Activate Your Ideas: Light the Fire

When you start a charcoal grill you have to have something that will activate the coals and cause them to burn together.  You can light one coal but if the wind blows it could blow out.  You need to get the coals so hot that no matter what the circumstances are the fire will thrive. 
 
When we are inspired by a great idea, we can have great excitement to pursue something new but the excitement can fizzle out when adversity strikes.  It often leaves us with nothing to motivate us and keep the excitement going.  I’ve learned some ways to create and maintain my “grill” of passions:

1. Put the Coals/Ideas Together.  Don’t just have one idea.  Multiple ideas will help keep you engaged; when one starts to cool, you have another that can ignite your passion again.  You don’t know which idea will catch on but the importance is to keep engaging with them until they do.
2. Agitate the Ideas.  Your passion for seeing your ideas come to life is what will be contagious.  It is what will catch on and cause others to start to connect with you.  Remember, it all starts with you.  If you lack passion, so will those who you want to reach.  Shake loose of complacency by seeing your ideas from different perspectives.  Engage as though you are working on them for the first time.
3. Let the Fire Grow.  Once you have built momentum, don’t get in the way.  Let the fire breathe.  Let the idea take form and leave it alone as you prepare to use it. Momentum is the key.  When the fire is going at full strength, no outside elements will stop it.  Be patient, you’re getting closer to where you want to be. 
4. Cook What You Want To Eat.  Now that the coals are hot and the grill is ready, cook what you want to eat.  Do what you love, not what you think others will want.  The temptation is to see the early success you had with creating a buzz to get you to look outside yourself for answers but the answers you need come from the inspiration within you.  Keep your eyes on what you love and don’t deviate from it.  You have manifested your idea!
5. Share What You Make.  Now that you have created what you love, it is time to share it with others.  You created something that is a huge accomplishment but now it’s time to share it with others.  It is time to give them a taste of what you hold dearly.  It is time to let it go.
6. Clean Up the Mess.  After you have cooked and eaten, it is time to clean up.  The importance of cleaning up is, if you don’t clean up, you won’t be able to move forward to the next thing.  You will be stuck holding on that what you did and won’t have any space for something new.  Take a moment and appreciate how far you’ve come, then move forward.  Remember, you have greater things ahead of you!