Idea-Regret: That Great Idea You Had, But Never Followed Up On...

[MJ DeMarco]

Via the Unscripted Text Network...

BEWARE OF IDEA REGRET

I recently received an email from a reader who had a great idea for a simplistic game back in 2017. He never did anything about it. To his dismay, he just saw his game idea on the AppStore with millions of downloads.

It left him quite regretful.

Likewise, a friend of mine had a great idea for a hair product (she pops in here every so often, maybe she will comment). She even made a working prototype, but never followed through. That was a few years ago.

Fast forward to today and my wife saw her product on the store shelves at a major retailer just recently. Someone else executed on the idea, and now enjoys the Fastlane.

FACT #1: I think we all have stories like these, great ideas that we never focus on, we never take seriously, and we never pursue as "life" gets in the way with jobs, bills, and mindless entertainment. I have dozens of IDEA REGRETS (Bumble being one of them as I confessed in The Great Rat Race Escape ) however, I did pursue some ideas which turned out well.

FACT #2: If you have a great idea, likely someone else does too.

YOU EITHER DO IT - or someone else will.

And they get the glory, and the profit.

You get left with idea-regret.

 

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[MTF]

I don't have idea regret because having even the world's greatest idea doesn't mean you'll be capable of executing it well.

Even if your friend acted on it, there's no guarantee his execution would lead him to the same results as that person who now has millions of downloads. Same with that hair product.

I've had at least a few ideas for products and services in my country that weren't available just 5-10 years ago and now are prevalent and super lucrative. Who cares. I wouldn't be able to execute properly anyway.

 

[fastlane_dad]

Via the Unscripted Text Network...

BEWARE OF IDEA REGRET

I recently received an email from a reader who had a great idea for a simplistic game back in 2017. He never did anything about it. To his dismay, he just saw his game idea on the AppStore with millions of downloads.

It left him quite regretful.

I totally agree.

The way their support / life / mindset / finances / prior experience / beliefs and values , AND execution are probably anything unlike that the person in question here would of had - so likely , the outcome, and the success would ALSO look considerably different.

Just because you pointed your car west, or just 'pictured' hitting the beaches of California - doesn't mean that you would end up much at the same destination, have the same weather on the road, enough gas to make it there or wouldn't get pulled over for a few speeding tickets along the way to rob you of your entire bank roll.

I never associate someones 'end product' with where my fate would of taken me with the same plan, intentions or 'idea'.

That to me is just plain silliness.

Likewise, a friend of mine had a great idea for a hair product (she pops in here every so often, maybe she will comment). She even made a working prototype, but never followed through. That was a few years ago.

Same as above, prototype and 'idea' is VERY far behind building an actual fastlane business, that takes YEARS of consistent action and decisions, trial and error, marketing , hiring/firing ETC to make work and function.

It's the 'idea' that you want to be ripped - and seeing your overweight friend be in baywatch like shape in a year. Entirely different things, and the action and sacrifice behind the plan to make it happen.

Fast forward to today and my wife saw her product on the storer focus on, we never take seriously, and we never pursue as "life" gets in the way with jobs, bills, and mindless entertainment. I have dozens of IDEA REGRETS (Bumble being one of them as I confessed in The Great Rat Race Escape ) however, I did pursue some ideas which turned out well.

@NeoDialectic and I had countless ideas, prototypes, websites set up and plans in ACTION that ALL could have amounted to something much bigger (and DID with others executions that ended up either on store shelves / amazon / etc) .

In the end, we shed many of those thoughts and ideas, for others that ultimately served our life better for the PRESENT and the FUTURE.

Who knows if some of the other ones could of been 100 million dollar businesses or a billion dollar business. That we will never know. All we know in the end we pursued and ended up with a fastlane business , and all it took is ONE idea that we stuck with and saw to completion. There could of been dozens others that worked out well. Or didn't.

FACT #2: If you have a great idea, likely someone else does too.
e shelves at a major retailer just recently. Someone else executed on the idea, and now enjoys the Fastlane.



FACT #1: I think we all have stories like these, great ideas that we nev

YOU EITHER DO IT - or someone else will.

And they get the glory, and the profit.

You get left with idea-regret.

To me it's only 'regret' if you are not in a good place currently - mentally, physically or spiritually and even then - there is always room for improvement (especially in day-to-day process).

Maybe some of us are just wired differently, or have a completely different perception on 'regret'. I mainly have what I think of as idea 'happiness' - that's the fortitude and aptitude with which we were able to walk 'AWAY' from certain ideas, and keep iterating until finding something that worked for the present and the future us.

Just because someone saw ONE idea to completion, doesn't mean you can't start another one TODAY and see it through.

There is still so much opportunity and room for improvement in almost any field if you open your eyes and follow the guide here: 'idea generation phase'.