Hint: It’s the same reason why many Inventors’ ideas don’t become reality.
“I think there is something more important than believing: Action! The world is full of dreamers, there aren’t enough who will move ahead and begin to take the concrete steps to actualize their vision.” – W. Clement Stone
Can you remember the resolutions you made last year? Were you able to keep them? If most people were to be honest, they would say probably not. How about that idea you resolved to make happen at the beginning of this year? Where are you now compared to where you’d thought you’d be last year?
As we look over our shoulder as we near the end of this year, looking back at it like an old crumpled piece of paper, and turn our heads to look to the next one and see a fresh new sheet, we start to think about all the things we wished we had done in the past year, and all the things we really want to do in the next. If you’re an inventor, you have that idea, that drawing, prototype or project that you really want to start getting some traction on. You’ll say to yourself, “ this year it will be different. I can really see the potential in this idea and this is the year I’m going to do something. I’m going to change my career, my income and the course of my life with this invention!” All these sentiments are great, and needed. They are the fuel and lifeblood of any inventor that wants to see momentum. You need that motivation, that vision, that fire in your belly to implement the intensity and tenacity necessary to be successful. However, there is a danger here. The “want-to”, that desire to have your dream, idea or project become a money-generating reality will not take place with simply the promise to yourself that you’re going to do it. All you have at this point is a dream. What you need is a plan.
In his book EntreLeadership, Dave Ramsey talks about the fact that the difference between a dream (or what we can call our idea) and a goal is a plan. And for these goals to really be tangible goals, they must have certain components that make them real and give you traction that you can both see and feel.
First off, your goal must be specific and measureable. You can’t just say “I want to make money with my invention”. That’s just a naked dream of an idea. You have to put work clothes on it by making it specific with something like “I want to make $”x” with my invention”, or “I want to license my invention with a company”, or “I want to outsource a manufacturer and sell “x” units. When you give it specifics, something important changes for the inventor. It blows some of those clouds of abstraction away and makes you begin to see and think about how it can be done.
Secondly, they must have a time limit. Time limits can be used as a powerful tool for the inventor who needs traction to move forward. You can now take those specific measureable activities and break them down into smaller, more digestible goals with specific deadlines that you can see yourself achieving. And nothing motivates like a deadline. These time constraints also evoke discipline. We tell our inventors: you set an appointment with your invention, just like it’s an appointment with a doctor or an attorney. You tell yourself, “Thursday between 6 an 9 PM, I’m turning off the TV, getting off the couch and working on my invention”!
Also, you need to put your goals in writing. Just like documenting your invention, it is important that you write your specific plans, goals and timed milestones down. This helps you on a number of levels. When you verbalize your thoughts, you force them through one layer of understanding, and yet another layer when you write them down. This gives you an even clearer understanding of your invention and how to go about bringing it to market. Even with documenting your invention, you shouldn’t do it just for the legal record. You need to do it for you; to help you better understand what it is that you are doing and how you are going to do it. Successful inventor Rob Vorhees says “ you have to know where you are, where you want to be, and how you’re going to get there”. A written plan is the map to do just that.
If you can do these things, it will help you to make your invention something a lot more attainable than it was when it was just a dream. But remember, if you don’t do the things necessary to hit the goals within the time allotted, that goal will condemn you and call you just a dreamer.
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