August 4, 2008

Do Something!

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 7:01 am

Don’t Leave a Great Idea Sitting Here!

Steps-up_by_Liz_Strauss

A friend from my days in publishing has thousands of ideas to every one of mine. Being with her is both exciting and frustrating, because she imagines potential futures, but can’t see whether they’ll play out usefully.

On the Internet, it seems that everyone has thousands of ideas . . . even me. With so much information and conversation around us, each day brings a passel of potential futures to discuss and dream.

We learn about how to build things. We talk about what we could do and be. We imagine repurposing what already is. We innovate, create, and ideate, almost without thinking.

The problem is that too often we don’t DO anything.

If the idea is as great as we think it is, why don’t we build it, create it, execute, and deliver it?

Some ideas can’t stand up the stress of such things. They start unraveling.

Other ideas could be wonderful futures but no one cares enough to produce what they describe. Doing something is where the real work begins. We have to show up, step up, and invest ourselves to build a reality.

What will you DO with your ideas today?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
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30 Comments to “Do Something!”

  1. August 4th, 2008 at 7:12 am
    Mark Dykeman said

    Editing, editing… :)

  2. August 4th, 2008 at 7:12 am
    Vicky H said

    Yes, execution - that’s the hardest part isn’t it? Reminds me to make my list of my top 3 for today.

    A little off subject, are the SOBCon09 badges out yet? I don’t see them?

  3. August 4th, 2008 at 7:37 am
    Karin H. said

    Hi Liz

    Hmmm, seems the same thoughts are going round again ;-)

    My good friend posted this over the weekend: Where’s the answer?
    I’m glad I received his ‘golden wheelbarrow’ award - I’m more into self-developing/idea developing than in ’shelf-developing’ ;-)

    Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)

  4. August 4th, 2008 at 7:50 am
    Teresa Morrow said

    Yes, Liz! It is amazing that too often ACTION isn’t taken on great ideas.
    Too many times, fear keeps people from bring forth there wonderful ideas so the action is halted.
    What would happen if you acted on something you really wanted to accomplish? How about try working towards (taking action) towards just one goal for 15 minutes each day this week. And then at the end of the week, see how you feel. I bet you will feel so invigorated. Action can be the catalyst for great things to happen.

    In Appreciation,

    Teresa Morrow
    Online Promotion Management
    Putting the Pieces of Online Promotion Together for You
    http://www.keybusinesspartners.com

  5. August 4th, 2008 at 8:12 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Mark!
    Good to see you’re making Monday happen. :)

  6. August 4th, 2008 at 8:13 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Vicky,
    Yep, gotta know what we’re working on.

    The badges won’t come until the blog redesign. :)

  7. August 4th, 2008 at 8:15 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Karin!
    Who’s painting word pictures now? “Shelf developing” I so saw that happening — a roomful of great ideas lined up on shelves.

  8. August 4th, 2008 at 8:17 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Teresa,
    I know what you said sure works for me. When I spend even the smallest time moving a favorite idea forward I’m filled with energy, confidence and purpose. :)

  9. August 4th, 2008 at 8:23 am
    David Damore said

    The value of thousands of ideas is zero. It is IMAGINATION and ACTION [that part called DOing] that make an idea valuable.

    If you have one idea or thousands, take action now. You owe it to yourself to give your very best. You get rewards from both the effort and the outcome.

    Carpe diem!

    ATB,
    David

  10. August 4th, 2008 at 8:44 am
    Tim Singleton said

    I think what happens is often we confuse emergencies with priorities.

    An emergency may be screaming for attention, but it might not be a priority, especially if dealing with an emergency continually prevents your from acting on what is important.

    After ten or twenty emergencies, it is easy to give up and let the priority slip further and further away until you find significant amounts of time have passed and the opportunity is no longer there.

  11. August 4th, 2008 at 9:26 am
    Karin H. said

    Who’s painting word pictures now? “Shelf developing”

    ‘Honestly stolen’ from my dear friend Richard C ;-) He uses the phrase frequently and I just love the simplicity of the picture it paints ;-)

    Karin H

  12. August 4th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
    Hanin J said

    If you actually take action on a certain idea you have, that is better than 99% of the people out there with “great ideas.” I liked this book to help learn how to actually act upon an idea I thought of in the shower… http://www.readtheanswer.com/index.php?RTA=web2

  13. August 4th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
    Ribeezie said

    Sometimes you just got to go with it and do it… Never-mind stressing out over what’s going to happen, or how it’s going to play out… You’ll never know unless you try!

