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Too many ideas while in the slowlane...

Idea threads

sotomo

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First off I want to again thank MJ and everyone for this site. Too bad I didn't notice the site sooner. Oh well, found it now. I have Unscripted and I'm only up to page 37. Not much of a reader, slow at it, and my "cage" is only 2 miles from home, so I don't have time to listen to it in the car..... I really believe that MJ is absolutely correct. Sorta preaching to the choir in my case. It's how I've felt for my entire life, and until I found this site and started reading the book, I thought I was alone... or insane. I really think this site will change my life. It already has given me optimism I have not felt in a long time.

On my mindset, honestly, my parents are the rare ones who did ok in the slowlane. They retired very comfortably at 55, not too bad, and their life is a perpetual vacation, doing what they please, going where they want, etc. They may be in the 1-2%. But that does not translate into my success at all. They inundated me with slowlane thinking because it worked for them. And made me feel guilty for not having the same success at it (not overtly, but I can tell they are a little sad for me). I mean I know they are intelligent enough to understand that there are other options. They saved money, no pension, it worked for them. They live on dividends now. Much of listening to MJ is like listening to my dad, at least in terms of where to park money. Conservative stocks and all that. And the clear thought process is very familiar. My great grandparents were entrepreneurs too. Bits and pieces of the true story of how we are scripted are unconsciously told by different members of my family. Enough for me to see the whole picture if I squint my eyes.

Anyway, enough of my story. Now I'm trying to get out of my cage situation.

Is having too many ideas a nice problem to have? My problem is I have multiple great ideas, making it harder to focus on just one. I have two product ideas (that I need to make), a service that's related to them, and a website idea (I like to code). So that's 4 total, and the more I work on them, the more ideas come, keep taking my time and attention.

Is this common? If I left my job to pursue freedom I might have time for them all, but I have not yet created and sold a single thing. So I fear the sidewalk. I guess my problem is that I'm here typing and not doing. But are there situations where you need to pick one idea and put others that you think are awesome on the backburner? I guess I get too passionate about some of my ideas so it's hard for me to ignore them and pursue just one.
 
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Sam Kennedy

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I had a similar question to this a few months back. I was pursuing several ideas at once, and the consensus was that I should pick one idea and stick with it. I've changed what I've been working on a few times since then, but only ever working on one thing at a time.

I've found that if you focus on one idea, you will realise how much work there is to do just for that single idea, and working on anything more is not sustainable.

You said you haven't created or sold a single thing, so the best thing for you to do would be pick one thing, and get it created, then aim to get one sale. Once you realise how much work you'll have to do just to get that one sale, you'll notice the benefit of focusing on one thing.

You mentioned you like to code, if you haven't already, read "The Lean Startup" and learn how to validate your ideas.

Whatever you do, make sure you aren't action faking!
 

Olimac21

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In terms of ideas, I liked one few I heard from Derek Sivers in his book "Anything you wanr" sometime ago in terms of ideas values and found it priceless.

Ideas are just a multiplier of execution | Derek Sivers

A good strategy would be to narrow down as much as possible and then just start from little, gather feedback and see how it goes from there.
 

Nicoknowsbest

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I like to code

Hi @sotomo!

What if you started with what you knew today?

What would happen if you go out and help people with something that comes to you easily?

What if you didn't look that far on the horizon, but looked down on the ground you are standing at?

What can you do today to create value for somebody?

How can you make somebody feel special or smile today, so they refer you to 1 more friend?

What if you had the market tell you what it needs, instead of trying to think of it?

The best thing I could do was to start.

What if you took small steps, one foot in front of the other?

What helped me tremendously was to read through @Andy Black's posts, as well as @SinisterLex's.

Don't be afraid.

Don't overthink.

Just do.

Hope that helps :)
 
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Inuc

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Yes, so many ideas will pop into your head...it is a normal overwhelming feeling. What you should first do it, take a pen and paper write out the ideas on paper, under each idea come up with at least 5 sub section /marketing means to get your ideas out there.

By the time you doing this, you will be able to see the one that is more easier for you, i.e you will be struck with that idea that you definitely see. Currently what you seeing now, is just bunch which just have to settle for now.

Trying to do all at the same time, will burn you out and you may end up doing nothing.
 

Iammelissamoore

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Hey sotomo, having multiple ideas are quite normal, especially as MJ kept stating in both books that the best businesses/business ideas are birthed out of problems experienced/complaints by others in different industries.

Regarding your choice, the best would be to sift through and begin with the one that will bring the most impactful value and solution(s) to your intended customer base, it isn't specifically an easy task to make it happen overnight, but it will prove to be worthwhile in the longrun once you stick with it.

All the best on your journey.
 

sam9530130

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If you haven't, I'd recommend you read The Millionaire Fastlane and check out the five commandments:
  • Commandment of Need
  • Commandment of Entry
  • Commandment of Control
  • Commandment of Scale
  • Commandment of Time
It's great to be able to come up with ideas, but you may want to make sure there is a real need for the ideas your are pursuing them before.
 
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Andy Black

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Joe Cassandra

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Here's the harsh truth...

Having ideas doesn't make you an entrepreneur. Everyone and their mama has a passion, skill or idea that --- if money wasn't a factor --- they would ultimately pursue.

