IDE(O)LATRY: When ideas become idols

Cars that run on water

All diseases eradicated

Writing a book that sells over a million copies.

Influencing 20 million people on social media

Interviewing or dining with the richest man in the world

Sitting at breakfast with the President of the USA

Helping farmers to 10x their yield

Inventing an amphibian vehicle that moves on water as fast as it does on the road. And also fly.

Visiting every country in the world

Giving scholarships to 100 indigent but brilliant undergraduates annually

Facilitating life on another planet

You can add yours to the list.

Everyone of us has or has had one. I am talking about that big, bold, daring, breakthrough idea we were or are convinced would revolutionize the world and our life forever.

Several years later, however, the idea is still a distant thunder, an expectation held in some corner of our hearts or even expressed in a blueprint, but which has never been acted upon because the magnitude of it scares us so much that we console ourselves with the concept of waiting for the perfect time.

What we are unwilling to admit, however, is the real elephant in the room,our personal awe of the idea, and its potentials that make us dread its possibilities, making us feel unworthy to even dare to make a move to implement or own it. All of us at one time or the other have that scary idea that is so big that we believe that it could only happen in our fantasy.

What do we do with anything we find awe-inspiring? We idolize and worship it.

An idea becomes an idol when:

1. It is subjected to endless analysis. Too much analysis only induces mental paralysis. It is good to examine the various angles of an idea if the purpose is to break it down to manageable units for implementation. That in itself is a form of action. What is not acceptable is doing so much mental analysis that we become so engrossed in the enormity and our evident incapacity to execute it
2. It is subjected to too many opinions, especially for affirmation. Our approval addiction is sometimes our albatross. Those who didn’t go to bed with you should not be determining what you dream about. Remember, not everyone who says, “Good morning” to you actually wishes you woke up. We fear rejection so badly that we are constantly looking for those who will reinforce our inadequacies, just so that we can tell ourselves that we consulted people. And if a few people that we respect can tell us the idea will not fly, we simply concur and shelf it.
3. We wait too long to take the first step. Ideas can be volatile. When delayed too long, there is a tendency to lose some of its original essentials. Sometimes, another person gets a similar idea, acts on it and becomes the voice that you should have been on the matter
4. When we wait for a “perfect” time to act. No idea that changed the world had its ‘t’s crossed or its ‘i’s all dotted at the start. There is no perfect time for anything. Time only serves the prepared. The Bible teaches Ecclesiastes 11 that those who wait for perfect conditions never get anything done. A Yoruba proverb says that when you stay too long around your pooh, all kinds of flies will begin to alight on you.
5. We find it convenient to procrastinate because of the fear of our ‘unpreparedness’. Sometimes, our sense of inadequacy tells us that we don’t have what it takes yet and we need to get more education to carry out the idea since all the people doing anything close to it have at least an MBA. Education is good, but if not appropriately channeled, can become an albatross.
6. We are waiting for “helpers of destiny”. Helpers – facilitators, resources, manpower, more ideas – only show up where they find movement and relevance, and that is DURING implementation. I have spoken to several people who told me why they could not do anything with their idea. They had nobody to help. When I asked them what they wanted a helper to do if he showed up in their current state where they had no blueprint. I saw the video of a lady who cried out to the governor of Akwa Ibom State for help in a public forum. When she got the governor’s attention, He asked what she wanted. She had a business plan and samples of her products handy. The governor took a look and instructed that she be assisted to procure machines and given two million Naira as working capital.

How do you conquer ide(olatry?

First, deal with the elephant in the room. Overcome the fear of success. What we are truly afraid of is not the failure of an idea. Our real fear is the smallness and sense of unworthiness that we feel around the possibility and magnitude of what we aspire to achieve. A dream, no matter how outlandish, is simply an image of possibilities awaiting expression. Convince yourself that you are worthy and capable.

When you jump, never be afraid to aim for the stars. Even if you don’t reach them, your feet would have left the ground. If God inspires an idea in you, it’s because you are worth it.

Who told you it would be easy? If it is significant, it will be a bumpy ride. But it will stretch you and expand your horizon. You can never get a stretched mind back to its former state.

So, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Begin by taking baby steps, even if that means just writing down the idea.

Next, research the value of the idea and the significant problem of humanity that it is capable of solving. How prevalent is the problem? How pertinent is the solution? What is the demography of humanity it applies to? Where are they found? How can you connect with them? Is it an idea similar to an existing one or radically different? Who can you learn from? Do you need further education on it? Where can you get it? How quickly can you move to the next step? Do something and never stop taking action.

Success doesn’t come to those who do big things but to those who do small things in a big way.

Prepare for rejection big time. It’s part of the deal. Deactivate your internal objections. You never experience rejection until you are taking action. Action and reaction are equal and opposite, remember? Any object in motion encounters resistance equal to its velocity. It’s a law. Dinosaurs don’t want to be replaced and current champions hate the possibility of being dethroned.

Be your number one cheerleader. The journey of destiny sometimes requires that you perform for an audience of ONE.

Wake up every day and TAKE ACTION, no matter how small

“What if at the end of it all, I fail?”, you ask.

My response? “What if at the end of it all, you succeed?”

Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!

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