I get a lot of ideas. I’m sort of the Babe Ruth of ideas.
Oh, and this is totally unresearched, but whatever. I’m the expert in my own opinion, and this is based on an idea my Dad told me about before Google, so no fact-checking here.
My Dad once told me that while Babe Ruth was, of course, known for his record-breaking number of home-runs (how many? Don’t know. This conversation was before Google, remember?) he also had the most strike-outs. Meaning, he swung at everything that he was pitched.
Now, I’m not going to say I take stupid chances, but when it comes to ideas, I’ll give pretty much anything a shot. In my experience, it’s easy to know if an idea is a home run or a strikeout.
Strikeouts just don’t feel right. You feel like you’re trying to make something work. It’s all effort and no pleasure. It’s dating the guy who is right ON PAPER, but in real life, there’s no spark. Even if it’s a good idea, maybe it’s not that idea’s time. Maybe that idea needs to go back on the bench for now.
A home run, though? That’s all flow. Have you ever actually hit a home run? It’s an outstanding feeling, I recommend you try it sometime. There’s a particular feeling when you connect just right. Every other hit you’ve ever had feels messy. A home run just sails.
It’s the same with home run ideas. Unlike the strikeout, obstacles are not a thing with the home run. Challenges don’t feel oppressive and things just happen.
When it comes to ideas, the skill isn’t getting them. The skill is knowing when to let them go.
Keep what works, and if it doesn’t flow, let it go.
Lately, things have been flowing. I started co-producing a podcast with my friend, Jo Ciceron called Unapologetically Anxious Me. I’m really proud of the work we’re doing there. She’s talking about what it’s like, moving to a primarily white town as a person who isn’t white. Add in frank discussions about mental illness, parenting, relationships… I think it’s really important.
Then, I decided to make my return to podcasting after a lengthy hiatus. One night, I came up with the name You Should Have Asked Me First, and boom – just a few hours later I had a logo and a Facebook page and was writing my first episode.
All of that was really easy. Flow.
But I wasn’t done yet.
There are big things happening with the website and its content.
This is my way of saying Stay Tuned.
More experts. More opinions.
Grab a helmet, we’re gonna hit a home run.
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