The Value of Ideas (Blog)

[Steve Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

The Value of Ideas

[Dan.Linehan]

Excellent, excellent post. This really hit close to home for me.

I'm personally getting much better at implementation. But this has been a long, hard process of consciously deciding that the process of implementing my own ideas is more important than other factors / distractions.

[jawillie]

I am living this right now.

"The devil is in the details" alright!

In the forum discussion, consider sharing your best methods for moving from idea to action. How do you get yourself to implement your ideas? How do you know when you’re ready to move beyond the incubation period and start taking action?

My business partner and I talked about our "great idea" for two years. Well, the idea has changed many times until it evolved into what it is today. We started taking action in January. We just decided to DO IT. Finally we just said, "Let's do it!" We started with the easy stuff. Making a website. That was kind of our "action".... then we started to talk with potential clients and work on getting employees. Now we are working with the legalities, government agencies, insurance, and licensing.

Now we are facing the devilish details. There are way more than we ever thought possible.

Maybe this will crash and burn... but... I have faith. I know we can do it, we just need to keep pushing forward.

There are no problems, there are only opportunities for learning and growth.

(remembering that as you face those mountains is the challenge!!!)

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Steve

Creative people typically hate deadlines, but without deadlines they’d rarely finish anything. They’d remain stuck in an endless loop of pondering new alternatives. What you release may not be the perfect implementation, but at least you’ll get it out the door.

Why did I feel like you were pointing your finger directly at me when I read this??

Funny, I mentally wrote a PM to you several times in the last few days to ask for your advice exactly about this topic. What a perfect timing.

I'd like to create value for others and I don't know what I could do that would be a meaningful contribution. I don't have many ideas, just a few of them, but I'm blocked when I try to implement them because I don't find them contributing or original or good enough.

I guess the message is, implement them first and then look for something better, huh?

[impaul99]

Yup, totally agree Steve.

This applies to everything.

For example, affirmations. I've heard so many articles written about affirmations, and so many emails sent to my Inbox about visualization, affirmations, etc.

Basically, 10,000 different ways to maximize the value you're getting from visualizing/etc.

Here's the kicker though... most people are too lazy to do it consistently every day so who cares how good the method is. It's like exercising. Should I do Yoga? or Swimming? or Pilates? Or Strength Training? or Treadmill? Or Elliptical?

The answer is DO ANYTHING...build a habit of it first...then tweak later.

At the root of all this is the problem of our Ego. It is what kills us along the consistency path. That is why I'm so excited now because I feel that I've finally pushed that monkey off my back. My self-discipline has majorly improved since the beginning of the year, due to my 90 day "Run on treadmill for 30 minutes every single day without missing a single day" thingie I did which really allowed me to take control over my Ego, just as Stuart Wilde wrote about in his book "Infinite Self".

The blogging world is another perfect example of this same thing.

The biggest income earning bloggers out there are providing daily value on a consistent basis. They are not the best writers, but they the most consistent.

IMPLEMENTATION is the key as you said Steve... Ideas really mean nothing because they are all floating around out there all the time anyways , waiting for someone to tune in and implement them.

If you become an "IMPLEMENTOR", you also have very little competition out there.

[JohnR]

I think good ideas are worth a fortune, as long as the creator of the idea has action built into it from the start. Some great ideas will never see action and its clear when originator shares them with you. Those ideas are then worthless, I agree.

This is an action world, that's for sure, but action on a weak idea is usually fruitless, discouraging, and well, hollow. Putting action into a great idea on the other hand has real power.

Action is a precious resource. The advice to "just do it" is common, but shouldn't there be some sacredness in the actions we take? Shouldn't we blend our best ideas with our most powerful actions as much as possible? I would rather achieve less with good and special ideas, then achieve more with weaker and more mundane ideas. I would rather feed the spirit with only the best and act accordingly.

I had an Uncle. He is now deceased. I always enjoyed talking with him because he measured his words. He felt that speaking to someone was important. He never made small talk. Our conversations were always substantial and humorous. He took action in the same way -- always based on something of worth, well thought-out. Being around him was grounding. It felt right.

Just some thoughts,
John
Self Help for Sensitive Souls — Zen-Moments

[foxbivvy]

Thanks Steve. Great value blog for me as an ENTP. The advice for my type has been: prioritize, focus, follow through. You make it so dam clear. Your value is in how good a writer you are. We always have to DO something with an idea - or it is pointless. Put as much effort into selling it - as we did making it.


However, it seemed you were talking about ideas being something people throw out randomly.

