number of hours a day/week/month in the development of the idea, business and/or network. Focusing on developing multiple businesses and ideas at the same time is difficult, (possibly suicide,) and severely runs the risk of compromising the success of any of the ventures. With 16 hours a day to use (assuming you sleep 8 hours a night), you must allocate your time wisely.
Now, the fact has been strongly pressed in my mind that before I can embark on anything that requires my most valuable resource of time, I must truly buy out the time from my schedule for it to succeed. If the time is not available especially for an extended period, I’m better off not attempting anything new until my schedule is freed up. The adage “just do it” is perfect, but only if you ready to give up something for something.