The Trouble With Ideas…

I have ideas.  I have lots of ideas, constantly swirling around through my brain.

Part of this is because I like to fill my brain with inspiring things, like reading books and listening to people talk on Periscope, and following blogs.

Part of this is because I have goals.  I have things I want to accomplish, like losing weight, trying new recipes, and working on projects, whether writing or KonMari or kid-related.

The trouble with ideas, though, is that they multiply.  They feed each other.  And it can get overwhelming.

I combat this by making lists.  If you’ve read my blog for any period of time, you know I’m a pen and paper list girl.  I love making lists, categorizing my ideas, and crossing things off.

For instance, this list of lists from earlier this week.  I was even feeling behind on some of the things I do for fun, so I made an entertainment list to catch up on, and felt instantly better.

Unfortunately, sometimes I get stuck in list-making mode.  I get all of my ideas written down, and then I don’t act on any of them, because either I haven’t broken things down into small enough steps, or because something about the next step scares me.

I’m trying to solve those problems.

I haven’t broken things down into small enough steps.  For example, one of my projects this week is to try to sell some books on various online sources.  I’ve made a list (of course!) of four sites from various blog posts I’ve read recently about where to sell books.  So my next step is to check the prices.

But that’s probably not a good enough next step, because I have three boxes of books times four websites, and I usually only have half hour snippets of time (if that) to work on things.  So maybe my next step needs to be “test check about ten books on each site to get a feel for what they might take and what their prices might be”.  That seems like a more manageable feat than doing ALL THE BOOKS.  From there, I can decide if I want to continue to use all four, or if only one is suited to my needs.  Or maybe I’ll discover that no one wants my books, and then, I’m done!

So my first problem is solved by me taking a little bit more time to check my lists, and make them work better for me.  That’s pretty easy.  It will just take practice.

On to my next problem.

Something about the next step scares me.  This one is harder, because it often means doing something outside of my comfort zone.  I put off making dentist appointments for my children for a few months (months!) because I don’t like talking on the phone.  I never have, and it makes me uncomfortable.

I read a quote once that said, “Do something that scares you every day.” I don’t know if I can handle that, but I think one thing that might help me get out of my comfort zone more is to actively get out of my comfort zone more.

One of the ways I’m doing that right now is through this blog.  I’m posting about things that scare me, like the fact that I started writing a book.  I’m posting about my vulnerabilities, like my fear of failing.  It’s not the easiest thing that I’ve ever done, but it’s authentic, and it’s actually a little bit therapeutic, to put words out there and to know that at least a few people are reading them.

I don’t know if practicing this will make it easier.  I hope so.  Because great things can happen once you no longer have fear holding you back.