If like me, you have a tendency to have lots of ideas, and start personal projects full of enthusiasm only to get distracted further down the line by another idea, you’re not alone. Many people experience similar false starts when they kick off something new.
Over the weekend I read a thought-provoking post about this on James Ryan Moreau’s Not So Literal blog. James admits to having been through a few false starts himself, and laments how committing to one idea can be so difficult.
Self discipline and accountability
I starting thinking about this, and have come to the conclusion it’s a self-discipline problem. Have you ever noticed how this happens to your own projects, but very rarely happens when you’re working for someone else, i.e. a boss, or a client?
Obviously there will always be occasions when a project directed by someone else will turn out to be a false start – a budget could be cancelled, a feasibility study could turn up negative findings, or a requirement could change – but when you’re accountable to another person, the likelihood of you giving up on something just because a new idea comes along is drastically reduced.
It better be, if you want to keep your job, or your client!
Become the client
A solution to this is to put yourself in your client’s shoes. Become one of your own clients. I’m not suggesting you draft a formal contract, sign it, and sue yourself if everything goes wrong, but do make some sort of commitment to yourself – maybe even put something into writing.
- Set a start date
- Define deliverables
- Pin-point some milestones
- Decide on completion criteria
- Set a completion date
- Draw up a Gantt chart
It will always be easier to quit a project you’ve started yourself when you have no legal or financial responsibility for seeing it through, but if you treat it like a professional project, the likelihood of you following it through to completion is increased – especially if you can see yourself making progress against a plan.
Make the decision to quit more formal
Instead of just calling it a day when you get a new idea, hold a ‘go/no-go’ meeting with yourself. Draw up a list of reasons why you should stop the project, and a list of reasons why you should continue. Weigh up those reasons against each other and make your decision to quit or stick-at-it a logical one instead of an emotional one.
Of course this all comes back to self-discipline. Unless you have at least some ability to govern your own actions and emotions, you’re always going to struggle.
What do you think? Any thoughts, suggestions, or further ideas? Please leave a comment.
4 Comments
It’s crazy how you serve so many people in life and leave yourself for last at times. It starts with good intentions, like actually wanting to serve yourself by working hard and getting ahead, but winds up turning into a bad habit. Something I’ve always needed to stay well aware off on many levels.
Great post Brian!
I think a lot of it is down to self-awareness. Once you realise your tendencies, and admit to them, you can start to find a way to work around them.
Thanks for the comment!
The best thing to actually take your projects seriously is to quite your day job. Having the security of a day job usually impairs the vision of the person and creates a false sense of relaxation. Not having a day job and focusing on your own project will create a sense of urgency similar to the one in business environments.
You can’t be easy on yourself if you want to succeed.
If you’re working on a project that’s eventually going to become your business, you’re absolutely right – the best way to be fully committed to it is to give up your day job and work on it full time … the only caveat being if you can afford to do so.
Thanks for the comment!