Ideas Without Execution

I’m a day late with this one, but I wanted to send out something I’ve needed to remind myself of continuously.

And it’s this:

Are Ideas Inherently Bad?

Of course not.

It’s great to have ideas. It’s great to spend time thinking of ideas. And it’s great to share ideas. This is how the magic happens.

But what are “ideas?”

Ideas are, by definition, the precursor to action. Yep! I googled it:

Ideas are valuable. But if ideas are thoughts and suggestions for a possible course of action, then one can argue that ideas not acted on were not good ideas in the first place. Or if they were, and they were still not acted on, then they have no tangible benefit to you or anyone.

For these “discarded” ideas, the only benefit they may have is the spark of new ideas. Aside from that, they could very well be worthless.

It’s on YOU

In reality, the value of ideas stems from you. Will you take action on it, or will you not?

Your idea is counting on you.

Here are some reasons we may not act on a good idea:

• Fear (of success, of failure, of the task itself)

• Failure to prioritize (“I don’t have the time”)

• Waiting for the “right time.” (spoiler alert, it’s never the right time)

Have you been holding off on taking action on your ideas? Have you used one of these three reasons? Or have you had other reasons for not acting on a good idea?

Reply to this email. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Anyway, I wanted to riff on this a little bit. If I’ve been struggling with it, I’m sure others have as well.

So…this is my and your reminder to take action.