Comments on: Taming the Swarm

By: Charley Radcliffe

Charley Radcliffe — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 20:37:44 +0000

Thank you, Amanda. Yes, we need to make sure we appreciate the little things along the way too!

By: Amanda

Amanda — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 18:48:00 +0000

I love this Charley and that you have put so much thought into all of your hurdles and ideas. Don’t forget to celebrate the fact that you have so many ideas and challenges to think about.
Amanda

By: Charley Radcliffe

Charley Radcliffe — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 08:31:22 +0000

Hi Zoe, thank you for the comment, I think there are a few that are standing out more than others. I’ll keep you posted as I narrow it down..!

By: Zoe

Zoe — Sun, 02 Nov 2014 08:27:43 +0000

I love that you’ve got a massive pile of ideas Charley, definitely a better place to start than a sheet of paper with nothing written on. I reckon there must be one, or maybe two, that you are drawn to the most – the ones you keep looking at, the ones that you wonder if they are even possible, the ones that keep you awake at night. While they might not be the ideas to work to first (they are probably the most difficult), they are probably the ones you will end up working towards so keep them in mind as you concentrate on your mission.
For me, the outdoors is where I want to be but due to other commitments the indoors is where the money is made. I wish you every success with your swarm of ideas and know I’ll be one of those people who is inspired by your future endeavours.

By: Charley Radcliffe

Charley Radcliffe — Sat, 01 Nov 2014 15:38:29 +0000

Hi Stuart,
Thank you for this and it is awesome! You know, I hadn’t realised it had changed.. woops! Well, maybe that is my first step, really locking down my mission. It’s funny, I’ve done checklists before but found myself in the same situation as you: throwing it out the window and going with my gut. It doesn’t always work but I think there are parts of the brain that are allowing these instinctive decisions to be made that are hard at work at these moments. Thanks again, I’ll update you shortly!

By: Stuart

Stuart — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 23:24:44 +0000

Hi Charley
Here’s my 2 cents (a phrase used when you never know whether the recipient of your donation will pocket it or discard it as worthless currency!).

Here’s what I’d do, to decide on the one idea to focus on.
First, go back and review your mission statement – it’s already changed a bit since the previous post. Discuss it with your confidantes. Dissect it. Does it really represent what you want? Amend it (or not) accordingly.

You have this list of ideas (all of them perfect!), but need to focus on one. Can you eliminate any straightaway as being too difficult, complex, unachievable in the short term etc? If so, discard those.

Write down a list of the criteria on which you can score each remaining idea. Examples could be:
1. How profitable will this be in the first ?
2. How much will it achieve my mission statement?
3. How much fun will it be?
4. How difficult will this be to achieve?
5. Is it compatible with Sophie’s plans for the next year?
6. How much will it allow me to spend time climbing etc?
etc etc
Then score each idea on each criterion: 10 is the “best”, 1 is the “worst” score.
Again, you may want to brainstorm this with others before you get to the most realistic scores.

And then see what the total scores are for each idea.

Now, here’s an admission. I’ve done this in various situations in the past. And then thrown it all away and gone with the one that my gut tells me is best. I think the process of going through this type of exercise (for me anyway) tends to clarify my thoughts on the alternatives and through that process, rather than the scientific-type scoring, I come to a conclusion about what is the right one.

Ok – that’s it. Tell me if you are already doing this or if you think this is a pile of ****** 🙂

My mission for the next 8 hours is sleep!
Stuart

By: Charley Radcliffe

Charley Radcliffe — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 19:14:57 +0000

Cheers Conrad. Yes, most definitely some outside forces agitating the bees inside..!

By: Conrad

Conrad — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 19:09:29 +0000

Great article (again!) Charlie. Just read the Bee article so thank you for sharing. It’s a great philosophy and I think you could also add large hands shaking the balloon up and down to make the bees slightly mad and confused. Those hands being external forces outside your balloon such as doubt, fear, naysayers, economics, your current situation and anything else that “stirs the hive” containing our personal projects and goals!