Turn Your Ideas Into Action

By John Millen

Ideas are worthless. All that matters is execution.

You had the idea for Facebook, but Zuckerberg did the work. You thought of Uber, but it seemed unrealistic. You could have made Airbnb happen, but you had a lot going.

Believe me, I've been there. That's why I came to this conclusion that it's all about execution -- making ideas happen.

I'm still a work in progress, but several years ago I adopted a mindset that I would write in a notebook all of my "great" ideas. Then I would evaluate them and concentrate on bringing the best ones to completion -- usually one at a time.

This process has been phenomenally helpful for my focus and productivity.

As we near the end of 2015, it’s natural to think about the ideas and project that didn’t get done.

So today I simply want to offer you the three books I bought several years ago that have made a huge difference on my focus and completion rate.

You can pick these up at your local bookstore or using the Amazon affiliate or free link I’ve provided.

I love this book. Scott Belsky provides details on creating and executing very specific action steps to move projects forward.

Key idea: "Action steps are the most important components of projects -- the oxygen for keeping projects alive." On Amazon

Few people are as prolific in their publishing as author Seth Godin. This project workbook is an off-shoot of his excellent book Linchpin It's a comprehensive and insightful process for evaluating and completing projects. I've used it as a great results tool with teams.

Key idea: Set a deadline for yourself and your team for "shipping" the project. Let nothing deter you from that deadline.

Available as a free download on Godin's website: FREE

Setting clear goals and deadlines can make a huge difference in your focus and results, but it all comes down to action.

Everybody has ideas. Ideas are nothing. Execution is everything.