The Black Hole Between Thought and Action
We’ve all been there.
Wow, I’ve been watching this movie marathon for three hours already!? I should start cleaning the house. Oh, but it’s just getting to the good part…
That no-man’s land between having a great thought…
Excellent idea, James! Now, who wants to spearhead the research on this proposal? Anyone? … Anyone?
… and doing something useful with it.
I’ve slept in too long already, but this bed is so comfortable…
The Black Hole.
I’ve dealt with a lot of people who are wonderfully adept at coming up with workable ideas for any given situation — an academic project, a charity event, a weekend getaway. All too often, though, these same people (myself included) fall victim to the infamous Black Hole, the mysterious point of no return for so many of these ideas. They will be discussed, agreed upon, perhaps even delegated and written down. But in the end, these ideas never survive the voyage to action.
Why? What can be done about this dark abyss? How can we take action against it without having any actions to take?
The answer: We don’t. The secret to surviving the trip between thought and action lies, understandably, in thought. We need to mentally safeguard our ideas against the possibility of vanishing.
In more practical terms, that means we need to make it harder not to take action.
Motivation, Motivation, Motivation
Droves of books have been written about this very topic, but it’s worth repeating. The most straightforward way to ensure that an idea makes its way toward its first action step is to get everyone — that means all parties involved — excited about it. If your “great idea” is to get out of bed in the morning, don’t keep focusing on how comfortable your bed is; focus on all of the fun things you’re going to do with your day.
Tell the Neighborhood Gossip
Don’t keep your thoughts bottled up — tell other people about your ideas and how you plan to implement them. Not only will this give you a bit of supervision, but it will encourage you to live up to your promises even if those folks aren’t looking over your shoulder.
Do It Yourself
This mostly applies to group endeavors. What do you do when an idea has been discussed and delegated, but that one group member just isn’t holding up his end of the bargain? Do it yourself. This may sound dangerous (and probably is), but I like to think of it in this way: If a task is not important enough for you to do, then it’s not important enough for anyone to do. That group member is obviously acting as a Black Hole, so you’ve got nothing to lose by pretending that he doesn’t exist. 
Recognize the Black Hole’s Existence
“The first step to curing addiction is admitting that there is a problem.” Or, more relevantly, the first step to erasing a black hole is to admit that it exists. In doing so, you should realize that none of the excuses you may come up with are valid, and they’re all probably just other manifestations of the same. By knowing that the Black Hole exists, you’ll be expecting what you see when it rears its ugly head.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go put some of these ideas to good use…
Welcome to Don't Accept the Status Quo! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to the RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Related Posts
Leave a Reply