When we got Heartwrite off the ground with not one but two clients within days of deciding to start the company, we couldn’t be happier. Or more easily misled.
We got so busy doing the research and writing work, that the other important task of building the business took a backseat. No wonder, then, when our first assignments were done, we didn’t have a next client to service. Uh-oh.
I’ve been an independent professional for much of the past decade, enough to realise that Ying and I had to act swiftly or fall prey to the law of diminishing intent.
If you don’t know what this is, imagine a cookie monster (yes – the blue character from Sesame Street who has an insatiable appetite for cookies). Visualise a beast that is less cute but equally ferocious (scraggly blue hair optional). Instead of the sweet stuff, though, it devours freshly-baked inspiration and could go as far as licking the crumbs of your shattered confidence off the table. If you’re lucky, there may be some left on the floor.
You may know this monster by its other name: Self-Doubt.
Not much else has the same power to pull you down. If the law catches up with you, the symptoms include you dragging your heels, doing less than you’re capable of, or abandoning your ambitions altogether.
The good news is there is a short window of opportunity between the birth of an idea and that moment when a crisis of confidence sets in. Plus, two heads are better than one for many things, and averting doubt is one of them (the joys of partnership!)
Still, the longer we wait, the less likely things will happen.
The antidote to the law of diminishing intent is to get physical, literally. Lift a finger, pick up the phone, talk to someone, get off the chair – anything! Now, thinking about lifting a finger is like offering your motivation and drive on a silver platter. Move, and you get to stave off doubt and defy gravity another day. Follow that up with the next step, and the next, you’ll eventually gather speed and start making bigger decisions.
For us, the first ‘move’ was to agree that we would get a new client by the end of the month. Being on the same page counts as a step, and a vital one at that. We’d already listed some of the things we could do to let the world know that Heartwrite is ready to satisfy their writing and communications needs. It is a rough plan, part of which had obviously worked beautifully; now it was time to follow through with the rest of it. The target is set. Now we aim, and take action!
Speaking of which, are you looking for writers? 🙂
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