I confess, I like lists! I love making lists of things I wish to accomplish and tasks that I need to complete. There is little more satisfying to me than having a list of 10 things I need to complete next, and ticking them off one-by-one. I suspect that I’m getting small dopamine rushes, in the same way that addicts get a small hit from drugs, gambling or social media likes.
I’ve been this way my whole life, and it always served me well in life. It allowed me to scale any particular work project, break it down into tiny little pieces, allocate resources like time, computing power, or financial, and then complete the task. It was bliss when the task came from a client, or an employer where I had complete authority/trust to get the task completed in whatever matter I thought was best.
I loved these tasks. Until recently. You see, I now have a task on my list which I’ve realised is impossible. It’s a task to find a new financial project that is fun and that earns significant money.
Unachievable perfection
Why is it impossible you ask? Well, the parameters I’ve set for myself makes the task unachievable. I want the task to pay significantly, not take up any of my real time during the day when I would rather be spending it with family, or at home doing DIY/gardening/outside, or taking my dogs for a walk. Lastly, and most importantly, it must be so interesting and fun, that I would want to do it for free. I don’t want to do it free though, because I also want the money to re-invest. I love seeing investment growth, but I don’t need the money.
So the reason it becomes impossible, is because I’m doing it backwards to every other project optimisation I’ve ever done. When I didn’t like something about my work, I tweaked it, or made changes. But I already had the job/work, so it was just at the margins. If I really hated it because nothing changed, I would switch to a new employer, but it was still the same work. This time around, I’m doing the analysis and planning before starting. I’m doing scenario analysis, pros and cons, and ultimately discarding the idea because it isn’t perfect on the ratio of time to money to fun.
I’m learning something I already suspected a while ago. A perfect project does not exist. Why? because in order to get paid you need to provide value to someone else, and that sometimes requires you to do spend time resolving their issue, rather than using that time to have fun.
Analysis paralysis on new projects
So if there is no perfect answer, what is the solution? Well clearly it isn’t what I’ve been doing. Keeping a task to find the perfect project at the top of my todo list that is impossible to solve, just creates unhappiness and I’ll never actually pull the trigger. Instead I need to just start, and then tweak it. There isn’t any point in scenario planning when the options aren’t real. Who cares if you think being a CEO takes up too much time, when you don’t have the option to just instantly be one/are already one. Once you’re in the situation, then you can worry about how to tweak it.
The second part, once you’re in the position is knowing how long to push before you abandon the project. If I wait too little, I’ll just have shiny object syndrome and flit from one project to another and never make any progress. That path leads to frustration.
Scenarios are worthless. You cannot analyse something before you’re doing it.
I don’t know what the real solution is, but I’ve got to pull the trigger on something that isn’t too much risk, from a capital and time perspective. The analysis from the outside, means I’m risking too little at this stage (time and capital). I need to move the needle slightly, to risking some capital and some money, and has the potential to move the needle.
I’ve realised that the excitement and motivation comes after. When I worked on a project that was challenging, but achievable, and then completing it – that’s when I was at my happiest. So time to go out there and take some risk/challenge.
Most importantly for me to remember though, is that the whole reason I’m in this situation, is a fortunate one. My financial independence built options. Options to work or not. Options to live anywhere, work on anything, be anyone. The fact I’m choosing perfect options is because I know my time is finite and I don’t want to squander my time. When I need to do something that is unpleasant, just remember, I made a choice to try this and I shouldn’t abandon it too easily. The reward is still worth giving up time for it.
Sounds like you’ve come to a realisation Charlie, which can only be a good thing?
I love a good list too, I’m just not so good at revisiting them. I think it’s the initial strategizing and planning at the start that solidifies the objective in my head and then I’m pretty comfortable adapting as I go and not worrying too much about the route to the goal but evaluating if the goal is still attainable as I adapt. I’d probably drive you nuts if we did a project together hahaha.
I like your idea of just starting and then tweaking and fixing the bits you don’t like. I always wanted to own a sandwich shop, my entire life, but sandwich shops don’t really make a lot of money and I’m also physically tied to the store so can’t go travelling and stuff. I guess they were the only two barriers for me moving forward with that idea. I suppose I could have a second in command who at the right time I could pass over the reins to run the shop and pay them a decent salary. That wouldn’t solve the low income but I guess if I wasn’t doing much/any actual work, I could repeat that process until I have a handful of shops and then promote the first manager to be the COO and then I guess maybe that could pay me a decent salary as CEO without giving me too much to do.
I don’t think there’s an out of the box solution to your problem but I do think if you accept you may have a year or 2 heavy involvement and then go down an outsourcing/licensing/manager route you could maybe have short term pain for long term gain?
Thanks for the comment MrH!
Haha, probably be fine, I’ve worked with a lot of folks and all that over-analysis happens in my head. A good deadline usually gets the job done.
I suspect the reason for all this thinking is looking for a perfect answer. There isn’t one. And until one starts down the route of one, all the analysis keeps it just as an idea. Ideas are great, but not worth anything. Execution and adaptation is where it’s at =)