The best ideas are the simple ones. As these are easy to sell. I agree these can be rare! But so are people that work from home. Just because something is rare does not mean it is also not within reach. Anyone can work from home. And many of us can get simple ideas. If you do the work to set the area where you get an idea first, you can stand a great chance to get one. This again is work, not selling, or implementing, but idea work. A summary on how to do work to get a valuable idea in its own right :-

1. See how simple ideas are easy to sell.
2. Just because few people have simple ideas - does not mean you cannot do it.
3. Do research / explore fully - where you can get a simple idea that is valuable.
4. Stay with the problem / area, look at it from different perspectives, learn more about it. Be open minded.
5. Eventually this may well lead to a solution : a valuable idea that is easy to sell.

It's not certain you will get an idea. But perceiver types actually enjoy this risk. Make sure you have enough to support yourself. One way you can do this is by proposing a job to a suitable employer working on how to solve your identified problem area. And asking for a cut of the profits if it comes off.

Some like myself, love creativity so much (number 1 signature strength) that they will happily spend ages working on ideas. But must remember (or work out a system to automate) them being put into action. As Martin Seligman said - we each need to work out how to spend as much time as possible using our number 1 strength.

Like many, I am looking forward to your book!

PS. update. My conscience just came back to me and said, yes, right now I am spending too much time on ideas, not enough following through. My karma will be bad unless I update this. Plus I may never learn unless I get it out. Solution: I can phase what I am doing, try to sell my basic concept to a corporation, and myself, and my interest in solving the problems to make this idea workable. And proving it to them. PPS. I've gone raw recently, enough energy to do this now, was soo tried before. My level of consciousness has expanded.

PPPS. There is something in simple valuable ideas I feel, but I have not yet got one. I just feel drawn to this project.

Ok, must get down to work on DOING the document that will sell it. I must work out the key selling points, and explaining it easily. And remember: as much as anything I am selling myself, not just the idea. When I get in there, I can impress them enough to let them have me work from home. This is my first phase of attack, if it fails, I can always try another idea, more practical if need be. But my intension is to make this work. I don't want to be a slave to others but I am being guided to this one corporation. Perhaps the best place to implement the idea.

[cela]

+1 for the "great post, and hey, were you talking directly to me?" club

[Jake Birkett]

Yeah great post thanks. I'm sending it to some friends. I've always been a fan of action and I often follow the "Ready Fire Aim" approach. It's also good to visualise an outcome of course, but many people I know just dream all day and never take any action.

I make games, good quality clones in fact, and for sure the devil is in the details. However, a well polished game built on a strong foundation normally does pretty well. Many people slag off clones but they never make *any* games - I guess it's the same with other activities: Music, Art, Politics etc. The world is full of critics who don't take any action... ;-)

[PerDev]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

The Value of Ideas

excellent post.
This is really true to be action oriented and not to be stuck on Analysis Paralysis state as We would always find diffrent good ideas for doing diffrent things, So instead of keep exploring much better ideas - It would be better to be with one good idea and then really act on it rather than only our mind work repetadly

[foxbivvy]

I'm now going to defend the value of ideas, I believe it has merit, and few comments have picked up on it yet.

SOME ideas from SOME people are valuable, it is immediately obvious of their value.

Anyone can think they have a great idea. Even non ideas people, who get just one idea - and think it is great. Steve said you have to get many ideas and spend lots of time before finding one good one. This is work! Ideas work!! But there is much more to ideas work than this. E.g. You need to become skilled at selecting your good ideas, looking at problems in new ways, seeing what others are missing - as this is where great ideas are often found.

As readers of this blog will know, thinking your idea is great when it is not is a mistake of the consciousness level of pride. I.e. not wanting to listen to advice / learn from people / take in all facts objectively / feeling hurt if people have a go at your idea / ignoring what was said and carrying on with your viewpoint / belief. But we are as we are, and if you are there now, that is ok, just learn and do what you can step by step. No level of consciousness is superior, they all have their challenges to learn, and this is always done in the now, the moment.

As pride is common right now - there are far more people with bad ideas trying to be sold than good ideas. Having said that you can see from American Inventor, that good ideas do happen, and these are instantly obvious to a professional investor / people with objective common sense.

People that get these should be careful of who they tell them to. As others may have the sense to see their value, pick up on them, and be the ones that reap the rewards. Will they mention where they got their idea from, unlikely. We all rest upon the shoulders of giants, and many of these were great thinkers / ponders / ideas people. But all great thinkers have to at some point put their ideas into action. And this is what is useful in this post. A wake up call for ideas people conscious enough to listen.

