[A picture of the Blue Tongue virus]
How many times during the day does an idea come to you, only to disappear in the ether, never to be remembered again?
But an idea is, just that, an idea.
Imagine Picasso endlessly talking about painting Guernica but never putting down a mark.
To become something of worth, ideas have to be valuable and they have to spread.
This is not new.
Seth Godin wrote about this in The Idea Virus [this is the link to the complete book which runs to 197 pages and is one of the most downloaded books on the Internet].
Most people stall.
“I have nothing worth saying.”
But that doesn’t stop them creating a website, engaging on Twitter or making a hue and cry.
For those brave of heart they might even go and speak to a few people without an agenda.
“I have this great idea.”
What is holding you back from creating something remarkable from your idea(s)?
Most likely it is the voice inside your head, which Steven Pressfield calls Resistance.
However, if you want to make a difference – and I don’t just mean ‘shout’ a message to as many people as possible – then you have to follow your passion, and create something that others will talk about – for good or bad.
Next time you sit down to create something, think like an artist. Most artists that I know don’t start out with the idea of making money (yes some suffer with lack consciousness) but rather something that moves you.
Too much material is produced without a care in the world – other than the number of words perhaps.
Less is more.
Simplicity beats complexity every time.
Your clients will do all the work for you in spreading your message but only if your idea moves them with a sense of appreciation, WOW or good old fashioned emotion.
Don’t give up because your first, second or one-hundredth attempt fails. Surely you remember the saying about Edison not failing 1000 times but only learning how his experiment hadn’t worked. Your work should be no different.
Sometimes you might have to bare your soul or even go naked, but, either way, don’t think that you can sit behind your desk day in day out and hope for the best.
Art is hard. If it was easy then it wouldn’t be special.
Ideas and seeing them spread is just the same.
But if you treasure what you do and there is a voice constantly gnawing away at you to do something, then what’s stopping you?