...actually, it has already moved and facilitated a name change.
Not sure if it will move again or not, but I'm moved it to Wordpress and am mulling over the idea of hosting it wherever the new home for Fast Forward Business Properties website will be.
When you are bitten by a bug, there is a certain amount of time that you just have to live through before the itching and swelling of that bite goes away. Rubbing and scratching the bite will only prolong the experience, the discomfort that comes with it and the time needed to heal. But eventually, the swelling will subside, the rash will fade, and the itching stops.
The same general thing happens when you are bitten by an ‘idea bug.’ Once a new idea come to mind, you’ve got a limited amount of time before you lose the adrenaline rush to put the idea in motion, and possibly lose the idea itself to the million of other thoughts that get processed through your mind on a daily basis.
And just like there are steps to take to help alleviate the suffering from an actual bug bite (don’t touch it, apply some medicated cream, take a pill, etc.), there are steps you can take to prolong the jolt of inspiration of your ‘idea bug’ bite:
1: Write It Down IMMEDIEATELY! - Never let an idea just dissipate from your memory. Just because the ideas are flowing now, doesn’t mean you’ll never go through an idea dry spell and need to look back on a few filed away ideas for inspiration. Write the details of your idea as simply or as detailed as they came to you, and place it somewhere you can routinely review it, lest you waist the effort of preserving it in the first place. Create an idea bank for storing randomly created ideas in a file folder, shoe box, computer file--whatever will work best for you. You can even carry a portable notebook to jot down ideas as they come if you are prone to attract idea bugs.
2: Order Your Steps – Make a quick determination on just how complicated your idea is and just how much work will be involved in your attempt to actually make it happen. Come up with a quick, easy to follow outline of all the steps involved that you can think of, and determine how long you think it will take to get the project started and completed.
3: Gauge Your Timing – Determine if this is the actual right time or place to attempt to work out the kinks in your idea. Let’s use the example of your idea being a ski stunt you would like to attempt and master. If you are nowhere near water or snow, chances are you won’t be working on the stunt by mid-morning. And if you have to lose ten pounds and get in shape before you can even attempt your stunt, that’s just more prep time needed before the attempt. If now is not the right time or you’re not in the right place, schedule a time in the future when you can assure all the conditions are acceptable to make an attempt at your idea. If your idea is not that involved or complicated, and you believe you can work on it now with minimum interruptions, and you are ready for the challenge, then jump on in.
4: Start At Your Earliest Convenience – The average person has about 48 hours or so from the initial formation of a new idea before they lose interest in it completely. And if they don’t take the time to write it down, they could lose the entire idea minutes after they came up with it. It is important to put your plan in motion for you idea as soon as possible, or schedule a time in the near future to get started, with plenty of incentive to get back to it.
Looking back at the month that was July 2009, I was able to get 7 (hopefully) quality posts online, with 5 being original posting from myself, one being a reprint that I need to tag as Reviewing What I Said, and one guest posting. Here is the full listing of my July posts, with a brief description.
Make A List, Baby! Part 1 Breaking down the basics of the most effective development tool you’ll ever use: a list. http://fastforwardblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/make-list-baby-part-1.html
Make A List, Baby! Part 2 The four lists I use to manage my daily life: my Daily Journal, my Daily Dozens, my 30 Minutes A Day Log, and my Running Notepad. http://fastforwardblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/make-list-baby-part-2.html
Welcome To Your Crisis Comparing how you would handle a house fire to how you should handle any crisis you may face. http://fastforwardblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/welcome-to-your-crisis.html
Is The Story Of The Little Dutch Boy Actually The Story Of Your Career? Originally published in the former Cool Corporate dot COM Blog. http://fastforwardblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/is-story-of-little-dutch-boy-actually.html
Do You Have the Right Mindset to Start Your Business? A guest post written by Deborah A Bailey. http://fastforwardblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/do-you-have-right-mindset-to-start-your.html
You Can Only Make Choices From The Choices Given Just like you can’t hit a target that isn’t there in front of you, you can’t make a choice for your life that isn’t presented for you to choose from. http://fastforwardblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/you-can-only-make-choices-from-choices.html
My Great Idea On How To Have A Good Life I declared myself a minor genius since I had an idea similar to two much more major geniuses, Tim Ferriss and Chad Fowler http://fastforwardblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/how-to-have-good-life.html
How do you really know when you have stumbled upon great idea? When others of higher fame and stature come up with similar ideas, as seen in this blog post from a week back by Tim Ferriss, The Big Question: Are You Better Than Yesterday?
