Join me this week as I share how to know when an idea is ‘ready’ to make it a real thing.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- What a turkey timer has to do with when an idea is ready
- A beach ball analogy that demonstrates when NOT making a project is harder than making it
- How to know it’s time to make your idea a real thing
If you want to learn how to make your passion project idea a REAL THING, click here and sign up to get the Creative Momentum workbook. You’ll learn how to plan your passion project in seven easy steps.
Click HERE to download of the Ten Things Every Creative Needs to Know checklist
If you enjoy listening, please subscribe, rate and review, and forward this episode to a friend who would benefit from it too.
Let’s become a generation of creative women who are examples for the people in our lives of what it looks like to prioritize our work (AND recognize our impact).
x, Jen
Full episode transcript below:
Welcome to today's episode, the right time to make an idea a real thing. I am personally working on a big project right now. And it is bringing up a lot of my stuff. My inner worrier, limiting beliefs I have about myself, meeting external expectations, feeling unprepared and like, I want more time. It is all coming up for me. Side note. Now, you know why I can speak to all of these- I experience them too. I wanted to share where I am in my own passion project launch, especially because I have a mid October deadline. And I also have some personal projects going on that I'll be sharing more about soon. So it feels like I have a lot going on and I'm learning how to work on this passion project with these limited resources. And dealing with my internal experience. I wanted to share what it's like for me right now, as I'm in it. The first thing I want to share is that we very often get caught up in meeting other people's expectations over our own. If you're feeling this, I want you to know something - just like boundary setting, someone can make a request of you and that doesn't mean they necessarily get what they want. It's the same thing here. Deadlines, deliverables, et cetera are all negotiable. Especially if they are tripping you up and slowing you down. You always have the option to change your mind, say no, or make a new decision. You can also change the narrative you're telling yourself about yourself, both are available. But know that you always, always, always have an out. You always have options. Remember that. Believing you don't have options is a fast track to panic mode and freezing and ultimately getting less done. If you're feeling this way right now, look for your options. You have them. I think of ideas as being quote ready, I kind of like those old school, white plastic, turkey timers. That would pop when the Turkey was done- do you remember those? If you're listening to this and you don't know what I'm talking about. Number one, I feel ancient. And number two, go Google it after you finish listening. Okay, so let's apply this analogy. Let's say you have an idea and you might've had it for a while, maybe even years. Or maybe it popped into your head yesterday and you immediately got started on it. I believe each idea has a turkey timer that pops to let you know when it's ready to go. So it doesn't matter if it's an idea you thought of yesterday that feels like it urgently needs to be expressed. Or if it's an idea you've had for years, this podcast is an example of an idea I've had for years. And you're noodling on it in the background of your brain. And then one day, you know, it's ready to go. It's time to begin making it a real thing that lives in the world. If you're listening to this, I'm guessing you've experienced both of these examples. And if not, I want you to trust me. I've experienced it. And many of my clients and friends have too. It's totally a thing. Now let's think about ideas you've created, before the idea was quote- I'm going to keep going with this analogy- fully cooked. Remember that turkey timer - what did it feel like to effort and maybe push and force to get the project done? I wonder what you thought of the result once you created it. That's a great question to think about. Compare that experience- of working on a project before the idea was quote, fully cooked- to when you felt that internal pull to make it happen. It needed to be expressed, and you knew it was the right time. It's like that magical combination of alignment, inspiration, flow, and belief. There's an intuitive piece here that I don't think our human brains are capable of fully understanding. But if you've felt it, you know exactly what I'm talking about. I think it is totally wonderful to nurture an idea until it feels ready to be expressed. I think that this gets a lot of flack- a lot of us think that we're lazy or procrastinating. And sometimes I believe this too- we worry that the idea will lose its spark. That is the distinction that I'm talking about. Having an idea and pushing to make it real versus feeling that spark and being pulled to create it. Let's agree on this though. Once, you know, meaning you feel it in your bones, that it's ready to be expressed your job is to transition into steward mode. It's time to show up for this idea and take the action, you know, about, and make it a real thing. For me. I know it's ready to be expressed when it feels like I'm trying to hold a beach ball under water to keep from doing the idea. The effort to not do it feels greater than the effort to actually do it. I'm going to repeat that. The effort to not do it feels greater than the effort to actually do it. I'm a really visual person so what I see when I think about not doing a project when it's ready to go- it feels like I'm putting on the brakes. It's like this idea is trying to lead me, but I am slowing us down. And this is the visual piece. Almost like the friction from digging in my heels could set my feet on fire. I hope that makes sense, but that's what I see. Like I am digging in so hard to slow down, slow the process down, and there's a lot of story here that we could go into, but like maybe I want more time or to feel more ready or more information. And like literally behind me, my heels are sparking and are on fire because this idea is pulling me, but I'm trying to slow down. Okay, and I want to leave you with this one idea. And we're definitely going to explore this in future episodes. But I believe that our ideas come to us because we are the perfect being to express them. I do not understand this logically, but I know in my bones this is true. We get these wonderful seeds of an idea because we are the perfect person to express them. Our unique skillset, our experience, our wisdom, our personality. And where we are in life. It's all considered. That means you never have to doubt yourself or your idea again. It is perfect for you and you are perfect for it. What might be different for you if you believed in your bones that your idea was meant for you? And I mean, current you, not you in the future with more skills, education, time to quote, get better. None of that. I mean, you today. Exactly as you are. Okay, let's bring this full circle. I think having this turkey timer pop up on an idea is the only evidence we need to begin. It's the absolute best guidance we can receive. It says, this idea is ready and I am too. Exactly as I am. I am so glad you are here and that we get to walk our paths together. See you next time. Same time, same place. Bye. For now.
