I have a lot of ideas in my head.
And for the most part, that’s where they stay.
Here are six blocks I’ve faced with my own ideas, and how I overcame them.
This post originally appeared on theBuffer blog.
Most of my ideas just stayed in my head.
Where other people couldn’t see them, interact with them or build upon them.
Where they were safe and untested and uncriticized.
Sure, I’vecreated some.
Some might say I’ve created plenty.
But that’s only because they can’t see what I’mnotcreating.
Because theriskiest, most dangerous and potentially most interesting ideasare the easiest to hold back.
I would pin them down like butterflies on a mat, like art at a museum.
They were in spreadsheets, in notebooks, on scrap paper around my desk.
They didn’t get their chance to add anything to the world.
I lost out, too, with this arrangement.
I didn’t push myself to think deeper and harder.
I lost out on thefeedback or insightor evencriticism of others.
I missed the chance to discover uncharted territory within myself.
I stopped before I could start.
It wasn’t the best life I could give my ideasor myself.
So I decided to change.
It lacks something, or I need more examples, or I’m not sure if it’s clear.
Sometimes you’re able to smush it together with a few other glimmers to make something.
The main thing is that idea glimmers need nurturing, which can be hard to do.
When ideas are still developing, they can feel embarrassingly incomplete or tough to explain to others.
What if my little glimmer is misunderstood or turns out to be nothing at all?
Occasionally the words flow, but more often it feelslike a struggleto pull them out of me.
And sometimes I don’t want a struggle.
Sometimes I want to lay around and watchOrange Is The New Black.
As the incomparable wit Dorothy Parker put it, “I hate writing.
I love having written.”
you might also do this with a timing structure.
The bite-sized task can jumpstart your focus for the bigger project.
Focusing Too Much on Other People’s Ideas
I’ve always loved reading.
And there’s really never been a better time to be apassionate reader.
Nothing makes me happier than spending time reading great stuff.
It’s kind of like a specific, content marketing version ofImposter Syndrome.
There’s always going to be space for reading, curating and cheering on others' work.
But there should also be a space for building on it and creating stuff of one’s own.
Sure, I have lots to do at work and at home.
But you always make time for what’s important to you, one way or another.
I could wake up earlier or stay up later.
I can write on the weekends, orin the morningbefore I check my email.
Because in the end,it’s more about the idea than it is about me.
I’ve been experimenting with a lot of different ideas to help me here.
Fear of Failure
Now we get to the big onethe real reason that underlies all these others.
Risk is what makes life interesting.
Luckily,my work’s culturecreates an incredibly safe space for ideas and thoughts from every team member.
It has made all the difference.
I still haven’t entirely cracked the code on this one, but writing this post is a beginning.
Sharing more with others:In the past I would have been petrified to push publish on this post.
No headphones, no logistical work thinking.
Ahabit of meditationhas made this possible, I think.
Getting comfortable with sharing ideasboth my good and not-so-good onesisn’t something that happened overnight.
It’s a daily practice that I’m still working on and probably will be for some time.
She thinks, writes and shares a lot about social media, writing, culture and productivity.
Title image adapted fromMartin Capekandmikeledray(Shutterstock).
Additional images byCrew,Art of Manliness,Forbes.
Photos byNottsexminer,Sasquatch I,Lizcomm1981,bark,Michael McCullough.
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