My seemingly great idea is a simple plan to follow that will almost ensure you have a good life. The idea was so good that I actually came up with it twice, in two similar variations to the same theme, within a week. And I luckily had the foresight to jott both down in my Running Notepad list before I lost the essence of the idea.
What makes the plan even better is that I truly wrote it to be very simple to follow, even for someone who has found themselves in a dire situation, and are currently looking straight into what seems like insurmountable odds.
First, you start your journey to a great life by having just one good moment. Then, you work on having another one, and then another one. You’ll quickly find that working toward having good moments becomes addicting, and as you continue stringing some of your good moments together, back to back, and you’ll soon find you’ll have worked your way into having a few good hours, and then a few good days.
From there, just keep working until you are string together more and more good days, and those will quickly become good weeks, then good months, and then good years...all the way up until you can declare with all your heart you have led a remarkable and good life.
This plan isn’t easy, and it may take more time than you expect to string all those good moments into a good life lived, but the workload is enjoyable and life sustaining. And the good moments are just waiting to be had.
So start right now by declaring this moment as a good moment. Work on having more good moments, and keep stringing them all together. You’ll get to that good life, I promise.
As I was doing some research on whether you really can see the Great Wall of China from Outer Space, I began to think about some of the decisions that I made in my life, and how I had to be in the right places at the right times to even see the opportunity I have had to make those decisions.
My biggest example would be why I am living in my current home city of Little Rock, AR and chasing a current career path of media and broadcasting. When I was leaving the Air Force, I was looking at going to school full time until I could figure out what I wanted to do in my next stage of life, after long giving up on my childhood dreams of being a DJ, and failing miserably to convince anyone that I was just a slacker meant to wander aimlessly through life.
Little Rock was nowhere near my radar. In fact, it was not being able to find an immediate job in Atlanta that lead me to move out of my town house in South Georgia and just drive home to my parents’ house in Louisiana without much of a plan. I was set to spend a few days at home and then go try my luck for a few weeks in Dallas, with the invitation to stay on a friend’s couch.
Intervention came from another friend who had come to visit me in Georgia about two years before. We had worked in radio together five years earlier in college, and she was currently working at a radio station, and she called me and caught me days before I was to shut off my home phone service and hit the road. She had the chance to sell me on the law school at University of Arkansas-Little Rock, and on the fact that I was actually pretty good in radio, and could do some side work until I got enrolled in classes. That diversion brought me to the city, which led to more decisions and diversions that kept me on my current path (and not path of signing up for grad school--I PROMISE it will happen this year Mom), that I basically had to be here to even get the chance to see and make them. Moving to anywhere other than Arkansas in 2002, for example, would probably not have led me to get married to wife who was living in Arkansas in 2004.
Trying not to get all Bless The Broken Road on you, but life only allows you the ability to make choices from the choices given. You can't catch a fly ball at a baseball game you didn't go to. You can't use a thunderstorm as an legitimate excuse to not mow my lawn on a clear and sunny day. You can't be in two different places at the same time, so you can't cash in on the opportunities available at two different places at the same time.
Do yourself a favor and stop being so hard on yourself for the opportunities you may have missed by not being in the right place at the right time in the past, and start a new focus and appreciation of the choices you were able to make and not make because of being who you were, right where you were. And if you're looking to make a future dream come true, and it takes being someplace else to make it happen, try working on getting to where you need to be.
How much baggage are you carrying? Have you created a business that looks just like the corporate world that you escaped from? When I was dreaming of going out on my own, I envisioned having time and freedom to do whatever I wanted. It may seem silly now, but I didn't consider how much money I wanted to make. All I really wanted was to have time for myself. You see, I was in IT for over 15 years and during that time I worked weekends, nights and holidays. I was one of those people who could be relied on to drop everything and give her all for the team.
As the years passed, I realized that though I was giving my all, my paycheck wasn't reflecting it. Not mention that I was frequently sick and had little or no social life - other than the occasional Happy Hour. Not that drinking cheap drinks at a chain restaurant is such a happy event.
What I never considered was that I would end up recreating my work life in my business - long hours, low pay and the occasional Happy Hour. Most of my friends in business do the same thing, so why would I think it anything was wrong?
