How I used to think myself out of ideas (and no longer do)

I thought myself out of SO many ideas in the past.

Because the idea itself, the necessary actions, or the possible consequences of following through on that idea triggered doubts and fears. 

It felt so uncomfortable or scary that I wanted to feel better as quickly as possible. 

And the best way to do that was to ditch the idea.

Last week, I had the idea to create a page on my website with a rotating quote and a button that generates a new quote.

I liked the idea and started working on it. I researched how to create a page like that and started writing quotes.

It felt joyful and effortless. I began uploading the quotes to my website. 

Then, the mind kicked in:

“Are these quotes good enough? Will people like them? Maybe it’s not a good idea, and I should just forget about it.”

A couple of years ago, one of two things would have happened.

I would have stopped doing what I was doing and dove into some inner work to release or reframe these doubts first. 

Then, I might have finished the page after all—but it would have taken a lot longer, and the process wouldn’t have been very effortless or joyful anymore.

Or I would have stopped creating the page and forgotten about the idea. 

I would have thought myself out of it.

But now?

I just kept uploading quotes as these thoughts passed through.

I was aware of them. I noticed them. I watched them come and go.

That was it.

The page is live now. Maybe people will like it, maybe they won’t. It doesn’t matter.

That’s out of my hands and none of my business.

My job was to act on the idea for the sake of acting on the idea. 

Whatever happens (or doesn’t happen) next is not important. 

We’ll see. And whatever happens, it’s fine.

What idea are you almost talking yourself out of?

Can you act on it just for the sake of acting on it—without attachment to any outcome?

Can you simply watch your doubts instead of getting caught in them?

(Oh, and if you want to check out the quotes—I ended up uploading 99 of them, so you can see a different one quite a few times 😉—you can check it out here.

Enjoy!)