For many, building a product or service is something that has to be done on the side. Having a full time job means that your primary day time hours are spent on someone else's baby. If you want to create your own baby, it's going to take some sacrifice.
With this in mind, it’s important to establish, daily, an attitude for the long haul. Apart from the occasional long, late night work session, progress on your baby is going to be slow. Glacial even. You have to have the right mindset in place to bring this idea to fruition. We all have ideas, but successful people stick with them while regular people quit when progress stalls.
Establish your vision early
It’s vital to have a clear picture of where you're going. That way, in the minute details of the work of any particular day, you can pause to reflect on how this task meets the needs of the vision. If the finish line is fuzzy, you’ll always be questioning whether the task can be considered progress or not.
That results in frustration. Have a firm image of the finished product from the beginning.
Think incrementally
If you're going to see this thing through, adapt an incremental mindset. Recognize that 500 words written in a day is progress. Completing the design of one section of a page is as well. Same for researching and choosing a payment processor.
If you don’t focus on what you get done each day, each week, you'll focus on what’s left. That can be daunting, and depressing, and it's why so many people give up and stick with their own 9-5 situation. Recognize that small steps forward are steps forward nonetheless.
This also requires a clear set of actions to bring the idea to life. When time is in short supply, there’s nothing worse than the feeling of “what now?”. With the vision firmly in mind, accurately list out the required steps.
Be an early riser
Learn to enjoy watching the sun come up after you. Embrace the quiet periods when no one else is around to distract. Nothing beats a hot cup, a quiet house, and a clear vision of what’s to be done next.
Life is busy in 2013. Bringing an idea to life takes sacrifice and clear vision. Getting the vision in place early is vital.
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