Yes, when you get started it does require work and often much longer hours than the regular 9-to-5. But sitting at a desk all day and all night is not productive if it does not bring you any income. Back in my job, I was used to just spending hours at the desk, whether my work was productive or not. So, I simply recreated that world. It took me the longest time to feel okay about running errands or doing chores during "work hours." However, I couldn't blame my work environment for keeping me confined - I'd done it to myself.
Recently my coach asked me what I'd really rather be focusing on in my business. I answered, "If it was up to me..." She said, "It IS up to you!" That really hit me.
It was up to me to decide - but in my mind I was still the employee waiting to be told what to do next. I've often heard that starting a business will bring up all sorts of issues inside of a person. You will discover things about yourself that you never realized was there. I totally agree. It does bring up stuff. Though some of it can be hard to look at, it's necessary. If you're struggling to find that freedom you thought you'd have in your business, drop that baggage and free your mind first.
About the Author:
Transition coach and radio host Deborah A. Bailey is a sought after expert to discuss today's most pressing workplace issues. Deborah helps her clients transition from employees to entrepreneurs as they eliminate limiting beliefs and connect with their passion.
After several years with various companies such as AT&T, Lucent and Johnson & Johnson, Deborah Bailey successfully transitioned to career consultant and coach by founding her company Deb Bailey Coaching (a division of DBC Communications, LLC). Her extensive experience in the employee to entrepreneur transition has made her the partner of choice for many successful entrepreneurs and career professionals. Deborah is the host of the internet radio show, "Women Entrepreneurs - The Secrets of Success"
For more information about Deborah, visit her website http://www.dbaileycoach.com
Is The Story Of The Little Dutch Boy Actually The Story Of Your Career?
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY ME IN THE FORMER COOL CORPORATE DOT COM BLOG
Does your career follow a warped version of the story of the Little Dutch Boy?
The Cliff Notes Version of the Little Dutch Boy has a hole in a dike that was threatening to burst, and little boy walks up an sticks his finger in the hole and shores up the dike with the simple act...a decision that is a little tough because it makes him late for school, which will get him in trouble. Eventually, some passerby sees the boy, and brings back help to fix the dike. The story is told to teach quick action and self-sacrifice, because if the boy leaves, the dike is back in the same peril that it was in before, and he has no guarantee that help is on the way.
Switch the story to an analogy of your career. Were you on your way to something bigger and brighter, came across a problem that you could offer up a quick fix, and then got stuck supporting your quick fix forever? In real world work, sometimes the people whose job it is to actually fix things will do everything in their power to go nowhere near the problem, sticking you with your quick fix approaches, and bogging you down with unresolved issues that keep you from accomplishing bigger goals and moving forward.
I believe you have three ways to approach this problem:
1: JUST DON’T STICK YOUR FINGER IN THE DIKE: If it’s not your problem, its not your problem, and don’t lift a finger (pun intended) to fix it.
2: PUT YOUR FINGER IN THE DIKE FOR A WHILE, THEN TAKE IT OUT AND DEMAND ACTION: Save the company for just a little while, figure out what the real problem is, then kill your quick fix and get in the faces of those who have the responsibility to fix it, and make sure they fix it.
3: PUT YOUR FINGER IN THE DIKE, AND PRAY THAT THE RIGHT PEOPLE WILL DO THE RIGHT THING ON THERE OWN: …which probably won’t happen...but a little faith might help…
When I came across the idea for this post, I knew I was going to be short on answers, but I hope that just putting the thought out there will help those stuck ‘with their finger in the dike’ to get a better picture of their current situation, and find a way out of it.
Welcome to my new blog. This is where I will chronicle the next phase of mis-adventures of my life. Thank you for staying on the ride, and for you newcomers to the inside of my mental mania, I will do my best to make sure the trip is both entertaining and educational.
Life In Fast Forward: The Blog is still a bit of a work in progress. Keep checking in for new posts and site updates.
About Blog
This blog supports some of the thoughts and interjections from the folks at Fast Forward Business Properties. Our ideas, things we test, and a few random thoughts will show up here.
Name: J. Cleveland Payne
Home: Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
About Me: News is my profession, so it only fits that I am a news junkie. I'm a radio show/segment producer for a news/talk radio station in Little Rock, Arkansas.