    I put a small e-book together once. It was small project of mine for a few select group of people. It was fun writing (though it was more of a collaborative piece; several writers)… But then editing and getting ready to publish was really, REALLY stressful and nerve-racking. “Was anyone going to read it?” “Were they going to like it?” “What if it sucked? Then what?” Eventually I just hit publish and it was received quite nicely! I delayed in finally showing it b/c I was scared…but the reception was a welcoming one.

    My point…sometimes, you gotta “just do it!”

  14. August 4th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
    SpaceAgeSage said

    I will be working on my e-book!

    Its completion will mean a lot to me as a journalist-trained writer to finally fashion non-fiction text together in a book form. Fiction, blogging, and newspaper writing is soooo much easier.

  15. August 4th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
    Tim (@Twalk) Walker said

    Good pointer, Liz. Paul Graham talks about this in his book “Hackers and Painters” — that the very best thing you can do with an idea is implement. Run a test version to see how it works; tweak it and run it again; test it out against the real world to see if you’ve really got something.

    Regardless of the feedback you get — great, disastrous, or in-between — now you KNOW something about how this idea really works and what its real worth is, instead of just guessing about it.

    Whenever I can get myself to work that way steadily, the relief is palpable. You’re not left wondering anymore — you just DO and FIND OUT.

  16. August 4th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
    Suzie Cheel said

    Yes deciding to take action is the key and knowing what you want. Then how I am finding what works is to be accountable to somenone daily which is what I am doing to get a 21 year shelf project up and published by September 4th.

    But then we know I like BHAGS :)

  17. August 4th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi David!
    Carpe diem . . . we can think it’s a good idea or we can make it happen. :)

  18. August 4th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Tim,
    Emergencies and priorities — what a good diffentiation that is. Yeah, we can let other urgent things steal our focus. That’s where determination comes in. :)

  19. August 4th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Karin!
    I love that your mentor has become my mentor “de facto.” :)

  20. August 4th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Hanin!
    Welcome!
    You remind me of something I used to say often . . . It’s better to have 1 thing done than 12 things started or thought of. :)

  21. August 4th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Ribeezie!
    Yep. Sometimes the doing is the best test, better than any focus group. :)

  22. August 4th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Sage!
    Can’t wait to see that eBook! Come tomorrow night to Open Comments and tell us about it . . . that’s what we’re going to be talking about — ebooks.

  23. August 4th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Tim!
    Boy, I love the title of “Hackers and Painters” — It makes me want to read it.

    I so love how you describe it. When we get involved in the “doing,” we let the work and the results become the lead. It can be thrilling the way we can learn to tweak our judgment as well as the “product.”

  24. August 4th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
    BloggerNewbie said

    I do that ALL the time! I have lots of great ideas. Lots of “started” projects. Fear is usually what keeps me from applying action. More often then not,the fear is SO silly but SO real…Just do it!

  25. August 4th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
    JaneDeere said

    Liz:

    I just wrote a post entitled “Do Something”. That is so funny! My post http://type-talktherapy.com/blog/2008/07/30/do-something/#more-35 speaks more about complainers and whiners about the “misfortune” they always seem to encounter and about “how lucky” other people are, when in reality, they just need to “do something” about their situation..

  26. August 4th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Sometimes, when we go ahead and start, that affects how afraid we are. Go for it Newbie!!

  27. August 4th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Jane,
    Perfect example of blogger synchronicity same idea in different forms by two bloggers on the same day . . . :)

    I so like that!

    You’re not a stranger. :)

  28. August 5th, 2008 at 4:50 am
    Luc Debaisieux said

    This is definitely an interesting question. Am sorry to be late on it.

    Let’s face it we all have ideas and some of us are especially fantastic at producing them. Why don’t they do something out of all these ideas now? Why don’t we do so when we (think we) have one?

    This situation could be compared to Art. Some (many actually!) artists have extra-ordinary talent that remains completely unknown to the eyes of the public. Why don’t they do something about it?

    There is obviously a missing link between these ideas or that Art and… reality. The reason might be that they both need a DRIVER to move forward. This said, I believe that when some people are talented to produce ideas, others are simply brilliant at PRODUCING them. The two just need to meet with the common will to push things into reality. What if the problem was just a simple block related to human psychology? Like the fear to SHARE and TRUST?

    Just an extra thought now : Art has artist agents trying to achieve this… Maybe ideas could have producer-agents linking them to reality?

  29. August 5th, 2008 at 9:02 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Luc!
    I agree, it’s seems there needs to be a dynamic tension between having our feet on the ground and our head in the clouds!!

  30. August 12th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
    Roberta said

    Ideas and actions are synonymous otherwise everything stays the same

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