What is keeping you from trying an idea?

Maybe the fear of coming up short.

C

My limitations are health issues.

I know I have the skills to do any project, it is just finding a block of time where I can concentrate on the build and get it working.

Often I get a health setback just after I start a project and it can languish for weeks or months before I can get back to it.

Still, the spirit is willing and I do keep thinking of easy simple projects to do. 

DAB

Take byte sized (maybe bit sized) challenges. How's that for a software reference.

I used to think it was a lack of knowledge resources. Now I have all the knowledge of the world at my fingertips with the internet. Which just proves, the bump in the road to accomplishment is just me.

John

The secret to any project is planning.. and making sure to write everything down. (or record it electronically).  A project usually runs in three stages;

1. The idea - get a clear idea of what it is you want to do, and write it all down.  No detail is to small or obscure.  The idea here is to put together a clear explanation of what you want the project to achieve, so another person will easily understand what you are trying.

2. The plan - nothing happens immediately, and nothing happens without effort. Determine what is needed (number of widgets, time with no distractions, tools, and helpers) for resources.  Then map out the plan, what needs to happen when, what has to go before what, and what do do if something goes wrong (contingency plan). Then put together a checklist, in order of all the items that need to be accomplished, and then double check the list. Notice, you still haven't done any activity for the project (or, spent any money).

3. Implement the plan - Now comes the work, if your plan is sound, and you have covered all the contingencies, anybody should be able to follow your cookbook process and complete the task, just like you wanted it done. A good thing to keep in mind, because, if your time is something that can't be dedicated to the project, you should be able to hire it out.

I wish this were my wisdom, but it actually came from the Eagle Service Project handbook for the Boy Scouts of America (a pretty good group). I did doctor it up a bit as well.

Being a full time employed engineer, I find that I expend all of my creative juices at the workplace.  By the time I make it home, eat, etc, I don't have much left to pursue the many ideas that float around my head. 

I have found that keeping a journal is really helpful. Writing down random thoughts, and ideas puts them one step closer to reality. Perhaps 10,000 or so years from now when the anthropologists (or whatever they will be called then) dig up my notes, they might say "hey! here's a neat idea" then finally, it will become reality.

John,

     Your not a bump in the road, just my milepost up ahead.

C

Definitely lack of time.  I've got enough on the plate to keep five of me busy

Thanks Clem,

Only true though if we assume we are going the right direction and at 60,000 points it seems that you are my mile post up ahead.

John