Category: Ideas

In the first part of this series on Ideas, we talked about your best ideas, the ones that you are completely convinced will change the world. We walked through the mental steps that you experience when a break-through idea pops into your head. We also talked about why those ideas shouldn’t have come to you – but why they do anyway! We introduced the concept of chronic Lazy Brain Syndrome – and diagnosed you and everyone else with this debilitating condition. If you missed Part One, go back and give it a look so you’re up to speed on what Part two is about.

So, how do we fill the gap between the impossible ideas that your brain gravitates toward and start feeding it ideas that you can actually take action on? After all, the only ideas that you should be spending any of your precious time on are the ones that you can actually carry out. Otherwise, you’ll spend a lifetime filled with dreams of what‘s possible, instead of one that is filled with actions and outcomes!

Let’s start with a definition of what a good idea is. Because good and bad have their own definitions, and when they are coupled with the word ‘idea’ they both take on a new meaning, we are going to take some literary liberty here and draft a new definition of what a ‘Good Idea’ is. And this definition will be purpose-built. The goal of this definition is to accurately capture the definition of Good Idea in a way that paints a clear target for us to work toward.

Good Idea: a thought or plan that originates intangible in the mind of an individual who is capable of expressing it in a tangible form that others can experience.

For thoroughness, lets give the a Bad Idea a definition too. Which should look like the opposite of a Good Idea.

Bad Idea: a thought or plan that originates intangibly in the mind of an individual who is incapable of expressing it in a tangible form that others can experience.

Before we get into a framework about how to decrease the frequency of impossible ideas and increase the frequency of actionalble ones, lets dispel a few myths about what “good ideas” actually are. Here are 5 common myths that we start to lean on and believe about the value and place ideas have in our decision of where to spend our time and energy.

MYTH #1: I CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GOOD IDEA AND A BAD IDEA

Now, don’t feel bad that I just challenged your abilities to successfully filter out the bad from the good ideas that you have. Keep in mind that my goal is to help you confidently know the difference between a good and bad idea.

MYTH #2: MY UNCLE CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GOOD IDEA AND A BAD IDEA

MYTH #3: MY LEVEL OF PASSION FOR AN IDEA IS A THE MOST IMPORTANT INDICATOR OF HOW WELL I CAN EXECUTE THE IDEA

MYTH #4: IF SOMEBODY ELSE HAS SUCCESSFULLY IMPLEMENTED MY IDEA, MY OPPORTUNITY IS PAST

MYTH #5: IDEAS ARE EXTREMELY VALUABLE – THE MOST VALUABLE CONTRIBUTION ANYONE CAN MAKE TO A BUSINESS VENTURE

Let’s create a framework around this problem that we can refer to as we work through the process of reducing the frequency of impossible ideas and increasing the frequency of ideas that are actionable.

For this framework to be useful, it needs to have at least the following components:

The spark, the inspiration, the rush of mental energy that keeps you awake at night thinking about what’s possible and how the world would be different if your idea can find it’s expression…

The power of an idea cannot be overstated. And the potential for the right idea in the right hands can change the world. And it has millions of times.

Now, you might ask yourself why, when inspiration strikes – and it has struck not once, but thousands of times in your life – you end up passionately obsessed for weeks, months, and sometimes years! Yet, these ideas, these inspiring thoughts that give you the type of excitement that gets you up in the morning and puts a jump in your step… These same ideas that used to fill you with excitement, often – if not always – end up filling you with regret. Regret for the missed opportunity. Regret for the procrastination you said you would address ‘tomorrow’. Regret for your circumstances not being just right. Regret for the investor that didn’t pull through. Or, regret for choosing a partner who failed to do their part to make your vision a reality.

Ultimately, the biggest regret – if you’re honest with yourself – is the regret that you didn’t have what takes to execute on your big idea. The regret that you weren’t enough. And the paralyzing realization that you were not properly equipped to solve the problems and overcome the challenges that lay in front of every innovator, entrepreneur, business owner, or visionary.

Now, I don’t want to drudge up too many of those old negative feelings. After all, I’m of the firm belief that anything is learnable, and any skill is obtainable. Not only do I believe that – I know it, and live it! And I’m convinced that living a life dedicated to pursuing what’s possible is the only life that’s worth living.

