An irony:

As business professionals, we know that ideas are a dime a dozen and
that one of our big jobs is to get focused and stay focused. At the
same time, as business professionals we also have the ability to see
the great opportunities (and fun) in nearly any “good idea” that comes
our way. And so we find ourselves full of ideas that we’re dying to run
with, and dying to get rid of so we can get back to work on our
priorities.

fter years of suffering from this struggle, I came to understand my
mind treated ideas like animate creatures that deserved love and
attention and couldn’t just be dismissed. Therefore, if I was going to
say “goodbye” to idea (or at least au revoir), I needed to do it in a
way that felt good — with a sense that I had acknowledged the idea
completely and then moved it on to a satisfactory place in the universe.

How do I get it done?  Let me count some ways — some mental, some physical; some sweet, some not:

How to Say Goodbye to An Idea

Give it a hug, wish it well, kiss it goodbye.

Pass it along to someone else.

Wrap it up in butcher paper and throw it in the freezer.  (It’ll keep.  You can get it later if you want. )

Give it a nice long walk — think about it. really imagine what it
could turn into. smile at the possibilities of a future in which it
came true (or grimace in horror if you realize that it could turn into
a nightmare). now it’s happy that you’ve given it a walk, and it’s ok
with the idea of being done. now you can walk away.

Give it a ceremonial death — write it down and burn it. enjoy the
fire. know that you’ve “released the energy of the idea back into the
universe.” it didn’t get wasted, it just got converted.

Give it an exorcism (for the really sticky cases) — throw holy water
on it. cast out the demons. make it harmless. grind it into little
bits. then you can walk away. (just don’t turn around or you’ll
reanimate it and you’ll have to start all over again.)

Reductio ad absurdum it — in a variation of the long walk,
think of how this idea could really fail, really stink, and really make
no sense. notice how it doesn’t seem so appealing any more?

Compare it to your known priorities — take a look at what expect to
get if you stay focused on your known priorities. think about what you
won’t get if you drop your priorities and move on with some new idea.
most of the time, I’ll bet that sticking to your existing list will
look like a better move, and that will help you move on. note: if you
discover that sticking to your existing list compares most unfavorably,
you might have to ditch the old idea, not the new one. but you knew
that already, didn’t you?

That’s all for now.  What have you got?