I wasn’t quite sure what to call this entry so I have two alternate beginnings –
No. 1:
Fire, Ready, Aim!! When looking to bring a product to market, that is a World 2.0 strategy that seems to work. The idea behind it is that you can always have a version 2.0, 3.0, etc. But, the value that you get in people’s real-time use and feedback can’t be replaced. There definitely is value in beta testing but you can also test yourself right out of the market. You can miss opportunities because you wait too long while you try to get things just perfect. Guess what? It’s earth. We’re humans. There IS no perfect. But I don’t really want to write about business. I want to chat about us. Yep, you and me. You, me, and the reason why we often get stuck.
No. 2:
Ahh, the Oscars, a night of glitz, glamor, showmanship and a million stories. A lot of makeup. A lot of enhancements. A lot of smiles, some real. A lot of praise being thrown on people who pretend for a living. And we pay to watch them pretend. A lot! But what they are doing is something that many of us do regularly…..well, except the being paid-a-lot-to-do-it part. We pretend that we have really great reasons for not achieving our goals. We pretend that life is really difficult. We pretend that things have to be perfect in order for us to accomplish what we set out to. Why do we do this?
Intro complete. Here’s the rest:
So, the reason(s):
1. We’re afraid of looking bad – we don’t want someone to point the finger. It might mess up our good name. They will associate us with failure forever and ever and ever ever ever. Yeah, just like that guy….what’s his name….oh yeah, Henry Ford, the guy who kept coming up these broken ideas and projects for a machine that he thought could drive people around without them having to walk. He kept coming up with these ridiculous concepts that didn’t work….until one day, it did.
2. We’re afraid it might break and they will blame us – you are so right. It absolutely WILL break. Just like everything else that has ever been invented or thought of. If stuff didn’t break, what else would we have to work on or strive towards? Most of us have jobs because something is broken. Either we’re fixing something that is broken or we’re selling stuff to people because they are trying to fix something or keep something from breaking.
3. We’re afraid the darn thing might actually work – because if it works, then you know what that means. It means that people might keep expecting us to do it and do it well. They will keep expecting it and expecting it and then one day we might let them down. See number 1.
4. We’re afraid of sacrifice – because if this works, then you might actually have to give up something else that has been serving as your Linus blanket all this time. You might actually have to lace up your Target brand sneakers and take a step into something when you’re not quite sure where it could lead.
5. We’re afraid of commitment – dude, commitment? This isn’t marriage and we are SOOO not dating. What does commitment have to do with this? Well, being committed requires that we become ‘about’ that thing. That thing is something that we become accountable to. That thing becomes something that we might actually have to stick with long term because….well…we love it and we like how it makes us feel. Because, if I like it and I always want to do it, that sort of makes me like an addict, right?
Here’s the thing, more often than not, if you ask someone else how they feel about us and this thing that we are scared of, they rarely have the same heightened fears that we do. More often than not, they are thinking about themselves and the needs that they have. More often than not they are wrapped up in what’s working or not in their lives and they may only be concerned with how we can help them, well, if we offer it anyway.
We make up stories. We are drama in our own mind. Most of us don’t want to be called duh-rama but that’s exactly what we do when we fear helping someone, putting a product out, thinking it has to be perfect, starting an exercise program, etc. We make up stories and truth be told, we can get the Oscar! But, you get recognition if you have enough of those little golden bald guys on your mantle, right? Sorry, not this time. Fear is just drama in your head. Recognize the fear and then follow your dream anyway. Go for it! CREATE SOMETHING NEW!!