During a panel presentation a few years ago, myself and the other presenters were asked a unique question. If we could have any superpower, what would it be?
The other panelists gave answers you might expect; the ability to control time, to fly and to be invisible (highly creepy by the way).
After giving it a moment of thought I responded that I already have a superpower and it is that I always ship. What I mean by that is that when I have an idea, something I want to do, I have the ability to see it through to a completion. It is the single most rewarding part of any personal endeavor – yet it is something we greatly lack in our world.
There is no famine of people with ideas. We’re engulfed with people’s ideas. However we have a drought in people taking those ideas beyond the initial conception.
I had an idea with my colleague Jason for a podcast – so we launched it. I had an idea for an e-book – so I wrote and published it. I had some ideas for photo books – so I published them both. I had an idea for a creative photography website – so I launched it.
Not everything I’ve completed has worked – and that is fine. I’ve started magazines that closed, small businesses that folded and special projects that missed the mark. But each one was completed – and that was the most significant reward.
So the question you must ask yourself is how do you improve your likelihood of completion? How can you create enough accountability that you have to ship whatever it is you are doing out the door?
You have to decide it is important to complete. You have to decide when you must complete it by. And then you must take down the barriers stopping you from completion.
James Patrick
jamespatrick.com
IG @jpatrickphoto
