When a creative person (like you) chooses that ‘Big Idea’ to pursue - the desire to drop everything and start NOW is inevitable. But there’s a pattern. Energy levels start high; you feel invincible. You’re onto something and only YOU can see it’s potential. But one day… Everything is silently sabotaged. The perpetrator? The messy middle. It may look something like this;

Earlier today I listened to a podcast talking about just this - The Messy Middle . This really got me off my ass & thinking.

Once curious and bright - now even the slightest thought of your exciting ‘Big idea’ becomes uncomfortable to even conceptualize. Uncertainty, with a side dish of Decision Paralysis kick in and start chipping at your idea. Doubt and hesitation begin to creep down your own spine and your bright idea that was once so hopeful suddenly becomes daunting and scary. The gloss of procrastination begins to polish itself and your idea gets dragged further and further down the endless To-Do list of excuses. So much for this perfect, unique idea that will change the world…

So why does this happen to creatives? Most likely it’s because the middle of anything worth pursuing is gets MESSY.

Ideas are cheap. Ideas are shiny. They come a dime a dozen. But they are powerless against hard, dirty work. So if you aren’t on the 90% execution | 10% strategizing regime; you’re doing it wrong.

To be able to conquer this messy middle setback, it takes conscious effort. It never gets easier, but it does become more familiar. Like a muscle you build, you need to push till failure; since it’s failure that leads to growth. Even if you fail horribly, sleep in and are incapable of getting out of bed until 2pm, it’s ok. Trust the process; get up and try again tomorrow. Don’t let one day ruin the future of your ambitions. Your only competition is yourself 24 hours ago - so don’t let one failure get to your head.

Even the best idea, if not backed by disciplined action will fade into the abyss of a creative failures. Without disciplined action - the roadmap to ancient treasures that is waiting to be discovered (your ‘Big Idea’) is trapped in a glass bottle that will never get washed to shore. Swept away further into the deep ocean waves of all the other brilliant ideas. (silent F)

The best advice I’ve learned to tackle this crippling Messy Middle is to give your ‘Big Idea’ 15 minutes a day. I recently discovered this advice from a book my friend Chelsea (@chelseakauai) gave me during my last trip to Kauai, Hawaii. It was called ‘Get It Done’ & written by Sam Bennet.

Once caught in the messy middle, the only salvation is for you to break down your big idea into micro tasks. Your idea’s are BIG. And BIG becomes scary the deeper you get into it. New challenges and setbacks arise, and these come with new complicated emotions to deal with. Problems for problems you didn’t even know you had. Before you know it - you will feel overwhelmed & defeated.

Now I know 15 minutes sounds minor but this part is HUGE. These 15 minutes are the chisel to your David . that you are sculpting. And even though it probably won’t be as elegant - remember that first day you dropped everything to pursue this Big Thing. For your own sake - don’t let the messy middle stop you from achieving a messy finish. Because a messy finish, is still a win. :)