If you’re stuck on an idea, a project, a piece of fiction, a work of art, a home renovation decision or any of a variety of money-making schemes (if you’re anything like me), then I have one suggestion: get out of your own way.
The Cursed Hows
Humans are a jacked up species in that we tend to internalize decisions and get stuck in what I’ve heard described as “the cursed how’s”. As in, how would this work? How would I get the time off? How would my family react? How come no one else has done this?
The cursed how’s have kept some of the grandest ideas stay grand ideas instead of actually being born into the wild.
The Flamethrower Industry
There are times when I see the opposite in action and I devour the story and everything about it. It happened recently when Elon Musk, one of the original founders of Paypal, founder of Tesla and SpaceX, chairman at Solar City, and man looking to colonize Mars, decided that selling flamethrowers seemed like a viable option.
Now, think about this… more than a few times in his life, Elon has been against the ropes financially. He famously did an interview where he became extremely emotional about only having enough cash to save one company, not both of them. He described one Christmas Eve, going from meeting to meeting searching for investors to keep both passions alive because they each had such tremendous meaning for him. He’s had more rocket explosions than he has successful launches, and he’s not concerned about sharing that data: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9FzWPObsWA.
And in the midst of running Tesla and SpaceX, and sitting in on meetings as Chairman of Solar City, Elon and his crew of engineering misfits at The Boring Company decided that selling flamethrowers seemed like a good thing to do. Billed as more of a hobby item than a weapon (these flamethrowers only have a distance of about 10 feet), The Boring Company sold all 10,000 units at $500 each. The grand sales total: $10Million.
And there were plenty of things in Elon’s way. Like laws against selling weaponized fire. Like politicians who derided him for doing such a cheap stunt.
Yet, The Boring Company now has $10M more in their coffers and 10,000 people will learn what’s flammable and what isn’t.
Are You In Your Own Way?
There are more than a few ways to get out of your own way. In no particular order, here are 5 of the best ideas I’ve uncovered in my own life:
- Enlist others. There is nothing like having a group of like-minded creatives (and doers) in a room to help you brainstorm the next steps. We’re in our own way when we rely solely on our own devices to make something happen.
- 10 Ideas Per Day. James Altucher uses a unique brainstorming technique where he challenges himself to come up with 10 ideas per day on any one topic. Sometimes it’s solving a major world crisis and other days it might be the best way to organize his closet. But the fact that he’s flexing his creative muscle will help him clear the path for bigger and better ideas.
- Challenge your own reality. I’ve found that just by asking “is that really so?” to notions and thoughts of lack or inability changes my thoughts immediately. You are the product of your environment and if there are lots of people around you who believe something isn’t possible, you’re likely to believe the same. Your subconscious is at work all the time and accepting messages from people who aren’t asking the right question — like, is that so?
- Listen to podcasts. If you want to get around the cursed hows, no better way to do so than to listen to others who’ve come before you and gotten around whatever limitations they may have been faced with. Some of my favorite podcasters are people like Tim Ferriss, Nick Loper, Mitch Matthews, and the guys at Listen Money Matters.
- Take the next first step. You’re in your own way because you can’t imagine how step 26 is going to happen before you ever take step 1. Take the next first step to get where you want to go and trust that the answers will reveal themselves in time.
If your goal is to blast away your debt, to retire early, to spend a month in Italy with family, to invest in real estate, produce a film, or any other of a million different things (I’d like to do!), then I encourage you to get out of your own way and JFDI. (Just freaking do it!)
