I’m not so sure the saying “a diamond’s a girl’s best friend” is true.
Go ahead and read these two stories, then let me know what you think…
Diamond Story 1: About five years ago I received a wonderful present from my mother-in-law. A pair of 18 karat gold earrings she inherited from her aunt. The earrings were covered with 44 small but nearly perfect, diamonds. I told you it was a wonderful present!
But there was a problem…the earrings were ugly and not something I would ever wear. They were valuable so I put them safely in a drawer and they sat.
After four years I told my husband that I had stared at the ugly (and valuable) earrings long enough and that each time I opened that drawer they were making me feel stupid for not wearing them.
It was time to either sell the earrings or turn them into something that I’ll enjoy. I decided to take the earrings, sell the gold and use the diamonds to make a bracelet that I would wear.
Diamond Story 2: I have a client who had a storage unit. She had been paying storage fees for years but had no idea what was in it. She needed to go through the unit but never found the time or energy.
Finally her guilt got the better of her and she did it. It took two weeks from start to finish.
Guess what she found…a diamond ring.
On the one hand it was awesome. But was it worth it?
Was the diamond ring she found worth the years of storage fees? Was the diamond ring worth the amount of angst she put herself through? Was the diamond ring worth the time she spent going through the storage unit and disposing of just about everything else? Tough questions, and there are no right or wrong answers.
So how does this apply to you and your business?
You have lots of “potentially” valuable things. Some are physical like my earrings and my client’s ring, but as an entrepreneur what’s even more valuable are your ideas.
You keep your ideas on lists, in piles, or more likely in the recesses of your brain. You tell yourself that you’ll get around to doing it one of these days. In the meantime, the ideas nag at you. They make you feel guilty, that somehow you should have already done it, used it or created it.
The reality is that it all comes down to a decision. Decide to do it and actually do it or decide to let it go and not worry about what could have been.
My client and I both decided it was time to do it. I spent the time, energy and money necessary to transform my ugly, but valuable, earrings into something I love. My client also went ahead and did the work. Afterwards she looked at her situation and the amount of time, energy and money that she had invested over the years into her diamond and, with hindsight being 20/20, wished that she had let go of the storage unit (and the lone diamond within) years ago.
What about you and the ideas you have been waiting on? Holding onto them is costing you time and energy. Is it worth it? They may have potential and become something valuable and useful. The question is, are you going to take the steps to make it happen?
This isn’t about judging yourself; there is no right or wrong answer. Just…Make a decision.
Decide to pick up that idea, dust it off and make it happen. Or, decide to set it aside once and for all and move onto something else.
What will you decide? Comment below to share your thoughts.
Carrie, I’ll never forget what you shared with me years ago – that one day you just took all of your notes and ideas that you had written down and tossed them. And after how liberated and open you felt. When things pile up (and it isn’t often thanks to you) I use that strategy and it is so freeing to me.