This balance needs to be practiced and experimented with during all stages of entrepreneurship: whether you are first formulating an idea, or filling in the details of your plan, or taking that plan to action, or improving your organization years down the line.

Coming up with a business idea is always the first step, and it can also be one of the biggest and most difficult. One problem is you can never know when a good idea might pop into your head. It could come during an intense group brainstorm, or while you are alone in the shower, or from a video game, or just some everyday conversation.

It’s important to always keep your eyes open and not discount anything as a potential source for inspiration.

Part of coming up with a good business idea is to let your imagination run wild, and the other part is trying to frame that idea in practical terms. Often these two things can act as opposing forces, but they are not mutually exclusive. When you find an idea comprised of both you should write it down as a potential match.

These are the types of questions you will want to consider while brainstorming:

- What are my interests, skills, and desires?

- How much time and motivation do I have?

- How much money do I have saved?

- Will I need a business loan for what I want to do? Can I get one?

- What are possible barriers of entry? Legalities?

- Will there be a market for what I want to sell?

- Will I need others to help me with the project?

Good business ideas don’t come without some creativity, and they also don’t come without a rigorous process of trial and error. When you think of a specific idea, you will want to ask questions like the ones above, as well as any relevant follow-ups. Think of yourself as a scientist, in which you keep testing the validity of your hypothesis until you have found something that stands strongly from multiple viewpoints.

When it comes to the important stuff – don’t ever guess, do research – especially if it is a factor that could make-or-break your project. Sure, you might have that “Eureka!” moment, where you think you have discovered some genius idea, but until you do the research you can’t know for sure whether you have truly found a gem or you are simply raising your hopes for nothing.

I’ve always encouraged my readers to be both creative and rational, but it is up to each person to find an appropriate balance (no matter what it is they are trying to achieve). It should go without saying but, by the end of the day, I can’t think for you. I can only think for myself and find what seems to work and what doesn’t. At best I can point to these strategies and encourage you to test them.

From what I have found, many creative strategies include stepping into different roles and looking at things from different angles. One role might be called “The Dreamer” or “The Artist,” and the other might be “The Realist” or “The Judge.” Consciously or not, you will need to practice each of these roles before coming up with an idea that can be successfully put to action.

As an entrepreneur and organizer, your role must be to combine different visions into one coherent whole. You have to look short-term, long-term, narrow, and wide, and then find a sweet spot where all the elements come together and work. When first coming up with an idea, nothing about your plans will be perfect or detailed, but you should at least have these things in the back of your mind. You are a visionary now.

In the pursuit of any endeavor we can’t ignore the fundamentals. Knowledgeable, aspiring young bloggers know that you need to build relationships if you want to establish a loyal fanbase. This means visiting other blogs, replying to comments and e-mails, making your site look presentable, and providing consistency in content.

However, the fundamentals alone won’t get you the success you want, whether it is with blogging, starting a business, or with life in general.

Don’t get me wrong – the fundamentals are crucial – but you need that X factor if you want to take your work to the next level. In fact, with the competition, it is almost as if we need a Y and Z factor too.

So what do X, Y, and Z stand for? Well…that is for you to figure out. If I could tell you, then they would no longer be X, Y, and Z; they would just be any old information that any hack could get a hold of.

Risk-Taking

Pat Flynn at SmartPassiveIncome.com makes a healthy living off blogging. He says he is not a millionaire, but he does make enough to support his wife and new baby boy. As a successful businessman, he says if you want to up the ante then you need to take bold actions.

In business or in life you really only have two choices:

A. Do you want to blend into the background?

B. Or do you want to stand out from the rest?

When asked this question, many will jump to their feet and scream, “I want to stand out from the rest!” But it isn’t that easy.

Standing out can be painful. It requires us to step out of our comfort zone, take risks, experience failure, and then still have the conviction and will to get back up again. Many won’t be able to get back up on that horse after only their first time falling. It can be that hurtful and dispiriting.

Mindful Persistence

Some folks believe that as long as you are strong and persistent in spite of your failures, then you can make it through anything. I’ve written about this before and I certainly still believe that commitment is a strong value to have during any endeavor.

But what if your failure isn’t due to you or any lack of skills? Maybe you keep getting thrown off because there is something wrong with the horse? How do you know when a failure is due to your lack of commitment or if it is the pursuit in itself that fails?

That is why I propose mindfulness, a concept I discuss very frequently on this blog. Mindful persistence means knowing when to be persistent and knowing when to ditch an idea completely.

We need to know when to attribute a failure to our self and when to attribute a failure to uncontrollable circumstances. If the problem is something inside ourselves, then we need to stay persistent, do research, keep failing, and eventually learn the tools of the trade. If the problem is an uncontrollable circumstance then it is time to accept a change in strategy.

“Test fast, fail fast, adjust fast.”
- Tom Peters

What risks am I taking?

As a 21 year old, my biggest resource is not money or experience but how I spend my time. I graduated college a semester early so that I could get a jump-start on what I wanted to do. Even before I chose to major in psychology I knew I wanted to make a living being self-employed, without any concerns for bosses and strict deadlines.

My biggest risk thus far is my decision to remain unemployed and devote my full-time towards this site. I am now working on my first ebook, which is going to be my first bold step forward in monetizing my work.

Some may think I am naive or foolish, but I see things in my future that I cannot expect others to see for me. That is a big part of what makes a risk a risk. I am willing to step out on that limb.

Ask yourself, “What risks am I taking?” What things are you looking to put on the line and what do you think you can achieve in return?

Join me for the ride

This blog is as much about improving myself as it is about improving the world. That is one of the major themes throughout my writing. I provide a lot of free and useful content on this site and I want to encourage people who have a similar attitude to join my newsletter, where I share my latest posts along with articles and videos from all over the internet. If you click on that link you can also check out the latest issue of my newsletter and get a taste for the types of things to expect in the future.