This Indecision's Bugging Me

I am developing an idea in an entirely new field. I’m doing my research, talking to anybody who will give me time and doing a lot of google searches. What I discovered after my first round of initial calls is that there are an infinite amount of moving parts. Confusion filled my brain like a dense cloud. I spent days complaining to all my friends that I was so confused by it all. These diatribes were part joking around, part helplessness, and part frustration.

There was this belief in me that because I was new to the business, there was something I didn’t know. There was this thought that if I was familiar with the secrets, I would know exactly what to do. I got really, really attached to being confused. It became my partner for over a week and every time I talked about it, I fed it, strengthened it. And the more attached I got to it, the more frozen and paralyzed I became. Nothing happened to move my idea forward that week.

Where are you confused by your idea? What about moving forward is confusing?

Then, something happened. I had a conversation with someone with lots of experience in this particular industry. He gave me the key when he said, “Look, nobody knows what the hell they are doing and if they look like they do, they are just faking it.”

Hmmm…That snapped me out of it. There wasn’t some mysterious key that would lay out the path before me. There wasn’t anything known, just something for me to discover. It was time for action because action would clarify things. Taking a step would show me if I was moving in the right direction or not. The universe’s feedback would light the way. I was again the heat seeking missile, heading for the big door with the word “YES” on it and like a missile, I had to be moving to be corrected. Sitting in confusion wasn’t getting me anywhere. Taking a step made a difference.

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

1. Define your confusion. If it feels like there are many variables and you’re not sure what to address first or what’s more important, write each down. Give the choices your full attention, instead of the confusion. Forget about the confusion for an hour or two. And try this one on… If you were completely and 100% confident, what would you do?

Good Luck!!!

Picking Up the Pieces

Yesterday, I went to the dry cleaner which I never do. As the mother of two small children, my wardrobe is pretty much wash and wear (or don't wash and wear, depending on the week). When I gave her my phone number, the woman behind the counter said, "Oh, you have something here." This surprised me since I couldn't remember the last time that I'd been there. "Wait," she continued, "that was in 2005."

It all came flooding back to me. 4 years ago, I had been to the dry cleaner. But I couldn't afford to pick up the clothes. We were so broke that not only could I not afford to pick up 2 items of dry cleaning, but I couldn't fill my tank at the gas station, buy food regularly, and every month, we played roulette to decide which bills to pay.

What does all this have to do with your idea? It struck me last night that for every creator, at some point, there is this type of "dark night of the soul" where you feel it is hopeless, that you've lost the game and you are ready to give up. Thinking back to that moment in my life when money was non-existent and I had two babies, the situation felt impossible. How were we ever going to make it through?

But we did. And it was my body that carried me through when my mind was consumed by torturous thoughts and negative scenarios. Regardless, I still had to get up in the morning, make breakfast out of whatever we had, change diapers, take the kids for a walk and look for bugs under rocks. I just kept moving. And eventually, doors opened, money came back into our lives and we have more than enough now.

There is a tremendous amount of advice right now about how to manifest money and how to create the life that you want. To be honest, I find it all kind of confusing and if I did do all the stuff in The Secret, how would I have time to do anything else?

All I can tell you is what I do... In my mind, I have a clear picture of myself in my 60's, the white hair, the house, the life, the accomplishments. Almost every day, I check in with her, my future self, and I ask her to guide me in getting from this moment to there. What are the steps to take? Envision your future self, let him or her help you whenever you are stuck, confused, or ready to give up.

This may sound like obnoxious advice, especially during a recession, when people are struggling and afraid the way I was 4 years ago, but if you are out of work or not working as much as you'd like, there is a lot you can enjoy for free. Carve out time for your family and yourself, for your idea. These moments when everything is taken away are potent because in them, you can recreate your life. There is nothing stopping you but your own resourcefulness. Dive deeply into your own empty spaces, your own possibilities and do something. Pick up a phone, call somebody, write something, email everyone you know, fight for the life you want.I don't mean fight with other people or struggle and suffer. I mean show up 100%. Give it your all. Because your future depends on it.

