I’ve seen it time and time again—an idea is born and then a short while later it dies. It’s unfortunate because some of the ideas I hear are nothing short of jaw dropping and life changing.
You probably know what I’m talking about. It’s hard to find someone who’s short of ideas. Most everybody has them. Very few people follow through with them.
Instead of listing all the reasons why ideas never see fruition, I want to focus on one specific reason.
There is no “right way.”
Even though other people have paved the way before and done what you’re hoping to do, it doesn’t mean their way is the right way. It doesn’t even mean that their way is the best way. What it means is that the path they chose worked for them and they found success because they didn’t give up.
You can probably copy their way, and if they have a super solid business model, find success as well. This, however, doesn’t take into account the human factor. They have made hundreds of undocumented decisions along the way.
Their plan definitely doesn’t take into account all the decisions you’re going to have to make along the way either. Your situation, though it may appear similar, may be quite different.
Believing that what was best for one person is the best for you holds you back from success.
Trust Yourself.
I have yet to see a successful person who lives 100% by the books. You shouldn’t expect to either. The books are too big, and there are too many of them. Read the books, glean some knowledge and advice from them and then move on.
A pattern I see in successful people all over is that they listen to expert advice and then turn around and do something completely different. I’m willing to bet that you’ve done the same thing.
Believe in yourself. Believe that you have what it takes to be great. Believe that you know what’s best for you—because you do.
Stop worrying about how others think you should run your business. Run your business like you think it should be run. This is your life. This is your business. This is your path, and you choose where it leads.
Chris, when you talk about life-changing, jaw-dropping ideas, are you referring to business ideas, or ideas in general?
I think it’s solid advice to follow your own path. If you culture the idea of starting a business in your head for a long time, and try and read all the books on business before you actually move your tail and try something on your own, you’ll be in a wheelchair before you have a chance to succeed. The statistics show that you’ve got to fail, fail fail before you succeed. So why let a fear of failure lure you into the vice of trying to build a business by the books when you could be out there learning hands-on?
.-= SkinnyD´s last blog post: The Man Brain =-.
@SkinnyD
I’m talking about both, actually. Most of them are business ideas, but others are humanitarian or lifestyle design ideas. I think you make a great point about the fear of failure. Some of the best lessons I’ve learned in life are from times when I didn’t succeed at doing something I wanted to do.
Chris, you are absolutely 100% correct about there not being the “right way”. Every person has their own set of goals and challenges, so while you can look at other peoples’ solutions, you will most likely need to carve out your own.
.-= Moon Hussain´s last blog post: Why You Need to Validate Your Life Decisions =-.