Go for a Short Game

Bias, inequality, racism, sexism, and prejudice are all real, but they’re not the reason I’ve seen women stall after inspiration hits, relegating their good ideas to Once Upon a Time.

Perfectionism takes the blame for this one, combined with imposter syndrome and the second guessing that comes with it. Basically, going pro with our ideas before we try them.

To see if the ideas work like we thought they would.

To see if we like doing the idea as much as we thought we would.

Every idea needs a short game to test whether it takes and whether we take to it.

I’ve reworked the next sentence way too many times because it sounds a bit too Used Car Salesman for the BethTroy&Co brand but I’m just gonna let it fly …

Five Steps to Unleashing Your Idea in the Next 30 Days (or your money back):

Set a mantra. Repeat after me: This is a test. It is nothing but a test. I am learning. The goal is to learn by testing because this is a test. Nothing but a test.Set a deadline. I recommend no more than 30 days to get a sample of your idea into the hands of your people. It doesn’t have to be the whole shebang – maybe a chapter of the book, a rough cut of the song, or a lesson plan of the online course.Set expectations. Those accounts with 100K followers that inspired you to do your thing are no longer your friend. Guaranteed these people have been at it for years, and so you cannot expect their results, polish, and prolificacy because you have not put in the time. Yet. Everyone starts at the start. This is your start, and a start is a beautiful, exciting place. Own it, set expectations accordingly, and stop wasting time by searching for the exact pantone of the blue you want in your brand palette already!Set evaluation criteria. The whole purpose of a test is to test assumptions. So, if good ideas solve real problems for real people in different ways, your testing needs to proof toward that “good” direction? Did it solve the problem? For people? In a different way? With Lu, I wanted to write a story that (among other things) was readable. To test that, I put it in women’s hands to see if they actually read it. To follow up, I didn’t ask, “Hey, was it readable?” There were better questions to test the assumption, like, “Hey, were there parts you found your mind wandering? Was there a chapter where it was easy to put the book down?” I got specific answers that led to specific revisions that made the book more readable!Set self-evaluation criteria. An important part of the test is to test how doing the idea went for you. Were you interested? Were you playing to your strengths? What would you change? Are you glad to have done it? Would you do it again?

Committing your idea to a short game doesn’t go beyond the short game. You are allowed to quit. You are allowed to continue. You are allowed to change.

For those of you who want to do something but are not sure what, how does setting a short-game give you permission to try something or maybe even a couple of things?

For those of you who started something but now feel stuck, how could you use the steps of a short game to re-energize your idea over the next month?

For those of you who question whether your work is making an impact, check out Step 4! Bringing in people to evaluate our work silences and affirms our doubts. Either gives you the information you need to move forward instead of ruminating.

For those of you who seek to get better at what you do, how can you put one aspect of your work through a short game to ensure it’s landing as you intend?

I’d love to hear your answers, and I’d love to help! Comment below on where you are, and I’ll bring my mind to it, too!

We all have our space. Imagine you, unleashed, working for the glory of God and the good of those around you. This is what we’re talking about on the blog right now as I share the steps I took to envision, write, and publish my next novel, Louisa. Do you have ideas you don’t know what to do with or are you stuck somewhere in the middle? Start at the beginning of this series to get you going!