In the next series of posts, I’d like to transfer a portion of this mentality from me to you. If I’m not successful in fully persuading you, at the very least I’ll give you a clear picture of what it means to live a life of confidence in your ability to learn anything and do anything. Specifically to learn those things and do those things that will set you up to execute on your next big idea!

So, lets answer the question that got you reading this post in the first place.

Is this a good idea? Specifically, is THIS a good idea? I’m talking about the one in your head right now. The one that wont leave you alone. The idea that fills you with excitement and fear all at the same time. Yes THAT idea!

The quick answer – as any good lawyer will tell you – is, well, it depends on what THIS is. And I will add — it depends on WHO had THIS idea!

Let me explain.

Ideas come and go every day. You’ll have an idea strike in line at McDonalds to change the way the breakfast smoothies are made. You’ll be waiting at the DMV and the most innovative idea of all time hits you, what if everything here happened online? You’ll even have ideas that are so good that you wonder why nobody else has though of it before – including ideas that are kind, generous, and would solve big problems for people who have physical or social limitations and can’t help themselves.

All these ideas – and most of the ideas we have every day – have something in common. The common thread between all these amazing ideas is… we aren’t the right people to be having them. Those ideas aren’t supposed to be ours. And we really aren’t the ones that should be pursuing the expression of those ideas. I’m sure your mind is screaming at you right now. “I can’t help what ideas pop into my head! … That’s just how my brilliant mind works! Plus, how can you say these ideas aren’t mine when they are in MY head?!” But, before you write me off as someone who ‘just doesn’t get it’, lets dig a little deeper.

While I wont pretend to be a psychiatrist and diagnose you with some sort of condition, I will say that brain has a serious problem, or rather, your brain presents you with a serious problem. Your wonderfully creative brain has gotten in the habit of loving the ideas that require the least amount of effort from you. Your brain is what we in the non-medical community call lazy. A more actuate diagnosis would be Lazy Brain Syndrome, or LBS for-short.

Ok, that might sting a little, so let me put some perspective around that statement real quick. Your brain isn’t the only lazy brain out there. You should find comfort in the fact that EVERY brain is lazy by default and picks the path of least resistance every time without variation. At least that’s what the untamed and untrained brain does. That’s your brain in its natural state. Your powerful, creative, limitless brain… it’s lazy.

This should come as good new to you. Good news because NOW you know something about your current situation. You now know that your brain is going to pick the path of least resistance unless you intervene. Score! You just learned something new! Now, lets see what this has to do with those pesky ideas that pop into your head that you are powerless to execute on.

You might have connected the dots already, but let me lay it out in a few bullet points:

• Your powerful mind is capable of performing billions of operations a second
• This processing power is always on, when you’re awake or asleep
• When you observe a gap in what is happening and what is possible, your brain kicks into gear
• Your brain is lazy, but is willing to work extremely hard for the future reward of uninterrupted laziness
• Your brain extends a great amount of energy – a mental sprint – to take all the known universe and cobble together a solution that will fill the gap between what it’s observing and what is possible. Success!
• Your brain convinces the rest of your body that once the hard thought-work is done, there’s nothing left to do.

And this is at the center of your idea problems. Your brain loves ideas that don’t require any follow up or work. Even worse, your brain loves even more those ideas that are virtually impossible for you to execute on. Because it can confidently say it’s laziness wasn’t the cause of your failure to execute on your brilliant idea.

Here is another harsh reality. You are never going to fix a lazy brain. Yours or anyone else’s. The more powerful it gets, the lazier it gets – and justifiably so. You’d feel justified in taking a 20 hour siesta if you executed 23 trillion processes every 2 hours… Well deserved R&R, right?!

But, just because you’re cursed with a permanently and perpetually lazy brain, doesn’t mean you’re situation is as dire as you might think.

There is reason for hope!

Remember earlier when I said that your brains favorite ideas are those that are virtually impossible to execute on — The ideas that allow your brain to flex its muscles then sit back and do nothing? Well, there’s a solution to this situation. The solution is hidden in the problem. And the problem is that your brain gravitates to the things it knows you don’t have the capacity to act on. So there is a gap. And the gap is the problem.

The gap between your brilliant idea and your abilities to execute on those ideas is exactly what you need to focus on. And the smaller you make that gap, the more your brain will work for you. The more your brain will be forced to focus on problems that your skills are able to execute on.

So, how do we fill that gap? How do we decrease the impossible ideas, and increase the frequency of the ideas we are actually capable of executing on?

Well, that’s what my next post is about.