When we start a project, we are often afraid. Afraid of not knowing how to do it, afraid of not succeeding. This fear paralyzes us and prevents us from moving forward properly. The number of times I didn’t dare, petrified by the anguish of making a mistake…
Until the day when I experimented a certain number of tools, which allowed me to finally move forward in my projects and to persevere until their realization. What pride when I put my first website online!
This week, I wanted to help you by sharing the ones that helped me the most. Are you ready to progress? Let’s go !
Tool 1: allow yourself to feel
It is THE most useful mechanism to overcome any negative situation. Whether it’s the fear of failing, the fear of judgment or the gaze of others, doubt, confusion.
We have too often got into the habit of avoiding feeling our negative emotions, because it is not comfortable. We send them away, closing in on ourselves, grabbing our phone to scroll, or anything else. The problem is that it will prevent us from moving forward with our project.
Allowing ourselves to feel the negative emotion that is happening, allows us, little by little, to make our body understand that we are safe, even if this emotion is not pleasant. As you do this type of exercise, you will come to better manage these waves of emotions and you will be able to take the necessary actions to test your project.
How to do it ?
Here are the main points:
- the moment you feel the emotion: just stop
- take a few deep breaths
- put yourself in the position of an observer and precisely describe the sensation of the emotion in your body
- spend time on each place if it is located on several
- continue to take a calm breath
- the emotion must dissipate gradually.
Sometimes it is so strong that you will have to exercise regularly before you can really feel the benefits of this exercise.
Do not hesitate to be accompanied by a professional if the emotions are unmanageable for you.
Once you have this tool in hand, you will become unbeatable at the game of try-and-learn.
Tool 2: take small steps
The world we live in is changing so quickly, that it is almost impossible to know in advance what will work or not.
When you have an idea or a project in mind, the first thing to do is to “test the water”.
First small step: identify your target
Ask yourself the questions:
- Who is your idea or product aimed at?
- What kind of personality do they have?
- Where will you find them?
You can use the internet to help you: groups on social networks, question and answer sites, forums… But you can also ask your surroundings: family, friends, people living in the same places as you (sport, activities… )
Listen to them, try to understand their needs and see if and how your idea can meet them.
Second small step: list the different possible solutions
You have gathered information on the needs of your target audience and you have your idea, but you do not yet know how it will materialize.
In this case, spend some time brainstorming: what are all the possibilities that I can implement to meet this need?
Do not limit yourself in this exercise. List everything without judgment. Invite others into this exercise if you wish.
At this stage, your goal is to have as many ideas as possible.
Third small step: select and build small
At this stage, the goal of the game will be to create a prototype.
You will first choose an idea from all those you listed in the previous step.
Which makes you want to start and is doable quickly and easily?
It can be a paper prototype or a digital prototype. The goal is to see how people interact with your idea and get feedback to improve it.
For example, you want to develop a mobile application, you can first create clickable screens and see how a small panel of people react to it, before coding it. This makes it possible to verify certain hypotheses, before making a larger investment, financially or in time.
Fourth small step: collect information
Test your prototype on a small group of people who match your target audience. Ask them to give their honest opinion on your idea and how you can improve it.
Analyze feedback and data. Use this information to make improvements to your prototype, to make it increasingly relevant to your target audience.
Once done, you can create a first version of your project, to be able to test it on a wider audience.
Continue to collect information and feedback continuously, to improve your project continuously.
Thanks to these tools, you will gradually prove to yourself that you can do things and move forward. Taking small steps is an excellent way to progress, without putting too much pressure on yourself and it allows you to validate or not ideas with your audience, rather than rushing headlong and flop.