I spent 4 years jumping around from one "big idea" to the next. Many are RIP on this forum

I only (finally) found the path to self-employment:

1. When I picked one idea
2. I stuck with it for at least one year
3. I focused on one audience to specialize in

As for "which idea?" , here's the path I took:

1. Started a service business as it's fastest/cheapest to do
2. Made enough to quit job
3. Now, I can spend time working on other projects that will take longer to grow/profit
 

MidwestLandlord

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If I left my job to pursue freedom I might have time for them all, but I have not yet created and sold a single thing. So I fear the sidewalk. I guess my problem is that I'm here typing and not doing. But are there situations where you need to pick one idea and put others that you think are awesome on the backburner?

The sidewalk isn't about being "poor" really, it's about being a victim and choosing to not have control. I've known quite a few high income people (one guy was pulling $250,000+ a year) that are firmly on the sidewalk. "Maybe if I have a nice car and huge house I can't afford, then people will love me??" Lol

Then of course they'll blame a housing crisis or wall street when their house of cards comes falling down...

Anyway,

Focus on one idea. Almost everything in life becomes less important when you have multiples of them.

Do you own only one car? If it breaks down, it's inconvenient at best. That car is really important.

But what if you owned two, and can just drive that if the first one breaks down?

What about 5?

10?

50?

Any single car becomes less important the more cars you own.

Likewise, any single idea becomes less important in the same way.

Make sense?
 
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BeFound Faithful

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I'm in a similar place as you finding your way forward.

Regarding your choice, the best would be to sift through and begin with the one that will bring the most impactful value and solution(s) to your intended customer base, it isn't specifically an easy task to make it happen overnight, but it will prove to be worthwhile in the longrun once you stick with it.



If you haven't, I'd recommend you read The Millionaire Fastlane and check out the five commandments:
  • Commandment of Need
  • Commandment of Entry
  • Commandment of Control
  • Commandment of Scale
  • Commandment of Time
It's great to be able to come up with ideas, but you may want to make sure there is a real need for the ideas your are pursuing them before.

As others said, ideas are easy.

Finding "What will bring the most impactful value and solution(s) to your intended customer base" —not so much, but it's what makes one person plow through and succeed and another give up.

You can succeed.

Bottomline is that creating a business can be hard work, but the work you do learning along the way, for instance seeing if there really is a market for your solution—No, Really! Will people buy what you have to sell?— will all in some way contribute to your ultimate success. In real estate (I'm a independent broker) we call it due diligence and it alone can make or break a deal.

It can also save you lots of time and lots of money, something I've learned the hard way.
 

garyjsmith

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Think back to when you were in high school and the teacher gave you a huge assignment. Once or twice, you may have openly complained, "Don't they know I have other classes?"

The same applies here, except you're in control of how many assignments are in front of you. Be laser-focused on the one and save the others for after you've run the race.
 

GeeTee

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I'm an ideas guy. Always have 10-20 ideas on the go, but have never actually finished anything (That's about to change since I'm currently working on something - more to come later once I've reached some milestones).
Ideas are worthless without execution - my suggestion is to pick the EASIEST idea and just go with it. I say the easiest because the easiest to execute will mean the best chance of completing it - it doesn't need to necessarily make you a million dollars as a start, but if you can earn even $1 on it, I think it's a worthwhile exercise in completing something. Good for your confidence and momentum to then choose the next idea to run with.
 
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$pendi

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If I was you, I would probably write all of my ideas down and take some time to imagine the finished product, then ask myself these question:
  • Is it something that people would NEED or be genuinely INTERESTED in on a regular basis, or is it a smaller niche?
  • Would someone like my mom or dad find use in it?
  • Do I see a clear way that this could be executed?
  • Am I really interested in this, and willing to put the most work in so that I can see it have some degree of success that will impact the lives of others in some way, or am I going to give up on the first failure because I have other plans anyway?
I hope this helps!
 

Walter Hay

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Before I sold my first business I kept a good ideas file. I just made notes when the idea came to me, and promptly filed them.

When the sale was under way, I got all those ideas out and sorted them without giving a lot of thought to some of them. Having narrowed down the field I then looked at each one in more detail, until I found one that was in an industry that I knew, could make best use of my marketing skills, and most importantly, filled a real need.

I didn't throw out the others, but I didn't spend any more time on them. I went into the new business boots and all, and never looked back.

It can be painful to throw out most of your great ideas, but if you check them out and find one is outstanding, forget the rest and get on with it. Maybe you could then hide that file away out of sight.:smile2:

Walter
 

sotomo

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Wow Thanks everyone. For a couple days, I had no response to this thread, but now 14 replies! There are too many to reply to each one. But they are all great suggestions! Especially the first few,... to avoid action faking, think about what if I were here from the start of my life, and commanding the process.

Until recently, my problem had been grasping the amount of work that it takes going in. Too many projects, I've started then got to the point where I need things that are too big for a single guy to do. Now my new ideas are small enough for one person, yet scalable. I'm a bit worried about barrier to entry but I'll work on that problem when it matters later.

I need to start working on InkScape now to draw up my design. Thanks again!
 
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BUFFALOBT

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Wow Thanks everyone. For a couple days, I had no response to this thread, but now 14 replies! There are too many to reply to each one. But they are all great suggestions! Especially the first few,... to avoid action faking, think about what if I were here from the start of my life, and commanding the process.

Until recently, my problem had been grasping the amount of work that it takes going in. Too many projects, I've started then got to the point where I need things that are too big for a single guy to do. Now my new ideas are small enough for one person, yet scalable. I'm a bit worried about barrier to entry but I'll work on that problem when it matters later.

I need to start working on InkScape now to draw up my design. Thanks again!
Just THINKING up ideas in the first place puts you ahead of the pack.

Now- like everyone said...pic one and FOCUS...build it out...try to FAIL as soon as you can.

And IF you don't...you might just be on to something!

Good luck-
 

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