The Sistine Chapel, it is not

It can be easy to fall into the trap of being overly precious about our ideas. I can't tell you how many friends or clients I've spoken to or worked with who have hesitated to hit the launch button on a project because of a minute detail. The tendency is to protect our idea before it sets foot in the big bad world.

When I look back at how we executed our first few Shared Walls™ exhibitions at IPaintMyMind, it's hilarious. No systems, all passion, high cost, and tiny margins.

Now we have procedures, guides, systems, supplies, and support tools that help ensure we do the best job possible when hanging art for our partners.

Thinking back to Brian and I spray painting frames in his alley that we bought at a hotel liquidator feels like recalling an episode of I Love Lucy that I had somehow been cast in.

I realize now how great it was that we just went for it. If we had waited for perfect circumstances, we wouldn't have made real progress. It was all about trying the idea and seeing what parts of it worked and which parts of it didn't.

Launching is the first real test, not the end-product. For us, everything since then has been a process of iteration & there's still plenty of room for improvement.

One thing I know for sure... the Sistine Chapel, it is not.

No matter what IT is.

If time eludes you, watch this

In looking for tools that might help take distractions off my plate, I came across this article & video, and thought you might get something out of it. So many people talk about how busy they are, not having enough time, feeling spread thin, scattered, or being generally overwhelmed by how much they need to get done in a single day.

Unfortunately, the way we work collaboratively, allows for tons of interruptions in our creative work. As a result, I'm on the hunt for some strategies or tools that we all might get something out of. It's an extension of operation 'time recovery', which is making me think more and more about distraction, potency, and creativity.

It was interesting to watch this video, because it mentions carving out half-days or even full days for projects, a strategy I've been honing in on as of late.

I'd be curious as to what your reaction is to this, and I'll get back to you once I find some things that can help us declutter, avoid our ADD, and find chunks of time to create the things we so desperately want to see come to life.

In addition to this video below, you can read up on one Google employees take on managing your time. It's a good one.

From what to how

Increasingly, my thoughts are shifting from WHAT to HOW. My WHY is often clear, and it usually is for most of us. We're lit up by something and time stops when we immerse ourselves in that thing.

The issue is, time doesn't really stop.

While we've launched ourselves head first into the deep end of a concept, idea, or project, our excitement can obscure a rational analysis of how that inspiration should mature from initial idea to real thing.

My friend Levi and I often chat about the process of wrestling with inspiration and figuring out how it fits into the other things we're doing.

In thinking about the need for a system to help evaluate ideas and determine what energy we should give them, we began to think about the questions we'd need to answer to figure that out.

The fact is, our life-pie doesn't get bigger, the days don't get longer, and budgets don't increase on their own.

While time doesn't stop, there are always ways to work smarter, remind ourselves of strategy and be more calculated about the effort we give to the work we're so passionate about.

This thinking has resulted in the creation of a framework that will assist creatives, entrepreneurs, & business owners in taking ideas from gestation to implementation.

It's not quit ready yet, but it's exciting to think we might be on the brink of a project that could help us ask the all important question of HOW.

I'll keep you posted.

A gift for you

When I work with clients to prioritize, strategize, and implement new approaches to meeting their business goals, I emphasize the need to zoom the lens out. With the fast pace of entrepreneurship and running a business, it can be hard to stop long enough to take a look at how to improve processes, policies, or strategies.

The urgent email needs to be responded to, the deadline for the event is coming up, or you wanted to launch months ago; there's always something that needs to get done, now!

I can definitely relate to the feeling, and have done a lot of work over the past few years to reduce inefficient motion when it comes to my companies & projects, as well as that of clients.

Budget considerations, ROI, efficiency of effort, as well as how much you're enjoying yourself are all ways to evaluate whether or not a strategy is a fit, but taking those things into full consideration, you always have to know how what you're doing in any one portion of your business fits into the overall strategy.

It has to be part of a plan.

Sure, you want to roll everything out right away, but putting together a plan helps you get it all done by aligning the moving parts.

You can always pivot, and I'd suggest planning time to set aside bi-weekly or monthly to revisit the current strategy and re-evaluate.

That said... What's going right with your business? How do you think it could improve? What is the name of the pink elephant in your business's room? 

Whether in business or in life, I'm learning more and more that taking the time to step back is essential.

With that in mind, I'm offering my newsletter subscribers a gift in the form of 1 (ONE) FREE 1-hr session to the first three people that email me. We'll spend a little time talking to about what's working in your business, what's not, and where you'd like to be by the end of 2016.

I'll provide an analysis and suggest some potential focus areas, as well as how we could work together to meet your goals with some great tools & strategies.

Be well & have an amazing 2016,

Evan