Getting Off The Launch Pad

It’s take off time, are you ready? I have seen good ideas with fine plans and the right resources to implement them but they never get of the launch pad. It’s really unfortunate to see very good ideas linger for years on the launch pad when it should actually be sky bound. But come to think of it, why do people stay long on the launch pad beyond the required time estimate even when they are good to go, sometimes they have all it takes to be sky bound but they still cant it take off.

It’s not that they want to remain on the launch pad, nor do they lack the intention and desire to be sky bound, to take off that project or dream or to implement that idea; it’s not also a question of not knowing how to take off, but often of ability. It’s that little something, that initiator to spark up the desire and verve in them. This tendency is also in agreement with Newton’s first law of motion which states that a body will remain in its state of rest or uniform velocity unless acted upon to change by an external force. I will share with you some helpful tips to get yourself off the launch pad into the heights.

1. Begin with a plan: when you have dream or an idea the next thing you should go for is a plan. It’s very important. With a plan, you know what to expect, it will help you chart out all possible solution to the challenges you might encounter. The process is as good as the plan.

2. Act upon the plan: a good plan does not get job done no matter how great and strategic it may seem. A plan can only prove effective when acted upon. To act upon a plan, accept your plan as a blueprint that can help you achieve your objective. Commit to your plan. Your level of commitment to the plan depends on how much you believe in the plan. So try as much as possible to create a good and workable plan. Comply with the plan. Take significant disciplined steps toward implementing it, get the right counsel. Without counsel plans/purposes are disappointed, but in a multitude of counsel they are established. Build a good team around you.

3. Don’t fall in love with the launch pad: a lot of things can be happening in the launchpad; there the rocket doesn’t do much but wait as it is prepared for takeoff. Launch vehicles could stay on the launch pad long enough until it’s ready for take. Some people so much enjoy the preparation period that they are carried away by the simplicity and fun of this stage (compared to flight phase), thereby extending and delaying the take off of their dreams or projects or ideas. Sometimes it could be due to laziness or fear of the task which lies ahead. Don’t make your umbilical attachment to the plan of iron such that you can hardly detach from it. I wrote a comprehensive post on this.

4. Go in packets: one step after the other, some people take a mega project the first time all at once and they are weighed down by it. They strive for perfection in getting the bits and pieces together to get a perfect picture; this keeps them longer on the launch pad. Big vehicles don’t make sudden turns. When you remember how enormous the project is and the effort it takes to put all the things together you loose the inertia/ motivation to spark the take off. Start with pin point smaller projects and execute them. Then you will gain satisfaction of accomplishing a task well and the necessary momentum to take on larger ones, than taking up large projects that might ground you and at the end you make a mess of it.

I believe that small is better, big is beautiful. Start small and then move to the big. But in whatever you do, just don’t let it end on the launch pad. Don’t remain on the launch pad of planning, planning, planning, waiting and never achieving anything. Start with the small, get sky bound and you will gain the motivation and momentum to take on the big.