I had an interesting conversation with a co-worker a couple of days ago. We were talking about how both of us are getting restless with the need to ‘make things’ – to create. I tend to have a lot of ideas, but my problem has always been execution – actually implementing the ideas.
When I start implementation, I always seem to stop long before the finished product, even if I know that I have the skill set and creativity to make something beautiful.
Unfinished poems, unfinished stories, unfinished drawings, unfinished business ideas – the list is endless.
I know what the culprit is – Seth Godin’s ‘lizard brain‘.
I think the best way to defeat the lizard brain is the increase my output and ‘fail often’ so that I am in a constant state of motion and don’t have time to overthink things.
So my new approach is to lower the bar and prioritize action over perfection. If I have an idea that I can’t shake from my thoughts, I need to make sure that I ‘make something’ related to the idea – however small – so that I can get momentum.
Create version 0.1, ship it, and then improve it from there.