goals

I Want To, But I Don’t

As you get older, you start to notice things that may not have been an issue when you had a body and mind that was 20 years younger.

I look at this as the “I want to, but I don’t” syndrome. For example:

I want to eat healthier, but I don’t.

I want to drink less, but I don’t.

I want to exercise more, but I don’t.

I want to lose weight, but I don’t.

I want to live a less stressed life, but I don’t.

That’s a lot of wants that I don’t do, simply because of excuses. Or, the simple fact I enjoy the don’ts more than I want the want to’s.

Besides, there’s always tomorrow, right?

Except there isn’t. Tomorrow never comes, because when it does a new tomorrow waits, and the same wants clash heads with the dont’s that never become do’s.

And it shouldn’t take the tomorrow that never comes to make you – make me – realize that waiting for that tomorrow is another want that will never be.

Time to wake up.

The Good, The Not So Good, and Turning Both Into Great

In 1983, the biggest-selling album in the US was Michael Jackson’s?Thriller, still a pop classic more than 30 years later.

The second biggest-selling album was from a relatively little-known (at the time) UK rock band called Def Leppard. The album was?Pyromania.

Selling more than 10 million copies in the US alone,?Pyromania?launched Def Leppard into the melodic rock stratosphere, and introduced music fans previously against rock into their brand of catchy hooks and excellent live shows.

The point?

Prior to 1983, Def Leppard were as unfashionable as you could get.

A British rock band that were stuck between a rock and a hard place – trying to bridge the gap between old-school heavy metal and more mainstream rock. Their albums previous to?Pyromania?showed promise but were still mired in old school thoughts.

Step up producer and songwriter extraordinaire Robert John “Mutt” Lange, who helped Def Leppard reach the potential they had always shown.

Getting them to work in new ways, be open to new ideas, and experiment with new approaches to get their song messages across more effectively.

You can do the same.

Look at what you do each day and see how you can improve it by thinking differently. Look at the old you and see what’s good and not so good, and how you can?turn both into great.

If you blog, ask yourself how you can stand out from others.

Write about the things you want to read as opposed to what you think others want to read. Take existing ideas, put your personality into them and make them your own.

If you’re a business owner, be Mutt Lange. Make your employees your band and open up the recording studio to fresh views.

You’re still the producer at the end of the day, and you’ll make the final recording, but bands also know what their fans want – give them their voice too.

Safe and steady won’t harm you – you’ll always have a comfort zone around you.

But wouldn’t you rather take a risk and see how far you can really go?

The Difference Between Ideas and Doing

A few years back, I knew a guy who always had a great idea up his sleeve.

He?d share these ideas with anyone that was in his company, and tell of his grand plans for when his ideas made him rich. They would invariably involve?Salma Hayek, a yacht and six months at sea?

Everyone smiled and asked him not to forget us when he was rich and famous. After all, we were the sounding boards for his ideas and we?d say which ones sounded good, and which ones wouldn?t get him Salma.

Jump forward a few years, and needless to say he?s not dating Salma Hayek for six months of the year. Nor does he have his yacht, or his millions in the bank. The last I heard, he was a baker in a small village just outside of London in the U.K.

Not that there?s anything wrong with that. He?s making an honest living, and keeping a roof over his head. But knowing his mind and ambition, I can?t help but feel he?d be a little disappointed that his grand plans never came to fruition.

And there?s one simple reason.?While he talked a great talk about ideas and plans, he never followed through on them.

Never.

Instead, his great ideas remained just that ? ideas. Pipe dreams that could have been great had he taken just one of them and attempted to do it. But he didn?t. Instead, he chose to live anonymously, if you like, and remain ?that guy with the ideas.?

Again, there?s nothing wrong with that. Nothing at all.

But ask yourself one question, if you?re currently thinking great ideas ? what will you do next?

If it?s for a business, there are a ton of resources available for you, both online and offline. Google is your friend online, and your local?Chamber of Commerce?(or equivalent) is your friend offline.

If it?s for a product, and you want to test run it first, why not try something like?Etsy?to start with (or the equivalent for your product?s niche)? Again, Google is your friend ? use it to find sites to sell your product with little investment.

If you?re looking for feedback?to see if your idea is needed, set up your version of customer satisfaction?listening posts?and see what people are saying. If there are a lot of complaints and not a lot of resolutions, that?s an immediate in.

If you want to write a book, there are a host of self-publishing platforms available, like?Blurb?and?Lulu. Better still, write an ebook and sell it through your own blog or website.

The main point is, there are a ton of folks with great ideas. But many never make it past the idea stage.

So, the question remains.

What will?you?do next?

Image:?k-ideas

If You Want To Kill Your Competition Then You May As Well Kill Your Goals

Why do you want to kill your competition (this is a generic you)?

Why do you want to put on your size 42 boots, kick them in the sack and then trample them into the dirt?

Why do you want them to fail so badly that the only people left they can come to is you? Is your alternative really that much better?

Maybe.

But if it is, then isn?t it the competition that?s helped make you so much better? If not, why not? If the competition is who we want/need to be better than, then why aren?t we using them to improve ourselves?

This doesn?t just need to be about business, either. Your competition can be other bloggers; other poetry writers; other breadmakers; others that are after your objects of desire.

Anything that is after the same thing you?re after is competition. It could be a lot, or it could be miniscule ? but either way, it?s all good. Because you watch, and learn.

What decision lost a business customers? What blog post got a slew of criticism? What bread became staler first, and why?

Learn why the things your competitors are doing are backfiring, and adjust your approach to benefit those left in the dust. And you don?t even have to lace up your kicking boots to do this.

Don?t hate others for doing things wrong; make them hate you for doing things right.

image: Jordan.A.

Ideas Are Gold

Ideas are gold.

Ideas are the platforms for greatness.

Ideas are the moments in time that will find the cure for cancer.

Ideas are the ingredients that become a recipe to feed the world.

Ideas are the words that join a melody and make a grown man cry.

Ideas are the architects that build shelters for the abused.

Ideas are the intent that lead to mission accomplished.

Ideas are gold. Don’t let yours be wasted.