“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

This quote is often misattributed to Abraham Lincoln.

Print available on Society6.

When you consider starting on a new venture, your excitement and enthusiasm is unparalleled. You have so many ideas. It has to work this time. Sure you’ve failed those other times, but this time is different.

Fast forward a year or two later and your enthusiasm has turned into distress. Things aren’t going as you originally planned. Your idea has worked for others, why isn’t it working for you?

You didn’t prepare. Enthusiasm is a wonderful thing, if given the proper direction. Otherwise, it will lead you down the wrong path. I have encountered this problem more than a few times in my life. Each time, my failure could be attributed to a lack of preparation.

One thing we often ignore when embarking on a new idea or project is doing our homework. We get so caught up in our idea that we ignore the necessary work that must be done before we begin. Without doing this work, we wander aimlessly trying to figure out what works. There is no rhyme or reason to our actions.

If you want your idea to succeed you must front-load the work. Do your research and determine whether your idea is viable at the beginning, not at the middle or end, of your project. To get started, you can ask yourself the 5 W questions:

• Who benefits from this project?
• What will make this project a success?
• When do I plan on releasing this project to the world?
• Where can I promote this project?
• Why am I doing this project?

The more you know about the project before you begin, the more likely it is to succeed. You just need to make sure your research is relevant to the task at hand. Don’t get bogged down by minor details or you will never get started.

The most important thing to remember is you should be as prepared as possible before beginning on any new venture. It will save you a lot of time and frustration later on. Sharpen your axe before chopping down that tree.

Buy Preparation Quote Art

Background photo courtesy of Bartosz Makara.