Three Culprits

Believing, talking about and planning to do are three different actions.  We all get ideas, and if those ideas are good, they might actually make their way to a positive outcome for you, and for others. Unfortunately, many great ideas never make it to the starting line.

Great ideas often fail to get off the ground because of the three culprits. The first culprit is believing in too many projects at the same time. The second culprit is always talking about your project rather than working on it. The third culprit is planning to do something. Each of these culprits will steal your time, cause you to doubt, and keep you from any real action.

Belief is a great thing. And, if you are a real thinker, many projects can catch your interest. It is great to have specific ideas and be able to see things differently. Unfortunately, those exciting things will never see the light of day unless someone takes the time to actually design and build them. Even at that, great projects often sit on the shelf because marketing in mass manufacturing never occurs. That means nobody benefits from the products, and no one benefits from the design and manufacture of the products. You need to budget your time, even better than you do your money, to ensure your ideas can bloom.

Talking about a project that you’re going to do is even a worse culprit. It causes you to think you’re doing something when all you’re doing is talking about the project. Remember work is valuable, and talk is cheap. The worst part of this is that you invite naysayers in and they go to work on you explaining why it won’t work and how you would be a fool to even try. Talking about projects saps your strengths to do the project. When all is done, your exhausted and have not actually accomplished what you wanted to do.

The third culprit, planning to do, is a lot like the second culprit. To avoid the planning to do’s we need to remember that planning and doing are two different actions. One is filled with pipedreams, and the other actually make something happen. Many people both in business and in the military have been let go because they spent all their time planning and could never figure out when to really do anything. If you want something, you have to do what it takes to accomplish the task.

The neat thing is most people are better than they think. They actually take on the task and do the work, and they can go far. Will there be setbacks? Probably. Will there be questions to overcome? Usually. Will there be a press on your time to get everything required accomplished? Certainly. Yet look around you at everything you see. Everything you see, desks, lights, books, bathrooms, cars, planes, and everything else that did not come as part of the original earth was made by someone. Everything you have to go through, they had to go through. Seeing all that, I have faith that we can get it done.

Thank you for being with me today. I hope to be with you again tomorrow.

Author: Mike Balof

A retired Air Force Master Sergeant, Mike used to lay in bed at night and worry about what would happen if his plant closed or found himself without a job. One day his plant closed. Rather than panic and hysteria (OK, maybe a little) Mike found himself carried away on the adventure of his life. Mike started with the best job he ever had working at Home Depot. He spent 8 years working with job seekers at a local workforce center, helping them to find employment. He then started his own company developing courses, writing books and urging others to follow their own paths into the future. Mike holds a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training and a Bachelor of Business Management, earned through the University of Phoenix and an AAS degree in Electronics Systems Technology from the Community College of the Air Force. Mike is a member of the Delta Mu Delta Business Honor Society. View all posts by Mike Balof