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

1. Write a very detailed description of your future self. Meditate on this image. Ask him or her a specific question and wait for an answer.

2. Where have you given up in your idea development process? In your life? Or where are you not giving 100%? Write it down. (Are you keeping an idea development journal?)

3. Remember back to the first time you ever gave up. Describe the moment in as much detail as you can. Then, forgive yourself and make a list of what is worth fighting for today.

The University of Google

With any idea, there is the balance of the practical elements of developing your idea - i.e. writing your business plan or proposal - and the esoteric or internal work that needs to be done. For the past 3 weeks, we've looked at our inner landscapes, our beliefs and visions, so now it's time to address some of the more mundane aspects.

The word, mundane, has gotten a bad rap. It's become a word for all that is boring, dull, or trivial. Originally, it meant "belonging to the world" (as distinct from the church) and in that sense, it is very relevant for all of us trying to create a product or service that will "belong to the world". It's time to embrace the mundane!

What does all this have to do with Google? Well, it is the organizer of all that is mundane. On it, you can find the resources that you need to move forward. Type in "business plan sample" and you get 19,400,000 hits. Type in "book proposal sample" and you get 1,530,000 hits. Need some demographic information for a meeting with a possible funder? It's there. This crucial step of finding the forms our ideas need to take to be sold or financed in the world are often out there. So stop wondering what to do next and start searching for your next steps. It's all waiting for you.

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

1. Look at your list of next steps (remember WEEK 2?) and begin searching for the information you need to take those steps.

2. Try and search each step 10 different ways. Be creative because you never know how your resources may be labeled.

3. Do it right now!

Often, when talking to clients, I refer them to the University of Google. We are limited only by the creativity of our search words. Today, anyone can sell anything to everyone.

For those of you out there operating at the level of spirit

Your Starting Point

I was speaking with a client who has a beautiful vision for a very unique type of healing center. She told me that the perfect property to house her center just came on the market. But it was going for $2.6 million dollars. "Now what?" she asked, since this wasn't in her budget.

Then, she spoke these dangerous words,"But if I'm on the right path, the resources will come, right?" I'm always wary when I hear this type of phrase because often these words reveal the part of an idea that has stopped growing; where creativity, resourcefulness, and flexibility are not allowed. In fact, this client hadn't done anything about her idea since she had seen this property, stymied by its perfection.

This stalled moment is something I call vision blindness. When we're first envisioning our ideas, we often see them fully executed and many of us have even created vision boards that show us where we want to end up. But this final vision can often be so seductive that it blinds us to our starting point.

The starting point - where I am right now - is easily judged as being inadequate and inferior to that future vision where everything is fully executed and perfect. We look around ourselves and it's easy to see what is not there and this can be discouraging. But we don't judge babies because they can't perfectly walk or talk, right?

So how do we figure out the baby steps that are possible today instead of waiting for things to be perfect before we begin?

In the Upanishads it is written that "the spider reaches the liberty of space by its own thread," which always reminds me that our most important resources are inside us. The client above knows she doesn't really need that property to begin, although it would be nice. Her idea was born out of a deep desire to create community and wasn't attached to a certain acreage until she made her future vision board.

We spoke about how Jesus began his church under the trees, he didn't wait for Notre Dame to be built. "How can you begin," I asked her, "now?" Her passion to create connection was her string and when she followed it, she immediately began to brainstorm alternative spaces and ways to begin. They were steps the size of her own two feet.

I propose you make a vision board of your starting point, of your life today. Focus on the positives - your skills, experience, friends, family, pets. Where something isn't (money, expertise, partners, etc), use some positive image to represent not the lack but the potent space waiting to be filled. Fall in love with right now because everything you need to create the future is here.

Then, make a vision board of your fully realized idea. Place the two side by side. You might be amazed at the bridges you'll discover that connect them.

