Welcome back! Imagine you a getting ready for a new phase of your life, or perhaps a starting a new hobby or business venture. Not a bad thought, right? Well, here are a few things that to that you may expect...
The Scenario: Over the past few months, I have consumed myself with an idea for a content development platform for creative writers Collideascript. Hours are spent planning and developing an idea for commercial use with the intention of entrepreneurial success, monetary incentives, and overall benefit to users (always think WIN-WIN for sustainability). However, after the initial push to take planning to implementation, there are number of snags that are dying to say "Hang on a minute." This may sound like something that you are going through, or have been through. If so, don't fret. You are not the only one (Thanks Matt). Below, I have outlined, more or less, the stages of taking a idea to fruition both personally and professionally.
Let me know what you think.
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The process has two facets - Personal (emotional/mood) and Professional (skills/direction/progress). You will be to differentiate between the two by the way people ask you, "How's the business going". Your personal stages are somewhat dependent on your personal stages. If your personal development takes a negative turn such as cold sweats, the 'shakes', meaningless chanting, etc. chances are that your professional stages of development are quite lackluster. (Matt likes to compare PHP programming to running down a dark hallway, the type of guided path the can soon drive you nuts) Stay positive. Conversely, your personal process can be set ajar if your professional stages continually bear no fruit. Mostly the depends on your persistence and ability to live objectively, staying focused on the positives. Viktor Frankl talks about this in "Man's Search for Meaning", an ability to live unbounded by personal expectations that you cannot control. Once one breaks their own spirit by dissapointment, it is almost impossible to fix. Consider those who fail at their own expectations. Be prepared to try again indefinitely, and you will get it.
Ideas to ideals -(Insert Anticipation Here)
The first stage of Professional development is: Ideas to Ideals.
If you are like me at all, you get caught up in the many possibilities of a situation. While this can be extremely beneficial to discover new and innovative aspects of life, it can often lead you astray if it is not focused and reviewed. Our minds will lead us from location to location without allowing us to stop and check under the rocks faults. Every new idea seems like a good idea (like my stickshift cupholder)because its fresh and different and we created it. I promise you, when you look back it, it not the best until its refined. These ideas must be refined with a core set of ideals to refer to. This is more than just a pros and cons list. Create a constitution of your objectives, not of what you are going to do, but how you are going to accomplish them. This how-to constitution should be ambiguous and personalized to you. In Personal Development, you are going to filled with more ambition and anticipation that normal. However, always take a step away and plan your moves.
Spinning the Wheels -
We are all reactionary creatures. When we begin something, we desire positive feedback almost immediately after we start, else the new experience becomes uncomfortable and we give up. After the decision to take action, it often feel like we are spinning our wheel and not making progress. This is where our skepticism begins to grow. Since there is little to show for our efforts, we believe that what we are doing is not working. It is too easy to quit, but if you do, you will never see the results of your actions. Even in our 'lightning-fast' age of technology, feedback and results are never instantaneous. So, push through your inner skeptic and the non-believers around you, and before long you will see the scenery begin to change to new terrain. You will be glad to make the journey. I relate to this through the learning of Japanese. Every time I watched a movie in Japanese, it was disheartening to see how much more I needed to learn. Soon, the words turned into phrases that became conversations which started to make sense.
Traction - Celebration
This stage is more a reflectional stage. You don't feel it when it happens, but when you look back you know it happened. I think that it is very hard to distinguish a specific point of when progress happens. But celebrate when you see it. When you are done...get back to work. You still have a ways to go.
We are moving too fast.... - Persistence / Eagerness
Woah, nellie! Suddenly, you are whizzing past checkpoints and objectives honing your skills and bursting with development. If this is happening to you, then you have hit what I like to call a "groove" or what some professionals call "the zone". These instances will come and go, but the feeling is unmistakable. A do-no-wrong feeling of accomplishment that, I believe, can only be found in higher focus of persistence. Imagine that, persistence will help you accomplish what you set out to do. Soon, you will be asking yourself, if you are going to fast and should slow down. You will want to stop and smell the roses. Such as when building the user section of Collideascript, I wanted to constantly learn a new technique in programming or design that had little to do with what I was working to complete. It can be dangerous or helpful. You must distinguish whether it will benefit you overall cause.
Where is the map?
Since you pace will be ever increasing, you must have a proper map of where you are going, else, as mentioned before, you will get caught in a different path than the one you initially set out. You will begin to highly use the constitutional map of how-tos that you created in the Ideas to Ideals stage. The faster you progress, the more snags and problems you will have. Your personal map will be vetted and altered slightly to better suit each situation that arises. Hard decision will be made. But overall, this is where lasting change comes from.
Minutes like Hours - Eagerness
You have been traveling quite some time, and there are no more 'rest-areas' before your destination. You acceleration is weening, but you velocity remains constant.
The time spent seems less fruitful. Arnold Schwarzenegger, when asked how he became Mr Universe at the age of 22, he said that it was the last few pushes that create lasting development. Why quit now when you are soo close.
Begin at the Finish Line - Elation
Congratulations, you {insert your goal here}. I knew you could. This once impossible feat is now conquered by will to continue. You have started a track to lasting change, now when you want to do it again. Pick a goal. "Rinse and Repeat." Each goal seems incredibly possible from the other side. Visualize the end before you begin and it will lead you the right way.
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Keys to Remember:
Know where you want to go and don't be afraid to ask for directions
Ask yourself the right questions
There are no Critics, only critiques
.tpcjr
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