“To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions.”
– Steve Jobs
Everybody says that experience is the greatest educator. In the future, I want to create businesses. Thus, I decided that I might as well see how much I could learn by challenging myself to create a business in 30-days. If youâve ever thought about doing this, and hope to live vicariously through me, you can follow my journey here and check my socials where I post regular updates.
Business is Dynamic
Going into these 30-days, I was aware that I would probably change some aspects of my project. I know that Business is dynamic. Your final product almost never ends up looking as you had planned it would. That being said, I expected some slight shifts in the production, pricing, maybe internal processing, or product creation, but I didnât expect to completely change the model of the business. Instead of creating a product-based business, I am creating a mission-based business which, if I am honest, is better.
The desire has always been to create value for my immediate community, but halfway through my build, I realized that focusing on the mission instead of the product would be a better foundation. Instead of splitting my focus, I will have a singular aim.
Creating projects that are helpful to my community has always been something that interested me, but in the past, I didnât have the follow-through. In high school, I outlined something similar to Project Lifebook for my senior project, and though the beginning of COVID was a huge factor in the decision to change the project, we werenât executing effectively, and I knew I wasnât proud of the final product.
Looking at the difference between my execution on that project, and my execution on this project, I can see how much Iâve grown. This stark change in execution did not happen overnight, though.
The Problem with Follow-Through
Follow-through is a huge issue and I see it all around me. In a world that lauds ideas and building, we lack proper and thorough execution.
Why do I think this is the case? I think it has to do with fear. I think itâs about comfort.
Six months ago I would have fallen into this camp â big ideas, very little follow-through to back them up. I probably would have given some reasonable excuses as to why I could not execute, and I probably would have not given the idea a second thought.
Though that would have been my reaction in the past, itâs not anymore. Today I execute, and hereâs why:
I realized that if you wait for perfection until you execute, you will never execute.
During this business-creation process, I remember telling a friend, â70% of the work Iâm doing is damage control.â
Thatâs funny because itâs true.
The Excuses Never Stop
Excuses never stop. I donât think youâll ever NOT try to talk yourself out of executing on some big idea. It’s our evolutionary instincts — your body and mind work together toward self-preservation. The problems arise when the “perceived danger” is not real, life-threatening danger at all, and when you are ruled by those instincts to run away. That’s when you, unknowingly, work against yourself.
There are always problems. If the problems were obvious and easy, other people would have solved them already.
Itâs the resistance, the hurdles, the difficulty that makes solving problems so unappealing to other people, but that just means less competition for you if you decide to execute. The things that deter others need to be the things that energize you, and the way to do that is to re-frame your values.
Value Hierarchy
When comfort and pain avoidance are at the top of your value hierarchy, execution is difficult. When, contrarily, creation and problem-solving are at the top of your value hierarchy, execution becomes a natural by-product.
Thatâs all I didâŚI changed my perception of myself. I reinforced an identity that was in line with my desire to create value and problem-solve. That is now who I am.
Executing is difficult sometimes. It is tedious, a ton of âdamage control,â and sometimes frustrating, but in the end, it is the most rewarding thing.
After having committed to this project, I realized that I am the kind of person that executes. I have challenged my perceptions of âdifficultâ and âcomfort,â and have gotten a taste of the deep satisfaction that lies on the other side of a hurdle. Itâs true, this project is not huge. Itâs not a grand idea nor a source of income. Itâs just an idea that was met with follow-through.
This small step allowed me to tangibly ease into execution. Instead of just talking about ideas and execution, I have taken the necessary steps to make my idea real. I have taken the first step in learning the real use of ideas â creation. I’m ready and excited to attack larger problems, challenge myself with more difficult projects, and I’m ready to feel the satisfaction of even greater successes.