For the longest time, I really struggled when I encountered work from people who I perceived were farther down the path than I was.

They were more established, more accomplished, and more polished. Seeing their stuff made me want to not even bother.

Stage One was just that -- not bothering. Sadly slipping back into my cave like Puff the Magic Dragon.

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“Do you want to make more money? Sure, we all do!”

These words of actress Sally Struthers ring out across the decades, enticing us to take up a new career in TV/VCR Repair, or maybe Learning the Personal Computer, training from the comfort of home.

I don’t know why this line sticks with me so much. Maybe it’s because I heard it approximately three million times on those ads.

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I’ve had the privilege of helping a lot of people go from ideation to execution on projects.

There are a few common places people get stuck. The first is in the “what.” They don’t have a clear vision for what they are trying to achieve.

At times, they glimpse a piece of that vision, but then immediately back off.

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It’s good to steal helpful tactics from anywhere you can find them.

So many of the interesting solutions I’ve come up with were adapted from other industries or disciplines for application in my own.

One example is the “couch to 5K” concept that gets beginning runners into action to the point at which they are able to run and walk continuously for long enough to complete a 5K race.

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In sixth grade, I distinctly remember a classmate looking at my legs in disgust. "They're so hairy," he said. That's when I learned that the natural way that the hair grows on my body is unacceptable.

By seventh grade, I had corrected this egregious violation of American female beauty standards. A couple of girls asked me (why?), "Do you shave your legs?"

"Yes," I said.

"Does your mom know?" was the follow-up question (why?).

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