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IMO, there is only one solution: Pick one "small" project and will yourself to take it to "completion". Define completion as something you know you can attain

IMO, there is only one solution: Pick one "small" project and will yourself to take it to "completion". Define completion as something you know you can attain. In this context, complete can't be "I flip the project for $3mm" as this is outside your control. You must set yourself up for success. Do one project this way and then repeat. EDIT: Your IQ is not relevant to your ability to complete projects. It is possible your feelings about your high intelligence is a problem in that it keeps you from being willing to experience failure. These fears should dissipate as you incrementally do complete projects.

zeynel1 17y ago
Good advice. And OP has started and finished this project, namely, this post, which proves that this is not a "character flaw" of his.
pg 17y ago
Yes. Taking on projects that are too big creates a situation like an airplane stalling because the angle of attack is too steep. Better only to take on projects so small that you know you can finish them, however humiliatingly small that may be initially. Then, with always finishing as a given, start to gradually crank up the ambition. But never so sharply that you stall.
- nostrademons 17y ago
  I'm not sure I'd say never so sharply that you stall. When you're first starting out, it's virtually impossible to know exactly where the stall line is. If you're determined to always finish everything you start, you either get bogged down in projects that were so ambitious that you can't possibly finish them, or you only take on projects that exactly match the skill level of your past project, where you don't learn anything. My early projects oscillated pretty widely in difficulty when I started. I'd take on something ridiculously difficult (but I didn't know it was ridiculously difficult at the time), and naturally fail at it. Then I'd take the skills from that and do something I knew I could finish. Eventually this converges, and the highs become less ambitious while the lows become more ambitious. I've found that I finish a significantly higher proportion of projects now than I did in college, and their difficulty levels more closely approximate a straight line than a sawtooth wave.
PostOnce 17y ago
Diligence > Intelligence. A lot of people are going to have trouble admitting this, but a diligent person of average intellect is about a hundred times more likely to become successful than a lazy person with a titanic intellect. I can provide examples if necessary.
- Slashed 17y ago
  I agree with you. Nevertheless, I do understand your point based on my own experience. It would be nice, if you would provide examples, though.
  - PostOnce 17y ago
    I know a 60 year old man with a 150ish IQ who owns nothing, is $4,000 in debt for a van, and hasn't worked in 20 years. He has tons of crazy pipe dreams and ambitions to be great, but he doesn't work towards them at all. Diligence > Intelligence. I know a lawyer of 16 years with a 145 IQ who is still making 55K a year. Ambition and diligence go hand in hand. She got the job right out of college and grew complacent, and now rarely attempts to find a better position somewhere else. Starting her own firm is almost certainly not going to happen. Other than diligence, lack of courage is also an issue there. Quitting your job and trying to build a clientele is scary. I also know a very bright lady who cleans motels because she can't deal with people and just doesn't like working that hard. She works a few hours a day, at three separate places, with long breaks in between. She probably knows more about computers than I do; she's been manipulating them since before I was born, but she hates pressure, she hates deadlines, and she lacks confidence. Trying to list all the unpublished author-hopefuls I know who just stopped submitting stuff would be an exercise in futility.
    - follower 17y ago
      > Trying to list all the unpublished author-hopefuls > I know who just stopped submitting stuff would be > an exercise in futility. That seems a little ironic in the context of this thread. :D
- hendler 17y ago
Timothee 17y ago
I have the same problem as the OP: I think about cool things to build, look around to see if the different parts are technically possible, build prototypes for some of the parts and never actually put everything together in a working package. Once I know that this is possible, I tend to lose interest. So, recently, I've tried to change my mindset to what you describe and build something small, useful to me, and that I can finish fast enough that I don't have time to lose interest. And I have a few other bite-sized ideas to do once I'm done with that. (my current tiny project: http://logmeoutthx.com/ http://logmeoutthx.com/ I'm not so much interested in the thing itself as in completing it)
allbeta 17y ago
This. I recently had this epiphany and pretty much said the same thing http://blog.everythings-beta.com/?p=332 http://blog.everythings-beta.com/?p=332. Important things: * start with small things and set a specific completion date/feature spec. * stop at a point where you know exactly what you need to do next. It's much easier to come back when you do this. * use org-mode to plan/track your project. I like checking things off. The feeling of meeting mini-goals will keep you going. Go forth and finish :)

zeynel1 17y ago

Good advice. And OP has started and finished this project, namely, this post, which proves that this is not a "character flaw" of his.

