“No Matter What People Tell You, Words And Ideas Can Change The World.”
– ROBIN WILLIAMS
The path from idea to reality is often long and challenging, and there can be many obstacles along the way. That is why, despite an abundance of ideas, many fail to materialize. Think about all those good ideas you have come up with. How many of those ideas did you really make happen? And how many of them you’ve never followed through? For most creative people generating new ideas is not a problem, however, acting on them till they fully come to life is a different story. But why? There are several reasons why most ideas never come into reality:
Lack of commitment
Some ideas we have seemed to be fantastic at first sight, but when we have a closer look at them we suddenly notice that they would need a lot more time, energy, or financial resources than we are willing to bring up. When we notice a lack of commitment from the very beginning, it’s better to bury this idea or to write it down into our idea book. It might not yet be the right time for it, or maybe this idea will never see the light of day. That’s ok. But it’s definitely worth listening inside to know if we are fully committed or not.
Inner and outer resistance
There’s inner and outer resistance we can encounter. Inner resistance is fear-based. Fear of failure, for example, is a big thing. Often we don’t notice it unless we are very self-aware. Procrastination can be such a sign of resistance. But usually, we just beat ourselves up for being a procrastinator, without understanding that the reason might be underlying fear.
Outer resistance can be seen with people close to you, it could be with family and friends or coworkers. Reasons for their resistance are manifold and can be from trying to protect you to trying to keep you small. It’s always something that has to do more with their beliefs and fears than with your ideas or capabilities, nevertheless, it can affect us negatively.
Doubts
If we are talking about creative and innovative ideas it is also normal that doubts will appear. ¿Will this work out? Am I going to make a fool out of myself or the business? Is my idea good enough? Are people going to like it or hate it? Will it be successful? And so on. When we get into these thought patterns of doubts we can ask ourselves the following question: What were the reasons for choosing this particular idea? Our ‘why’ is important, as this can ground us and fill us with more joy and meaning to follow through.
Unrealistic expectations
Sometimes we set ourselves up for failure by having completely unrealistic expectations. Many of these expectations are fuelled by people claiming or promising overnight success. Lionel Messi gives us a more realistic view of what it means to be an ‘overnight success’. He said, “I start early and I stay late, day after day, year after year… it took me 17 years 114 days to become an overnight success.” The reality of following through with an idea is usually harder than we thought and it’s always a lot easier to give up than show up.
Ideas are fragile seeds that need to be nurtured and fertilized. They need some structure, organization, and discipline in order to grow into the outcome we envision. But please, if an idea is important to you, act on it! Because as Robin Williams says: “No Matter What People Tell You, Words And Ideas Can Change The World.”
