Stop talking, start doing: How to bring your ideas to life

How often do you do you talk to people and hear them say “I’ve got this really good idea for ‘X’ that I’d like to work on”, only to hear them repeat the same idea time and time again for months, and even years without, making any progress?

It happens to all of us, the ideas are flowing but we are struck with paralysis when it comes to executing due to what seems like the enormity of the task.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

It’s actually really easy to start making progress on all of your awesome ideas, it just takes time and commitment and you will soon start to see your project coming to life.

Finding the time is easy, you only need a few hours a couple of times each week to start making progress, with the key being to make the most of that time. Have a plan laid out, avoid distractions and allow yourself to completely focus for a couple of hours.

You can read my guide to getting shit done here

Being committed to your project is the next key to bringing a project to life. Dabbing in it every few months gets disjointed and makes it hard to progress your ideas. If you can’t allocated some time on a weekly basis, EVERY WEEK for a few months or longer, you lose your momentum, you start to drift from your goals, and end up not getting anywhere.

The next step is bringing your idea to life. No matter what you are working on, there is an easy way to start creating content for your project. If that’s creating a website, you can jump on Squarespace, if it’s a video project, download iMovie and start playing around, for Audio or podcasts, get on Garageband, for blogging, get on Medium.

Not matter what you are trying to create, we live in an age where there are platforms and tools that make content creation so simple that ANYONE, including you can do it. You don’t need any prior experience, and if you get stuck — type what you want to learn into YouTube, and you will find out what you need in a matter of minutes.

There is NO EXCUSE for not knowing how to create anything online!

The beauty of all of these mediums listed above is that there are also audiences ready and waiting for more content to be added to the community to check out! Do your research and see where you fit in best, and give yourself a kick start by choosing the right platform for your project.

It’s ok to not be perfect

You are not going to get everything looking exactly as you would like it on your first try, and I’ll give you a hot tip — we’re all the same. None of us publish the perfect blog post, or edit an amazing video on our first attempt, and that’s ok.

The more you are creating, the more you will learn, and over time the better you will get at your craft. Remember when you are getting started your audience will be small and will be watching as you grow and improve your work, and believe me, you will grow and improve at a rapid rater if you are committing to your project.

The same principles apply no matter whether you are setting up a website and blog to build your own personal brand, or if you are starting to build out the content marketing for your business or employer.

You need to define a clear plan of what you want to achieve, the steps you need to take to achieve them, and then commit the time on a regular basis to allow yourself to meet your goals and develop your content.

It could be a podcast, photography project, business blog, or short film — but the underlying process is the same.

Not knowing how to do something is not an excuse. Like we’ve talked about, it’s very quick and easy to learn how to create anything online, and it’s also important to remember that things are constantly changing. There are always new tricks to learn, new ways to do things, new platforms to improve the way you create content. It always pays to keep it touch with some of the leaders in your field to see what they are doing, which tools they are talking about, and how they apply them to their projects.

Remember, you are not the first person to do what you are doing!

Key Takeaways:

• Allocate time a few times every week to work on your project
• Use an existing platform to bring your project to life
• Leverage a community around your medium to generate an audience
• STOP TALKING AND START DOING.

Final tip: Whoever you are, and whatever you are building, start by creating your own website in your own, or your projects name. Use a tool like WordPress, or for a really easy option SquareSpace to get started. Trust me, it will be the best investment you’ll ever make.

If you have any questions about anything in this article, or want to have a chat about anything, feel free to hit me up on Twitter anytime.

This article was originally published on Medium