Back in the quiet, peaceful days before there was Internet on planes, I used to use flying time for high-level planning.

I loved the opportunity to work on my metaphorical 20,000-foot view while literally at 20,000 feet.

I always faced the same problem with this planning: The closer I got to figuring out something that I wanted to do, the more new ideas I would generate.

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A friend’s infant is learning to creep.

Engaging every muscle he can, he propels his body along the floor to reach a toy, encouraged by both of his parents. The strain shows on his face and can be heard in his grunts and cries.

And then, just as he is about to reach the toy, his father nudges it a few inches back.

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For years — literally years! — I wrote each blog post on the day it was to be published.

I wanted to “get ahead” and have more posts in the queue, but I just didn’t quite have the capacity.

The downside to this approach was that I was always in emergency mode. That gets stressful.

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A friend of mine is starting a new business.

However, he’s a little self-conscious about calling it a business. That’s because it hasn’t made any money yet. But, strictly speaking, it’s not a hobby. The intention is not to just have fun. The intention is profit, eventually.

How do we bridge that gap? How do we launch the thing if we aren’t sure whether it is going to work?

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I can tell you exactly why I don’t teach music lessons anymore (except just for fun).

It’s the same reason that I chose to teach music lessons instead of pursuing a career as a singer/songwriter: I get more out of it.

I am putting my energy and effort where it has the most leverage. If I put an hour into helping small businesses, I get a much higher return on investment than I do putting that same hour into music education.

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