If you’ve ever had an idea that you got excited about and had every intention of doing something about it only to find that after a few days you’ve either forgotten about it, or can’t quite remember what it was, then you’re in the right place.
4 Steps To Turn Your Idea Into Reality
Here’s the only 4 things you need to do to take anything at all that pops into your head and make it a reality. I love ideas because they start with imagination and then finish with something real. To me, imagination is worth more than gold because if you use it right, it can blossom into the most wondrous trees.
1. Write it down
Once your idea comes to mind – whether you’re positive it’s a great idea that you want to pursue or not – write it down. Without this, it’s just still floating around in your head, and as long as it stays there, you won’t take action on it.
Be as detailed as possible so that the next time you look at what you wrote, you’re not left wondering, “Wait, what exactly was I thinking again?”
This is especially important if you see this idea linking in with other things you have going on currently, or if you already have a specific goal in mind (i.e. I think this idea is so great because…).
2. Ask for feedback
Before you leap into taking the next step and start working on an action plan, share your idea with people you know and get some feedback. You want to be sure that whatever you’re about to devote your time and energy to is going to impact others as much as it is impacting you.
Don’t just ask 1 person – ask several people what they think of your idea. Also, make sure you spend some time asking yourself for feedback, too. The best way to determine whether or not an idea is worth pursuing comes by way of asking yourself a single question:
Will this help me get 1 step closer to my overall goals?
If the answer isn’t YES!, then re-focus on what’s most important.
3. Create an action plan
If step 2 worked out for you, then start putting an action plan in place. Before you can start doing something, you need to have certain things in place, like what your goal or purpose is, and a timeline/deadline to help hold yourself accountable.
Action plans don’t need to be hard work or take up a bunch of time. In fact, the more concise the better. Start off with the end in mind and then work your way backwards.
For example, if your idea is to write a book on ‘Healthy Sweets Recipes’, then write down the date you want to complete it by, and then under action steps write down the milestones you need to achieve to turn it into reality.
The milestones might look like:
- Come up with a title
- Write down the chapter headings
- Write a chapter a week
- Decide on whether to self publish or find a publisher
- Find a good editor
- Design a cover
- Decide on marketing budget
- Where to market
- … and so on
4. Just start
What I’ve found is that the sooner you get started, the sooner you will get results. Success with anything begins with taking the first step and then taking consistent action until you get the result you wanted. Anything less is to kid yourself that it ever really mattered to you.
Don’t let procrastination or fear of failure be the reason you give up on your dreams. This will only lead to a life of regret and the one thing that is for sure is that regret is one of the most useless human traits that exists.
Why? Because it is 100% preventable and totally pointless wallowing in what I call the, “I wish I had” syndrome. This leads to feeling sorry for yourself which is a waste of time and energy, which you could instead be using to enjoy your life and do more of what you love.
The next idea you have get real with yourself and take that first step to making your idea a reality as soon as possible. Don’t put all the work in from steps 1 – 3 only to let it sit and rot in the corner somewhere. Even if after moving forward on your idea you decide it’s not worth pursuing, at least you gave it a shot.
The sooner you take the first step and invest your time in your idea, the more likely you are to actually continue working on it. It might be drawing out a mind map, creating an outline, researching data you need, or any other small piece of the pie. Whatever it is, don’t wait a week to start – start right away.
