DO ONE THING!
Ever have so many ideas flapping around your head that you have no clue where to start? Perhaps they pounce on you when you’re commuting, or the ideas sneak in when your head hits the pillow at night. You may have a book-sized story or a brilliant business concept.
The trouble is, you never get your ideas out of your head and into the world. Perhaps you make a start, but you’re tempted by a shiny, new project and chase after it, abandoning your original one. And then the cycle repeats itself. Before you know it, you have a graveyard of ideas going nowhere.
They taunt you with a sense of what could have been.
Too many ideas, too little time. To Jan, it was a familiar scenario. Before she became an author, poet, and founder of Evermore, she knew all too well what it was like to have a flood of ideas vying for her attention.
Back in 2018, Jan was working as a teaching assistant. She had to squeeze in her creative interests around her job and spending time with her family. At times, it was overwhelming. It felt like she had to peddle hard to keep her head above water. She longed to feel more organised, that she was directing the course of her life.
Around this time, a flyer came through her door for a transformation programme with Our Happiness Factor. The moment Jan touched that flyer, she lit up inside. Her intuition was telling her to go.
When she first walked into that room of people, Jan didn’t know what to expect. Despite her nerves, she chose to remain open to the experience. Jan had always been community-minded, but this was the first time she felt she belonged to a group of creatives. It gave her the support and accountability to pay attention to her creative dreams.
The programme gave Jan the space to gain clarity about what mattered most. She had long harboured a dream of writing a children’s book. She realised this was the big project she wanted to focus on first.
With the help of coaching sessions, Jan started to focus on one thing at a time. It was tough for someone with oodles of ideas, but she stuck at it. She committed to carving out regular writing time for her book.
Word by word, page by page, chapter by chapter, she wrote her book Dolly Daydream. Little by little, her small actions added up. And she gained momentum. Her confidence grew as the book started to take shape.
From a glimmer of an idea, Jan coaxed a book out into the world. Beyond her own imaginings, Dolly Daydream is now available in all good bookshops. Just think of all the daydreamers who needed to hear that story. People who would have missed out if the idea had languished on the shelf.
Jan experienced a transformation from seeing her ideas as nebulous to bringing them into reality. Before it felt like her thoughts were scattered - her energy and attention were divided between a swirl of ideas. It prevented her from making progress and seeing an impact. Now, she has established greater focus in her routine. Each day feels calmer and more organised.
But the best was yet to come. Once Jan had brought the book into the world, she could turn her attention to the next project.
Jan has since left her job as a teaching assistant to dedicate more time to her creative ideas. Her passion for sustainability has led her to set up a community interest company called Evermore, supporting community projects that make a difference.
With further coaching sessions, Jan realised that she needed to treat Evermore as a business and structure her days to create the life she wanted.
Here’s what she had to say about her experience of coaching:
‘I feel I have made progress, a shift in perspective and some realisations. Having these kind of conversations helps you come to conclusions. Without the conversations I would probably have crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.’
Naturally, there are more ideas in the pipeline. But now Jan knows she can only give them the attention they deserve if she focuses on one at a time.
Jan’s story shows that by focusing on your most important project, you can make those impossible dreams a reality. But that doesn’t mean you have to toss your other ideas in the bin. They will be there waiting for you when you’re ready to breathe life into them.
If like Jan, you have a head full of ideas, it can help to gain clarity on your priority. Which project lights you up when you think about it? How can you dedicate time to exploring that idea and trying it out?
Looking for soul-to-soul conversations with like-minded women? Join us at our next Creative Women workshop.