Laura Stack *says many of us have the Da Vinci Syndrome — we have lots of great ideas, but we lack the motivation to follow though and bring them to reality.
With genius comes flaws; it almost seems a requirement.
Thomas Edison avoided baths; Einstein may have been autistic; Nobel Prize-winning economist, John Nash was schizophrenic; Frank Lloyd Wright abandoned his family; and Stephen Hawking, RIP, was ravaged by Motor Neuron Disease.
Leonardo da Vinci, brilliant inventor and painter of the Mona Lisa, had a less debilitating flaw, but one so common we’ve blessed it with his name: Da Vinci Syndrome.
With his constantly active mind, Da Vinci took great joy in beginning projects, but lost interest and abandoned most before he finished them.
Several of his most famous sketches include a design for a glider very similar to the Wright Brothers airplane that flew at Kittyhawk.
He drew a man in a winged suit that might have worked like modern skydiving wingsuits.
In combination with da Vinci’s detailed anatomic drawing of a bat’s wing, the latter served as the inspiration for the famous comic superhero, Batman.
Da Vinci never actually finished these projects. Sound familiar?
We often nab great ideas as they pass through our brains; a few grow until they’re mature enough to develop further, whereupon we focus our energies on them… until we lose interest.
How many unfinished projects do you have hidden away?
Some no doubt deserve abandonment; but some could be breakthroughs.
The movie version of Hans Christian Anderson’s classic story The Snow Queen languished for 80 years in development hell before the release of 2013’s Frozen, which earned more than a billion dollars.
You might have a billion-dollar idea hiding in your notebooks, or one may be growing in your idea garden waiting for harvest.
It will only matter if you can bring it to fruition.
Try these tips to help you maximise your productivity by bringing projects to profitable completion.
Abandon perfectionism:
We all want our products to be above reproach, but reality, resources, and time constrain us.
Never put getting it right so far above getting it out that you never finish your project or task.
Don’t depend on motivation:
Self-discipline is your friend when it comes to project completion.
Motivation is fine, but it’s short-lived.
We’re awash in motivation, with all the recordings, videos, books, blogs, and posters everywhere, but after the flash of motivation comes the long slog to the finish line.
It doesn’t matter how well you start if you never finish.
Don’t set the bar too high:
While your reach should exceed your grasp in all things, be realistic in your goals.
You’re unlikely to write a 100-page report in a week without wrecking yourself.
Before making promises, carefully review your resources, especially time, and decide what you can do with the proper help.
Make a habit of finishing:
If you fail to finish a project, all you end up with is junk cluttering your mental and physical workspaces.
If you know there’s a slog ahead, break the task down into small, doable pieces… and just do it.
There’s little more that needs saying. You can make a habit of finishing if you really want to.
Budget properly:
Review your resources and determine the least amount of work you must do daily to hit your deadline — and exceed it.
Many novelists write the parts of their books they need to get out in the open first, not necessarily in order, then go back and connect them.
According to rumour, J.K. Rowling wrote the last few lines of her Harry Potter series first.
Follow-up and follow-through finishes projects.
Realise, as you get started, that your initial motivation and momentum won’t last, but don’t let that get you down.
You have the willpower and self-discipline to power through, complete your mission, and advance a level in your quest for maximum productivity.
Never quit, and you’ll do fine.
*Laura Stack is a keynote speaker, author and authority on productivity and performance who has written seven books, the latest being Doing the Right Things Right: How the Effective Executive Spends Time. She can be contacted at theproductivitypro.com,
This article first appeared on Laura’s blogsite.
