You know when you get an idea… a really good one (so you think).  You obsess over it for the entire day.  You begin researching and sharing your idea with your closest friends.  You dream about what it, what it would be like and the details that you would choose.  How it would look, how it would feel… Oh all the excitement.  It travels through you like coffee on steroids.  The possibilities are endless!  Success is guaranteed!  Theres no way you could fail!!! You can’t even sleep because the idea is just swirling around in your head. Sure theres a lot of what-ifs and theres quite a few parts you have absolutely no clue about but that doesn’t matter right now because YOU ARE EXCITED!!!

Then you wake up.

All of the sudden the excitement is gone and in it’s place is… reality. That bitch. (yeah, I said it, because we were all thinking it)

Reality can really suck sometimes.  It sucks the life right out of your excitement.  You are left with how much money it would actually cost, how many people it would actually take, how much time, how much energy… Then this amazing idea turns into a absolutely terrible idea.  They are not as exciting.

They are paralyzing.

You don’t know what to do now. Yesterday you had purpose and today your have a brick wall.  Yesterday you had imagination running wild and today you have a dead end street. You had promised yourself that you would do something great with your life and yet all your ideas have ended at the same place, reality.

This just happened to me. I’ve have a dream of flipping houses for my career.  I have worked on projects for other people and I have improved the value of every house I’ve bought but I have yet to flip a house.  I have the talent or so I believe, at the height of my excitement… and I have the knowledge, well when I have the talent.  But when reality hits, so does fear and doubt.  All of the sudden my insecurities are running ramped like a shaved cat going after a ball of yarn… its awkward but you can’t look away.  I just focus on my insecurities, I can’t look away. Instead of my obsession being my great idea it is my lack of commitment when things get hard, and my lack of experience, my naiveness, my poor estimating skills……. they go on forever.

So what do you do?

You ask a question, then another, then another, then another.  Keep asking questions.

Start with your insecurities.

Why do I lack commitment when things get hard?  Because I am afraid of failing.

Why? Well, because failing sucks! I will be a failure. And possibly bankrupt.

How can you do it without the risk of bankruptcy? Have a partner?

What constitutes failing? How can you gain experience? How can you learn more about the process? Just keep going.  These questions are actually steps in disguise.  They are keeping you in motion(M’lea, I’m talking to myself here) Stay in motion.  Keeping going, you will get there.  Excitement is just a feeling.  Its not to be trusted.  It doesn’t mean the idea is really that great but on the flip side the lack of excitement doesn’t mean the idea is that bad.  Keep asking questions, eventually you will know if it is worth the risk or if it really is a terrible idea.