Just Start
How many times have you had a great idea for a business, a book, a product, or a project? How many ideas have you written down in a Google doc, a notebook, a notecard, or a sticky note? How many lists of “million-dollar ideas” have you come up with? How many have you taken any action on? My wife laughs at the number of sticky notes I have lying around the house, the copious amounts of notebooks and documents I’ve filled with ideas upon ideas that, for one excuse or another, have never seen the light of day.
So, why do you have so many ideas that have never been given wings to fly? You’ve probably come up with a lot of clever excuses over the years–not enough money, not enough time, somebody else already did it better–but the truth is, you’re probably afraid. You’re afraid of not being good enough. You’re afraid that you won’t have the success you desperately want. You want so badly to build a hustle that can replace your full-time job and provide the freedom you yearn for, but you’re afraid that your effort will be wasted. You’re afraid that it’ll flop, like so many of your ideas have before. This fear of failure is the root of your inability to follow through and have the discipline to see your projects to success.
As a planner and a dreamer, I live in the future. This can be a great strength, if I have a clear idea of where I’m going and what I want to accomplish, but if I don’t have that clear vision, I end up stuck in “analysis paralysis” where I see too many options and can’t decide which one to pursue. What if I pick the wrong one? What if I miss out on the success and satisfaction I crave because I chose poorly?
Here’s the thing: you never know which idea will skyrocket your hustle, your YouTube channel, or your product to stratospheric success. Not right away. You have to put in the time and effort to turn it into something that people can see. You have to help your customers catch the vision of what you want to accomplish, and engage with them in an act of co-creation that builds something wonderful. Success doesn’t happen in a vacuum.
The hard truth is that most ideas won’t work out. Something like 99% of businesses fail in their first year. But that doesn’t mean you should just give up. Your business is not doomed to the rubbish bin just because of statistics. You are the mojo. You are the magic sauce that decides whether you succeed or fail. Statistics describe groups of individuals, but you are the individual that gets to decide what statistics describe you. Nobody else gets to make that decision for you. It’s a decision made day after day, moment after moment. When you have a minute to yourself, do you scroll mindlessly through your social media, or do you tweak the key words in your latest ad campaign?
There is a solution. Just start. Here are a few ideas to help you along:
Write down your vision. Keep it general, but it helps to have an idea of what your goals are when you’re trying to decide what side hustles to pursue. For example, my wife and I would eventually like to be location-independent. That means side hustles that tie us to a specific geographic location won’t work for us.
Write down your strengths. What are you good at? What do people come to you for help with? Chances are, you are good at something. You’ve put a lot of effort into learning something. What do you know that other people want to know too?
Pick something related to your vision and strengths that you can do right now. Maybe you want to have a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio. It’s unlikely that you can just snap your fingers and get it. If you could, you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog. But, maybe you can pony up the money and get licensed as a real estate agent (which would educate you about the market and bring opportunities to start building your portfolio and network).
Make a plan that fits with your vision. An imperfect plan is better than no plan at all. Don’t waste time making your plan perfect, because it is going to change as soon as you start getting feedback.
Establish a system that enables you to be consistent. Set a specific time and place to work on your hustle. Before you finish for the day, establish what you will work on tomorrow.
Get started, and keep going. The biggest key to success is to just keep going. Do one thing every day.
Accept failure and make adjustments as needed. Failure is part of the process. Some ideas won’t work out. Some will. Take the good with the bad, learn from your mistakes, and apply those lessons to make your business better.
You’ll get there eventually. You’re not going to be a millionaire overnight (unless you’re very, very lucky). Every journey, no matter how long or short, begins with a single step. Just Start.