pg 17y ago

Yes. Taking on projects that are too big creates a situation like an airplane stalling because the angle of attack is too steep. Better only to take on projects so small that you know you can finish them, however humiliatingly small that may be initially. Then, with always finishing as a given, start to gradually crank up the ambition. But never so sharply that you stall.

nostrademons 17y ago
I'm not sure I'd say never so sharply that you stall. When you're first starting out, it's virtually impossible to know exactly where the stall line is. If you're determined to always finish everything you start, you either get bogged down in projects that were so ambitious that you can't possibly finish them, or you only take on projects that exactly match the skill level of your past project, where you don't learn anything. My early projects oscillated pretty widely in difficulty when I started. I'd take on something ridiculously difficult (but I didn't know it was ridiculously difficult at the time), and naturally fail at it. Then I'd take the skills from that and do something I knew I could finish. Eventually this converges, and the highs become less ambitious while the lows become more ambitious. I've found that I finish a significantly higher proportion of projects now than I did in college, and their difficulty levels more closely approximate a straight line than a sawtooth wave.

PostOnce 17y ago

Diligence > Intelligence. A lot of people are going to have trouble admitting this, but a diligent person of average intellect is about a hundred times more likely to become successful than a lazy person with a titanic intellect. I can provide examples if necessary.

Slashed 17y ago
I agree with you. Nevertheless, I do understand your point based on my own experience. It would be nice, if you would provide examples, though.
- PostOnce 17y ago
  I know a 60 year old man with a 150ish IQ who owns nothing, is $4,000 in debt for a van, and hasn't worked in 20 years. He has tons of crazy pipe dreams and ambitions to be great, but he doesn't work towards them at all. Diligence > Intelligence. I know a lawyer of 16 years with a 145 IQ who is still making 55K a year. Ambition and diligence go hand in hand. She got the job right out of college and grew complacent, and now rarely attempts to find a better position somewhere else. Starting her own firm is almost certainly not going to happen. Other than diligence, lack of courage is also an issue there. Quitting your job and trying to build a clientele is scary. I also know a very bright lady who cleans motels because she can't deal with people and just doesn't like working that hard. She works a few hours a day, at three separate places, with long breaks in between. She probably knows more about computers than I do; she's been manipulating them since before I was born, but she hates pressure, she hates deadlines, and she lacks confidence. Trying to list all the unpublished author-hopefuls I know who just stopped submitting stuff would be an exercise in futility.
  - follower 17y ago
    > Trying to list all the unpublished author-hopefuls > I know who just stopped submitting stuff would be > an exercise in futility. That seems a little ironic in the context of this thread. :D
hendler 17y ago

Timothee 17y ago

I have the same problem as the OP: I think about cool things to build, look around to see if the different parts are technically possible, build prototypes for some of the parts and never actually put everything together in a working package. Once I know that this is possible, I tend to lose interest. So, recently, I've tried to change my mindset to what you describe and build something small, useful to me, and that I can finish fast enough that I don't have time to lose interest. And I have a few other bite-sized ideas to do once I'm done with that. (my current tiny project: http://logmeoutthx.com/ http://logmeoutthx.com/ I'm not so much interested in the thing itself as in completing it)

allbeta 17y ago

This. I recently had this epiphany and pretty much said the same thing http://blog.everythings-beta.com/?p=332 http://blog.everythings-beta.com/?p=332. Important things: * start with small things and set a specific completion date/feature spec. * stop at a point where you know exactly what you need to do next. It's much easier to come back when you do this. * use org-mode to plan/track your project. I like checking things off. The feeling of meeting mini-goals will keep you going. Go forth and finish :)