great ideasMany years ago, I remember asking a dear friend of mine (who was a fashion designer at the time) if she ever worried about running out of ideas for her fashion label.

As a content creator and writer, that used to be one of my fears. I was scared I would run out of ideas.

Not to mention, I was scared that my ideas were not good enough, but I’ll leave that one alone for now, since I just entered into the territory of a whole different blog post!

Mind you, this is back in the days when I did more thinking (and worrying about writing) than actual writing. That time has thankfully passed.

My friend said no, she never worried about it. She always had lots of great ideas. I remember feeling envious of her at the time, thinking she knew some secret that I didn’t.

Disclosure – This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking on my links, I may receive a small commission. Any compensation I receive does not affect the price you pay.

When I started working on my business, I bought myself a large A5 notebook. I wrote everything down in my notebook, including all of my brainstorming ideas for articles/pitches/blog posts, etc. What I soon realized was that coming up with the idea was not necessarily the hard part.

During my brainstorming sessions, I was coming up with a lot of ideas. Naturally, some of them were going to be discarded, but even then, I had ideas to work with.

The hard part I soon came to understand was taking the initial idea and seeing it all the way through to completion.

The other night I had drinks with a friend. She is a creative and intelligent woman who has a lot of great ideas and concepts. The problem is she rarely follows through on any of them. No sooner does she come up with one idea to work on than it is quickly replaced by another. The earlier idea is then put on the back burner, and the cycle repeats itself over and over again.

I found myself falling into a similar trap when I started sorting through and working on my pitch ideas. I would get an idea, start planning and doing a bit of research, get a quarter of the way through, and then jump to another project and repeat the process.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying we get the luxury of working on only one project at a time. Far from it. Like many other professions, creatives need the ability to work on a variety of different projects at the same time.

What I am talking about is the ability to FOCUS on the one idea and take it from start to finish. To be able to remain focused and motivated right till the end.

Here are my thoughts on how to handle your great ideas.

  • Start by brainstorming ideas. Your ideas can come from anything and everything. You may even get some of your best ideas when you are doing basic tasks, such as taking a shower or going for a walk. If this is the case, make sure you write down and capture your idea as soon as possible.

Related post – How to Get Your Brilliant Ideas Out of Your Head

  • After you have done your brainstorming, which should include writing your ideas down with as much detail as possible, make a decision on what idea to work on. The key words there, unless you missed them, are – make a decision. Pick one. Start there.
  • If possible, test your idea to see if it’s something that will work. The book suggested below can help you test your business idea.
  • Set yourself a plan. This is actually a personal choice for me. I like to do a simple plan with bullet points for each piece of my writing. I am sure other writers have preferences regarding planning. If you are a more visual person, perhaps drawing on a whiteboard may work for you, for example.

Related post – 14 Powerful Take Action Quotes

  • Give yourself permission to drop the story idea if need be. Recently, I was pitching a story, but my sources wanted to remain anonymous. Unless I could use their names, the story had no chance of acceptance. In hindsight, I should have dropped the idea earlier and moved on to the next one. Instead, I tried to find ways to come at the story from a different angle. In the end, it didn’t work; it was simply lost time. Sometimes you actually need to give up and move on to your next idea.
  • Set yourself a deadline. I have discovered that I am great at sticking to other people’s deadlines, but can be a bit slack in reinforcing deadlines I set for myself. Big mistake. Treat your personal deadlines as important as a deadline to a client. Having a solid deadline and a plan to reach it will help motivate you towards that finish line. An attitude of  ‘I will finish it sometime next week’  will not keep you motivated.
  • Stay focused. Though you may have to work on several projects at once, be in the moment and fully committed to a project when you are working on it.

Related post – Why You Need to Stop Multitasking

  • See each idea through to the end (by which time, of course, you should already be working on your next idea or two!)

Great ideas by themselves are not enough. You have to take action on your ideas. You have to follow your idea through to completion. Even if you are planning on selling the idea itself for financial gain, there is still action required.

Books that can help get your creative on –

You may have some wonderful ideas, and they may be an important part of your future. Learn how to turn your great ideas into action.

If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends via social media.

Read Next – How to Be More Creative