Your Ideas Don’t Suck

Especially if you tell someone what they are.

A few days ago, I had a conversation with my sister. We randomly talked about our life goals. I had a slight inkling of what she wanted to do with her life, but that small inkling pales in comparison to the full story she explained to me.

I didn’t even know she wanted to get her P.H.D. until now. Then she flipped the switch and asked me some questions. At first, I was hesitant to tell her anything. She usually laughs if it’s something stupid. I told her I wanted to go to law school, but I also had a business idea I wanted to implement in the future.

She urged me to tell her, so I finally did. What did she say after she heard my business plan?

“Huh — that’s actually really cool, and it sounds profitable”.

*Sigh*

All of the stress exited my body in one breath. For some reason, I feel more confident about that business idea than ever.

My idea didn’t suck and here’s why yours doesn’t either.

Your ideas don’t suck.

I wish I could plaster that all over my bedroom wall.

We’ve all had our own drop-dead ideas that we couldn’t wait to show the world. Then we’ve had some ideas that in our minds, aren’t worth a second look.

Why is that?

Is it because the standard is already set for you and anything slightly below that is a no-go? Or is it because it’s an idea that took you two seconds to think of and therefore, it belongs in the crapshoot?

For example, I had a blog post idea that I didn’t care about that much. In all honesty, I knew I had much better ideas than that one so I left it alone for a while. It’s a blog post that didn’t take me long at all to write and I prolonged putting it out because I wanted to put out my best ideas first.

I literally called it a sh*t post because I knew it wouldn’t get any traction. Fast forward a few weeks later and well…

This isn’t to brag or anything. It’s to show how a crappy idea can pop off all of a sudden. If a sh*t post can do that, then a sh*t anything can excel in anything.

So remove that stigma right now.

Your ideas sound better when you talk to someone about them.

I’m an introvert. Plus I have a brutally honest family, so they aren’t afraid to tell me their critique.

You’re probably scared as hell to tell someone your ideas. It’s like going to a huge business meeting and presenting an idea to a group of executives. Nerve-racking to say the least.

However, everything changes when you finally start talking for a few seconds. You start to hear yourself talk and the more you hear yourself, the better that idea sounds.

Your mind and mouth start connecting in an intimate way you didn’t know was possible, and you’re able to string together words that come from a confident space you didn’t know existed inside of you.

There’s just something about talking with people that makes your idea sound better than you thought.

Don’t be afraid to tell people your idea. The worst thing they can say is it’s horrible. Meanwhile, someone else could be completely on board with it.

Conclusion

Please don’t beat yourself up over an idea you’ve never tried. Or worse, an idea you’ve never told anyone.

Most of my best ideas were flops.

Most of my worst ideas were goldmines.

Why is that? I’ll never know.

It just goes to show that every idea that pops in your head deserves a chance. Don’t just go off some silly metric you created for yourself in hopes that that metric is the same for everyone else — it isn’t.

Give your ideas a shot and don’t be afraid to talk to anyone about them. Even if you think they’re your biggest critic. They have to like something, maybe it’s your sh*t idea you made up yesterday. You never know.