People who already naturally go into action (sensate types) will learn little from this blog. It may actually be harmful to them. As there are different types of people, some made to create the ideas, some to implement the details, and yet others to keep running the ideas / system once it has settled. We need to understand this and respect the value of ALL types of people. Nothing would have been done in this world without either of them. It is mostly creative types I am talking to here, the type that can make a big difference if they get it right. Don't over-react and listen to those that are certain you have to rush into things and spend most of your time doing details (that you don't like doing but they do). Just think balance. Am I being an eternal student is always a good question to ask.

The creators need to work out how to sell their concepts (and that they have a market in the first place!). This is essential. There is a balance between production and production capacity.

Plus creators should not sacrifice their lives in the name of an idea to give value, they can live now, and work out how to start getting results from their ideas immediately. As Steve realized when he started this very blog.

[foxbivvy]

Minds are being held up - by labeling people / and getting into debates / sides etc. Just do what works (for you). Listen to advice if it is good and take it. Care not where it came from, it all comes from the same source. Polarize / surrender to a mission, it will then be easier to do this. Ok, back to work now...

[prasunsen]

Excellent article, that's so much my way of thinking. Why spending endles time on perfecting ideas if you never execute them? Start some action on a decent idea and perfect it with the time. It took me some time to figure this out, I was jumping from idea to idea and never executing. Now I have a long list of ideas and adding constantly to it - but I pick a few and work on them until i get them going before putting much time into the new ideas.

Execution is the best way to know if an idea is really good or not.

[drummbellina]

Excellent post! I can totally relate to it because I'm just starting out as an independant designer selling stuff online. I have notebooks, sketchbooks, scrapbooks and folders crammed full of design ideas. Inspiration is everywhere!

Implementing them has been something I've been struggling with, being the queen of procrastination. But I've been using "Next steps" lists after reading about them on here somewhere and it's definately working for me, along with reminding myself that the most important thing is to create value/sewing and sewing until my brain falls out...etc. Your site has been a tremendous help to me, thankyou

[foxbivvy]

I recall reading similar advice in the book "do what you are" for my type (ENTP towards INTP). Well worth checking out too as it is tailored for each personality. Of course with Steve being ENTJ and writing for what works for himself, this is close to that advice. Maybe I will start my own blog on the side for the ENTPs. Just like he did as an experiment and writing about what works for me. May not be that many posts to begin with, will see. If I enjoy it, I'll do it. I just thought, heck no one reads comments, you need to be there doing your own blog, and maybe get paid for it :P

[LoraleighV]

Wow! Great article Steve!

Now I don't feel so bad about that bottled water idea I had...lol!

Yeah, my main motto is the famous Nike one. I make a decision, whether it's to do aerobics 5 x's and weights 3 x's per week, or write something for my blog 5 x's a week, and then I JUST DO IT.

I've never been one to make a good plan and I possibly pay for that but I do learn a heck of a lot from just wading right it.

Like others, I may not be the best writer in the world but I'm no longer just thinking about it. And I'm having a blast!

[schola]

This is something I've begun to realize myself, and you just drove it home for me.

I have a problem with bouncing around from idea to idea, not really finishing anything. I get so caught up in my next great idea that I neglect the other projects I've started.

Of course now that I have realized what I'm doing, I've started getting out of that habit and this post had perfect timing for me personally.

Thanks!

[Ninja]

Ooh, do I know this one! I'm 'working' on a sience-fiction novel for teens, but 'working' usually means thinking of a thousand different plottwists and never actually writing one down. I should just try to get that rough draftout and fix any mistakes later. That will be more work, but it will cost me less time.

[beautyscientist]

I really enjoyed reading this blog - I have the problem of spending too much time thinking up ideas and not enough on implementing them.

Any ideas why we find generating ideas enjoyable and get a real buzz out of it, while implementation always seems to be something we resist?

[blackwater]

great post

[Marth]

I find exercise before creative implementation is very helpful

[scottdblog]

At the end of the post Steve mentions making a list of actions. I have found this to be a life-saver. Scott Desgrosseilliers: Top 5 List of Most Important Actions

[Brutha]

As pride is common right now - there are far more people with bad ideas trying to be sold than good ideas. Having said that you can see from American Inventor, that good ideas do happen, and these are instantly obvious to a professional investor / people with objective common sense.

What kind of ideas are you talking about?

If you look at something like Skype it wasn't even amoung the first ten companies that had the idea of doing voice over IP.
Could you give examples of those value ideas that got less valuable because someone wasn't enough secretive about them?