Talking About It vs Doing It
Do you know that passionate guy who is always telling you about his great ideas but never gets around to doing them? That used to be me until I quit my job and dove into entrepreneurship head-first. Truthfully, however, it is still me. I still sometimes have ideas and tasks that never get done or take forever to get done, simply because I talk about them too much before I do anything. EntrePump, for instance, was a challenge to get started simply because I thought I was making progress, when in reality, I was floundering for months as I talked about my plans for this and that.
There is a scientific reason behind this phenomenon, and it happens to us all. When we have a significant task that needs to get done, we often talk about it to our friends to discuss how great it is or how we need to make sure we do this to avoid that pitfall. The simple act of talking about our goals to somebody tricks our brain into feeling a sense of accomplishment toward attaining our goal when we have actually made zero progress.
If you want to be an entrepreneur or intrapreneur, try to limit how much you talk about your idea or your plans. When you do tell someone about it, note how you feel afterward. I remember talking to my in-laws for months about a simple invention that I wanted to patent. Every time I discussed it, they got excited as did I. We thought of ways to improve it, and we talked about how great it would be when it was complete. One day, they asked how it was coming along, and I felt embarrassed to report that no significant progress had been made after several months of building up the anticipation! I didn’t know about this phenomenon at the time, but I did feel like I was just a big talker who didn’t get things done, so I told my in-laws that I would not be talking about it anymore until I had finished writing my patent. It worked! The satisfaction that would undoubtedly come from talking about my completed goal became a huge motivation for me. I got it written within two weeks of that decision.
This happens to so many people for so many tasks, goals, and ideas. Remember, telling someone about your great idea does not equal progress.
So what about you? What are you talking about doing these days?
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-Matt