From Genius to Hard Work

I was talking to someone who told me they always come up with great ideas. They then proceeded to tell me all about their great ideas and how they came up with them. Sometimes people need us to encourage their ideas, sometimes they need us just to listen. Sometimes the ideas are merely inklings, and other times it is a full fledged business plan. Sometimes they may need a gentle nudge or shove to move from the idea stage into the actually doing the work stage. These words from Zig Ziglar reminded me of this:

Genius produces great ideas and concepts, hard work produces the rest. 
- Zig Ziglar 2012

The people I have admired most in my days, are the ones who have great ideas AND actually make them happen. Be it a kitchen renovation, a way to repurpose used art supples, revamping a tired corporate program, or inventing an entirely new way to run a non-profit event. It takes courage and a lot of really hard work to make something happen from an idea. Not simply because you may be starting from scratch or need to tear stuff up in order to put it back together in a different way. The idea may require that you change, grow, learn or even unthink the way you usually think. Ideas change us, they change our lives, and they have the power to change the world. Being the person to actually do something also means that you open yourself to criticism, turmoil, unhappy people, and a real mess BEFORE you may see any results.

I was once given “the opportunity” to revamp our corporate break rooms. I had nothing to do with that area of the company, yet the CEO saw fit to tell me to do it with a very meager budget. OMG! You have never lived, NEVER led, until you have had to get thirteen women to agree on one carpet sample! OMG! It was exhausting, exciting, exasperating, and very successful, and a true challenge to my temperament and mental acuity. It was a triumph, and I NEVER want to do that again. Yet I learned, I persisted and I was pleased with how everyone ended up getting along and liking the spaces. Can I tell you again that I NEVER EVER want to do that again!?!

So when people tell me they have an idea, I listen and encourage, and wonder if they have what it takes to get that idea from their head into reality. Anyone can have an idea, not everyone can make things happen. Which one are you? Or are you both? Or maybe you currently have an idea that will take you from genius into the hard work?

Let me encourage you to first of all write down your great ideas, so you do not forget them AND so they have a safe place to wait while you let them percolate. Second, let me remind you that all ideas are not for where you are today. You may have have to learn, grow, change or even wait for the timing to be right and for you to be ready. That’s perfectly cool. And finally, you know you have grown up when you ask yourself the question, ‘Am I the best person to bring this idea to life? OR is this idea meant from someone else?’ Wisdom is knowing when you are ready or when someone else may be better suited.

Think long and hard. Think big, think better, and then wait. Timing is everything, endurance is key, and if it is a truly big idea, your patience and core values will be tested. And if you are fortunate you will become a better you on the other side of the implementation of your idea. Have no fear, you can move from genius to hard work and survive!