Overcoming the avalanche of ideas – 1

Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds,

such as the flute or harp, how will anyone know what

tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the

notes?  Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call,who will get ready for battle? So it is with you…

1 Corinthians 14:7-9 (NIV)All human progress is traceable to the activation of certain breakthrough ideas whose time had come. Without ideas, the world would be irredeemably locked in the Stone Age. The human mind is wired to entertain several thoughts every minute. The import of this is that several ideas run through the average person’s mind daily.

An idea is simply a mental picture of a future possibility. It is the seed of all achievement. A man with a great idea but without money will attract resources to the idea while a man with resources but without an idea will eventually forfeit the money to the one with a great idea. Prosperity is not in the idea itself but in its implementation. The best of ideas remain a mirage until the one with it decides to do something to make the vision happen.  Execution is where the rubber meets the road.

One question I have been asked by many people is, “I have several good ideas but my problem is knowing which one to pursue.” Then they go ahead to regale me with many of the ideas in their head and expect me to advise them on which was most lucrative and easiest to execute and which of course they could begin to implement immediately. I see the sense of disappointment in them when I tell them that I cannot tell them which of their ideas would work since all ideas are potential coded in a mental picture. What this means in essence is that there is no good or bad idea. Many factors account for how any idea turns out. But that is not the focus of this essay. My concern today is to address a problem common to most people who exercise the brain in endless streams of thought. Ask me, I should know. I have been a victim of it many times. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you were trying to nurture the seed of an idea that you believed was full of prospects only for about three or four other good ones with seemingly better prospects to suddenly begin to hit you in rapid succession until you are left confused as to which to implement first? Picture the scenario. You have a book to write. As you were gathering necessary materials to use in the book, a business idea that looks like it would provide the funds for financing the publication jumps at you. Then you have an experience with an orphan that leaves you thinking that you were better off starting an NGO. While thinking about that, an opportunity to attend a two-month training course abroad opens up. At the same time, you are thinking of opening a crèche because you live in an environment populated by working class parents who have a problem of where to keep their children when they go to work and you notice there is no crèche nearby. You know that feeling?

Welcome to the world of the idea avalanche. An avalanche is a large mass of any material moving rapidly downhill. It has also been defined as a sudden arrival or occurrence of something in overwhelming quantities.  An idea avalanche therefore is a deluge of ideas flooding the mind in such rapid, overwhelming succession that makes it practically impossible to have enough time to process, talk less of effectively strategizing on the implementation of any. The Jack of all trades is usually a master of none.

You cannot stop your mind from coming up with fresh ideas but unless your name is omnipotent or omniscient, you can only achieve optimum effectiveness with the implementation of one idea at a time. Multi-tasking can more often than not become distracting if none of the tasks has been properly established.

The downsides of the idea avalanche are myriad. Having and trying to pursue many ideas at a time disallows sustained focus. Focus is the strength of achievement. The thrust of sustainability and consistency is focused effort. Unfortunately, with the scourge of idea avalanche, each idea appears to be the “next big thing”. So, every new idea seems deserving of quality attention. The result is a diffusion of energy. Jesus made it clear to us that our energy flows in the direction of our dominant thoughts when He said that a man’s heart will always go in the direction of where he feels his treasure is located. You have only one heart and it is only capable of moving effectively in one direction at a time. The Yoruba have an apt way of putting it, as exemplified in the proverb that the man who tries to pursue two rats at the same time will end up catching neither!

With diffusion of energy comes a dissipation of resources. Resources that should have been harnessed to follow one course at a time are spread over the execution of many pursuits until you are worn thin. The attendant disillusionment is heightened when none of the schemes invested on seems to be yielding the necessary dividends even while draining you of energy and resources.

Where there is a dissipation of resources, especially when you don’t have enough to fully harness the potential in any particular idea, you will ultimately end up with the dilution of passion. Yet without sustained passion for a destination, you may never attract the needed help or required resources to get there. No man can deliver the goods if his heart is heavier than the load. Without passion, hope loses its fervour. Passion can only be sustained when the destination is more desirable than the process that leads to it. Passion is an active engagement of our emotions. My best definition of emotion is “energy in motion”.  No one can be equally passionate about multiple pursuits. Jesus put it succinctly when He stated that no man can serve two masters effectively. He would either love one or hate the other or vice versa.

The implication of duplicity of pursuits is that you tend to become what the late Zig Ziglar called “a wandering generality”. What this means is that you are never really known for anything in the attempt to be known for many things!

So how do you overcome the idea avalanche and achieve so much in limited time?… continued

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