Do You Have Idea Diarrhea And Can't Get Any Off The Ground?

One thing I have noticed about many entrepreneurs is that there is no shortage of ideas. The biggest challenge that most entrepreneurs have is how to choose which idea to pursue, and turn that idea into reality.

And let's be honest, many entrepreneurs are highly creative and may exhibit some ADHD symptoms. So it's perfectly normal that this is a conundrum. Because they generate so many ideas they are experiencing the conundrum of choice.

Conundrum: an intricate and difficult problem(1). How could so many choices be a conundrum? One would think that more choices would make it easier to choose. But one would be wrong!

Studies have proven that more choices can also lead to fewer or no decisions. In research conducted by Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lepper, shoppers were provided with 6 choices of jam or 24 choices of jam. Of those provided the choice of 6, 30% of the shoppers purchased a jar of jam. Of the shoppers provided with 24 choices, only 3% made a purchase. The increase in choices stifled decision making.

So what is an entrepreneur to do?

📝 Prioritize Ideas: In order to prioritize the ideas you have to know what is important to you. Is it your passion for the idea? Is it the effort to implement it? Is it the income potential? Or is it something altogether different? Once you've defined that criteria it should be easy to rate the ideas and determine which one you should pursue. In that process you should also think about the deal killers, or the characteristics that would indicate that an idea is altogether bad even if it rated high on the other criteria. For example, perhaps something that has a negative impact on society would be a deal killer for you even if it could generate a lot of revenue, you have a lot of passion for the idea, and the effort is easy.

Here Is an article I wrote a long time ago about a great way to prioritize ideas. Having founded my own company, and worked for a lot of founders, this was a common tool I used to improve our focus.

Great, now you know what idea to pursue but it's entirely likely you are still stuck. What are some common reasons people get stuck at this stage?

• Don't know where to start

• Don't have the time to start or rather don't prioritize the time to start. Can you say avoiding?

• Still not confident in the idea so are afraid to start

📌 Start Small: This is not the time to spend two years building out infrastructure. You probably want to test the idea first with something small. it could start with getting feedback from people who match your target customer. Or maybe go door-to-door and test out some elevator pitches. This blog post has a lot of information on how to start small and test your idea. And it doesn't matter where you start, as long as you start. I have plenty of clients who don't start because they don't know what the first thing to do is. Just start.

🥸 Make sure your tasks are tangible: Your to-do for the day shouldn't be “do marketing” or “get customers” or even “create content”. Those are not specific or tangible enough. If you've heard of SMART goals, you should apply that here. If you haven't, just make sure that your tasks are tangible and measurable. So it should be to “reach out to 10 people” or “create a marketing brochure”, or “create and distribute a survey”. Those are all tangible and measurable.

🧮 Prioritize learning: Instead of thinking about this venture as this thing you have to be perfect at, consider every step you take as a method to learn more so that you can take the next step. If you think about it as a learning adventure then any missteps are just opportunities to learn more - versus a mistake.

🧠 Be introspective about your avoidance: Are you choosing to spend your time doing other things because they are less scary, risky, etc,.. This blog post talks about all of the other possible explanations as to why you do not have enough time and recommends some ways to reframe the situation so that it feels more comfortable and you can prioritize this exciting idea.

⏰ Establish a Routine: Set aside dedicated time for working on your business ideas. Having a consistent schedule can help you focus and make progress. Also, in this new routine if you can find an environment that limits distractions you can increase your chance of success. Perhaps that is leaving your phone in another room. Or isolating yourself in a room with nothing there but your computer and yourself. You know yourself best. Think about a time when you remained very focused on a task. What was your environment like? What was the nature of the task? What time of day was it? Was it before a meal or after a meal? Make sure to apply all of that to your current routine. A highly successful woman I knew found that she needed to be in a room with no other people and blank walls for her to focus on the task at hand. Another man I know needs to caffeine up to improve his focus. Whatever works for you is great.

👣 Take Action Every Day: The most important lesson is to start. Taking any step—no matter how small—will help you break the cycle of inaction. Commit to taking one actionable step toward your chosen idea each day.

If you find yourself with a million ideas and aren't starting any of them, coaching may be for you. Schedule a free coaching discovery call to explore how coaching can help you turn one of those great ideas into reality.

(1) as defined by Merriam Webster