Cut your ambition in half
One thing I’ve been meaning to do lately is read more business books — it’s a chance to break myself out of my usual routine and mindset. I think taking in so many new ideas at once can get really overwhelming and make you feel like you have to overhaul everything you’re doing, so whenever I’m reading through any type of resource — book, ecourse, or otherwise — I try to work on one key thing, and maybe jot down other ideas for future reference.
Recently, I read Rework, and I’d say my key takeaway was to cut my ambition in half. That sounds pretty crazy, right?! But really, the idea behind it is to focus, and do the least amount of work possible to get your work out there — and then you can improve on it. You can’t improve on something that isn’t done.
I love new ideas. I love that moment when you get an idea you really want to pursue, and suddenly you can picture just how it looks, and just how you’ll make it happen. It’s the making it happen part that never quite works out for me. Part of it is that I will always find more pressing issues to attend to, but another part of it is that I simply have too many ideas. Suddenly, that simple idea needs ten more things to happen before it’s ready to release. And of course, it’s a lot harder to make ten things happen than just one. Plus, as Rework says: “the longer it takes to develop, the less likely it is to launch.”
A few related quotes I loved from Rework:
- Decisions are progress… you can build on top of “Done.”
- You don’t have to live with a decision forever. If you make a mistake, you can correct it later.
- The longer it takes to develop, the less likely it is to launch… Get something out now — while you’ve got the motivation and momentum to do so.
- Figure out your epicenter. Which part of your equation can’t be removed?
- It doesn’t matter how much you plan, you’ll still get some stuff wrong anyway. Don’t make things worse by overanalyzing and delaying before you even get going.
