Great Ideas Have an Expiration Date. Take Action Before They Expire

Every day someone takes action on secret knowledge you hold dear. They're using that knowledge you think you're so clever to have to start a business, publish a book, or gain a loyal following.

I've been there. I hate seeing people writing about ideas I've known for a long time. I also hate seeing people taking action on "my ideas" to create great businesses.

But what I hate most about seeing people act on "my ideas" isn't seeing other people doing them; it's hating myself for forgetting that if I don't take action someone else will.

If I don't create that business I've been planning for, someone else will. If I don't write about that life-changing idea, someone else will. In my own lack of action, the world doesn't stop turning, it keeps moving on without me.

So why does this happen? Why do I and other people stop moving forward towards achieving our own success and why do we fade away from taking action instead?

I'd argue the first reason we stop taking action on our ideas is that we take too much pleasure from our ideas' novelty or ingenuity. As soon as we're self-satisfied, we drop the ball. Knowing something other people don't empowers us, but feeling good about it kills the urgency to take action.

No matter how ingenious and novel our ideas are if they solve meaningful problems, the world will eventually discover them.

So do yourself and the world a favor and take action on your "good ideas". Your ideas might not work, your efforts may fail, but you don't need to succeed the first go around to improve and learn something you can use to succeed the next time.