To get from here to there, you must hold both here and there inside you simultaneously. Feel the ground under your feet right now. Look to the sky. In what direction is your next step?

WEEK 3 - Homework Assignment

1. Make a vision board of your life today and put today's date at the top of the paper. Either cut out images from magazines or draw the different parts of your life. Use photographs if you like. Create a symbol for what is yet to come. Again, this can be a drawing or an image from a magazine but label it with words like funding or the perfect business or creative or technical partner, etc. Color it, embellish it, pour essential oils on it. Engage your senses!

2. Create a vision board of your realized vision and put a date on it in the future. Also, write your logline at the top of the board next to the date. Include the people that will be part of it, what your day will be like then, how much money you will have in the bank or coming in that day.

3. Look at them side-by-side. What connections do you see? Please share them with us!

Hitting the Wall

I'm putting together a documentary project and I've hit a wall. Based on the subject matter, there are 2 companies that could finance it. Company A has agreed to donate some seed money which is enough to begin but not complete the film. Company B has access to many of the important subjects but is not interested in putting up any money. Because of the competitive nature of the industry, Company B has said that if I take Company A's money, they will not participate meaning I would lose some important interviews.

Now what?

Oftentimes in the idea development process, we hit a wall. There's a great Arab saying that goes, "When you must decide between two difficult choices, choose the third." But how do you even discover a new path when you perceive your options as limited?

This post, we'll look at how to define the nature of the wall (it is usually inside of us) because oftentimes in the process of assessment, ways to sidestep or dissolve the wall become apparent. It's usually when we allow the wall to be vague that it feels enormous and is capable of controlling us.

If we look at this doc project, I cannot do anything about the 2 companies and their positions but when I look at what I can control - my own beliefs about the project - I see clearly a thorn in my side. I have a belief that I need Company B's contacts. I realize this is an opinion and not a fact. Though they are an aspect of the story, they are not the only aspect. I now have a choice instead of a wall.

Look at your idea and write down all the next steps that you can imagine. Take each one and write down your reactions to each step. Which reactions are concrete facts and which are your beliefs?

Someone submitted an idea about filming dowsing meetings because he was interested in capturing the spiritual content there. He asked the question, "What can I do to make this happen?"

Whether or not he has any experience making videos, I believe he has everything he needs to make this idea happen. But his question shows that he believes otherwise. Perhaps he has a specific belief that he is not a cameraman or a more general one like he doesn't know how to do this. This can definitely be paralyzing. But it's not true.

What I would say is track down a mini-DV camera and begin filming the meetings yourself. If nobody has a camera he can borrow, it is possible to rent them affordably in almost every major city. Take that footage and put it on youtube. All of a sudden, he's got a youtube channel on dowsing at very minimal expense.

If the meetings are happening in other cities, put an ad on craigslist or call a local college. There are abundant affordable resources out there that are available now via the internet in a way that is unprecedented. Go on google!

This leads to my second step in dissolving the wall. Usually, it involves learning something. It may be as personal as learning to believe that you can or it may be more concrete like learning how to write a business plan (there are plenty free samples on-line if you look).

I know in my core that we are all capable of learning anything if the motivation is there.

Recently, my toilet started running but the expense of hiring a plumber plus the belief that I could never, ever, no way ever fix it myself held me hostage for days. Finally, worry about my water bill motivated me to call the plumber for an estimate. When he saw the problem, he told me to go to Home Depot. They had a kit, he said. I felt a pang of fear in my gut. Realizing life was telling me that I had to do this myself, I took the plunge and drove to the store. Sure enough, they had a kit there for $20. At home, I followed the directions which were surprisingly straightforward. Empty the water from the tank, remove the broken fill valve, install the new one. Exhilaration is the only word to describe the feeling of that first, successful flush.

For those of you out there who are not afraid of your toilets, this may not seem like a big deal but to me, it was life-changing because it was empowering. (More power is always handy) Although you may not be stopped by plumbing issues, what is stopping you and what do you need to learn to make your dreams come true?

HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

1. Write down 10 (or more) possible next steps that need to be taken to move your idea forward.

2. For each step, write down 5 reactions that come up, both positive (I can do this and when you will do it) and negative (I can't because...)

3. Write down 1 thing you need to learn to move your idea forward and how/where you will learn this. Remember, Google is always a great place to start.

4. Post your response, what did you learn from doing this exercise?

Keep creating!

Susie Arnett

Idea Coach

Your Idea's Logline

Welcome to your very own on-line idea group. You are part of a community of creators who are all moving their ideas forward. Everyone has an idea but when you come to this site, you will find tools and tips and methods to do something about it.

Each post will offer an insight into the idea development process and end with a homework assignment. Your task is to go out there and do it! Then, report back. Share your homework and also share your process - what's working and what's not.

Before we get into this week's topic, some ground rules. If you are inspired by a member's ideas, only positive feedback please. And the other rule is about privacy. Some people love to share their ideas and some don't. Please find your own comfort level for the details you want to divulge about your idea. But again, please fully share your process - what's helping and what's holding you back - because that is often much more helpful than the specifics of any one idea. And of course, no stealing or poaching.

I am always amazed by the diversity and passion of people's ideas. And I notice, too, some common blocks.

At some point, everyone asks the question, "What now?" Whether you only have a thought or you've got your idea prototyped, how you handle this question - at any stage of the process - determines your idea's future.

Notice whether you respond to this moment with helplessness or curiosity. If it feels like a wall and not a game, there are steps you can take to dissolve it.

The first step is to be extremely clear about what your idea is. For example, Lynn writes that she wants to sell sprouts in Mexico. But what's the product or service? Does she want to start a sprout farm, be the middleman selling someone else's sprouts, or become the Julia Child of sprouts and write a cookbook. Depending on the passions and resources of the creator, a choice must be made, at least to begin with. Being specific about your idea always helps clarify next steps.

Therefore, in this first post, I ask you to write a logline for your idea.

(Everyone's ideas are at different levels so if you've already made a prototype or developed it further, try revisiting this step to see if you can discover a new way of thinking about your idea.)

Some of you may have heard of the word, logline. If not, it's how movie people sum up their films in one sentence. Here's a logline for one of the most successful films of the last decade... A young man and woman from different social classes fall in love aboard an ill-fated voyage at sea. Can you guess the movie? The Titanic.

For example, this on-line idea group began as an idea. My goal is to create "an online group to help move its members' ideas forward". Pretty simple, right? It shouldn't be complicated. Elements to include are the product, the buyer, and the juice that brings the two together.

It may take pages and pages of journaling about your idea to come up with it. Another woman wrote that she wanted to make handmade soaps and offer women who can't work outside the home the opportunity to package them. Is she in the soap business? Or the franchise business?Is she marketing to spas or mothers?

Once you've written this, you must embody your logline. I recommend finding some privacy and speaking your logline as loudly as you can, editing it if necessary until it feels just right.

Record yourself speaking it. Let go of any self-consciousness. Remember, it's not about you and your vocal quality...it's about your idea.

This process of naming your idea out loud is a powerful one and will help carry your vision through the ether to all the invisible forces that support us in manifesting our dreams. Sing your idea into being. Record it, dance it, write it on the mirror in your bathroom. Gather it from your own essence and bring it forth so you can examine it. Read it like a rune. Revel in it.

In the next post, we will look at how to take this logline and flesh it out into an effective business plan or proposal.

Week 1 - Homework Assignment

1. Write your idea's logline and speak it out loud.

Some thoughts - call your own phone and leave it on the answering machine, go to the woods or beach and scream it out to mother nature. Vocalize it in an unexpected way. Have fun with it. Then, let us know how it affected you.

Normally there will only be one homework topic but since we're beginning, please also write down and share with the group one goal you would like to accomplish by the end of the 6 weeks. You may find that this gets edited over the next few weeks but carve out a starting goal for yourself.

Best,

Susie Arnett

Idea Coach