What's stopping you?

Or for that matter, what is stopping me? I think that for a lot of people, it is the same answer, so even though this isn't a "diary blog" I'm going to spend a bit of time examining what is stopping ME, and maybe you'll see something that you recognize. After all, we are all in this together.

Money: An easy place to start is money. "I just can't afford the expense of launching my idea and still eat and pay my mortgage." The experts will tell us that money is just one barrier to entry, and they are correct; but it can be a very real barrier to entry. Is there a way to continue to move forward without breaking the bank? This one, to me, gets back to "the next right thing to do." Can I work on a prototype? One of my ideas is fairly non-technical; so I could probably put the prototype together pretty easily. My problem is I find myself getting sucked into "then what." "So I build the prototype? So what? I still can't afford to launch it." Try to resist the urge to head too far down this path. Focus on the next right thing to do; also known as "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it." I think that you'll be amazed how far you can get before dollars become the obstacle.

FEAR!: Next for me (and this is probably the biggest one) is just plain fear. Fear of the financial ramifications of jumping; fear of the response that I will (or won't) get; fear of all of the stuff that can - and will - go awry. Isn't it interesting though that the thing that I gives me the greatest degree of anxiety is simply how my ideas and my actions will be viewed by other people. What if "they" think its stupid? This is the silliest darn thing that I've ever seen. That does not make it less real mind you - but how does a dis-interested third party's reaction have ANY bearing on me or my success? It doesn't. It is all about my own insecurities. That's all. Nothing more.


Technical Savvy: I have a lot of ideas...A LOT of them, and some of them might even be marketable. Problem is that I have no idea how to implement most of them -or even if they would work. I am not an engineer, I'm a sales guy. I look at my wife's and I see technical software that could help her differentiate. I don't know how to do it. I don't even know if its possible. That means that I have to find the people that DO know how to do it and if its possible - that leads back to fear. So I need to take a step back and once again focus on THE NEXT thing. Only that. Don't let the anxiety of what someone MIGHT say or do slow me down. Stop playing the scenarios in my head and talk to some people. Worst case is that they won't be interested. Big deal. Talk to someone else. Eventually you will find someone who is willing to help.

Time: Time is tough because it is such an easy trap to fall into. This blog is a great example. I haven't posted for almost a week. Have a been busy at work? Sure I have. But there have also been plenty of times in the last week that I have made an ALTERNATIVE CHOICE. That is what the "time" issue is about. It is about making choices. Sleeping in instead of working out. Watching TV instead of working on your blog. Time is real because it is finite. There really are only 24 hours in a day, and we really do need to sleep - as well as all of the other things that fill up our days. Just acknowledge that how you USE your time is a choice. Get up 1/2 hour earlier, or go to bed 1/2 later - just one half hour. Devote that time to working on "your thing." See what happens.

Ok, I'm getting a bit long-winded now, so I'm going to post, but stay tuned...