Wednesday 27 August 2008

Turning Ideas in to Action

We have all had ideas we have never acted upon. During our day we think of great new inventions, business ideas, ideas for TV programmes and so on but by the end of the day we have either usually forgotten about them or if we do remember them we don’t do anything about them.

Now I had a situation like this recently. I enjoy writing and spend much of my day working in a TV environment coupled with this in my spare time I enjoy playing and coaching football. Based on my experiences in football I had the idea to devise and script a new fictional TV series based around a youth football team. It wasn’t that I wasn’t passionate enough about my idea but it was just my busy lifestyle kept getting in the way of me putting pen to paper, every time I thought I had an opportunity to start, something would get in the way.

Then after months of thinking this idea through in my head, (yes even though I wasn’t writing it I was still thinking about all the characters and plot twists for my TV series idea) I picked up my TV guide to see that BBC 2 were about to launch a series based on a youth football team. Now I’m not saying my ideas were anything close to the show that ended up on BBC 2 but now with that in a prime time slot other channels aren’t going to be looking for something similar to it.

Its one thing believing in an idea but you have to make it happen, if you truly believe in an idea go out and make it happen don’t wait for someone else to get there before you. There are so many people in life with great ideas which could change the world or just merely entertain people but none of these great ideas ever see the light of day. If half of our good ideas were acted upon just imagine the world we would be living in.

Some ideas are harder to get off the ground than others but don’t let the difficulty to deter you as a good idea is a good idea regardless of how hard or difficult it is to make happen. Don’t waste your life wondering about what ifs or what could have been. By trying to make your ideas happen at least you know what would have happened and if you are successful it may change your life or if you aren’t successful you can move on to new ideas or new projects.


Adam Sibley
Founder of the Talented Young People organisation
www.talentedyoungpeople.com
"Envisage it, Believe it, Achieve it!"
”Shaking up the Youth of Today”

http://www.talentedyoungpeople.blogspot.com

1 comment:

TRS said...

Adam - great post! I especially agree with your statement:

"There are so many people in life with great ideas which could change the world or just merely entertain people but none of these great ideas ever see the light of day. If half of our good ideas were acted upon just imagine the world we would be living in."

As someone that constantly thinks about ideas, I've found 2 strategies that work best for turning them into something of value: (1) collect them intentionally - use a folder to jot down ideas when they come to you and throw them in the folder. I call my folder the "idea incubator". Then, be disciplined about reading through the folder every so often. (2) Take action - for the ideas that are worth your while, take small steps of implementation. Someday rarely comes - you have to implement. And, realize that most of your ideas won't work out. Try 3 or 4 things, starting small, then put your efforts into the one(s) that naturally gain their own momentum.

One such idea I just started with the help of some friends (and my kids) is This Little Light and the Blood:Water:Light Project.