Friends are either lying or are idiots (according to Scott Adams)

Over the course of the last few months I have let a few friends into my secret idea, partly to ease their curiosity and partly to gauge the levels of interest as consumers.

But how do I know if their response is because they're my friend or whether they're actually interested in the idea...

Well according to the creator of Dilbert, Scott Adam's, there's a simple rule to remember about friends and whether they're being disingenuous about your ideas (although in his context he's talking about writing a comic strip).

Don't listen to your friends who tell you your comics are hilarious. They're lying. Don't listen to your friends who tell you your comics suck. They're idiots. The only reliable feedback is the copy test, i.e. does someone want to copy your comic and show it to someone else who you don't know. If someone says he likes your comic but he doesn't ask to copy it for someone else, he doesn't really like your comic.

With that in mind I have a couple of friends who want to try out my idea and also I have a couple of friends I'd like to show my business buddy's idea to, as I think they'd love and are the perfect target audience for his idea and it would be great to get their feedback.

Perhaps these ideas I've been blogging on about actually do have legs then...

Diversion

Over the last few days I've been a bit hacked off, and because of this my focus & energy levels for my business idea have dropped from the high I was feeling a couple of weeks ago.

The lack of energy & focus is not because I have met any new or unforseen obstacles. In actual fact I think I have actually found ways round some of my existing barriers which normally would have made me feel exhilirated.

What I think has happened (as I'm still in the process of working this out) is my energy and focus has been diverted into other areas around my life...

My work has stepped up a gear in the last couple of weeks and I'm needing to focus more & more time on that. Now even though I'm not working till crazy o'clock with work its actually taking up "processing" time out of work, so I'm thinking about things when I'm not at work, and that detracts from my thinking time on my business plans.

My personal life is all go too... I'm rarely having a night in and even when I am, I'm too knackered just to get things done. So what I've ended up with is a lot of semi-finished stuff that just needs some dedication behind it to finish it off so I can feel progress has been made.

So my energy levels for my business idea need an injection and I think I just have to re-prioritise and focus behind completing some of the outstanding actions, which once I've broken through these will re-energise me. This is where the "WILL" in my formula for success is really necessary...

Formula for Success

Now I started this blog with a post about management books that would be sold in Airport bookshops and I now think I've developed something which I think would probably end up in one of those management books...

Worryingly I came across this when I was cycling the other day (is it me or do some ideas just come when you don't think about it - something to do with subconscious thinking - is that not what Malcolm Gladwell's book Blink is all about?)

Anyway, my formula for success is

Can + Will = Have

Can is the opportunity and / or the capability. e.g. I can do this.

Will is the level of application, the determination, the zeal with which one attacks the Can. e.g. I will do this.

Have is the result of Can & Will. e.g. I have done this.

And here's the logical proof, if I don't Have, I must therefore not have the Can and or the Will.

Furthermore, the inverse holds true, i.e. if I Can't or Won't then I will never Have.

So I will now be challenging myself and others who are involved in this that if they have the Can and the Will, then we will Have.

Quite profound for a Tuesday...