The Curve of Starting a New Endeavor

The best part of starting a new endeavor is that lightbulb moment, where you think, “wow, that would be really cool if I could...” It’s thrilling to imagine all the possibilities - whether it be starting a new shop, blog, or creating a new business all together. As an entrepreneur, I know the feeling well. I live for that high.

I also know the feeling of disappointment new endeavors bring. And they always bring it. I’ve learned over the years that building anything successful takes much longer than we could ever imagine.

Have any of you read the book The Dip by Seth Godin? If not, you should read it asap. It’s one of my favorites. In his book, Seth talks about how, with any new endeavor, there is a dip that most people aren’t willing to endure. It’s a barrier to entry where things get tough and most quit. The idea is that if you push through the dip and make it to the other side, success is yours for the taking because very few people make it through.

I’ve been thinking about how new ideas come to fruition. My curve has a different shape than Seth’s. It’s more complicated. One critique I have of Seth’s theory is that, in my experience, the dip is more of a slog. It’s not a quick blip on the radar. Often, you can spend years in limbo, waiting for success to find you.

Here’s what my curve looks like:

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Let me explain…

When you have that lightbulb moment, you’re at an ultimate high.

Then, there’s a little drop. For some people it’s a big drop. The drop is the fear that keeps you from starting the project. What if your idea isn’t any good? What if you look stupid?

Here’s where a lot of us like to employ stall tactics. They come in the form of thinking too long about the name or branding. We like to make excuses why now isn’t the time. For me, it’s negative self-talk telling me I don’t have the energy for another big idea.

If you’re an entrepreneur, the drop will probably be smaller, because you’re used to starting new things. If you’re new to entrepreneurship, the drop might be bigger. The great news is that the more that we get used to starting up new endeavors, the smaller the drop gets for all future projects. We get less afraid of starting something new the more we do it.

Let’s assume you’ve decided to push your fears aside and move forward with your idea. The excitement curve peaks again as you start flushing it out. The high almost matches the excitement you had in that lightbulb moment. You can see your vision coming to life. Your dream is really coming true. Your endeavor has a face, a name, and a voice. You even have a launch date.

Then, you put your idea out into the world, and CRICKETS. Turns out not everyone is as excited about your idea as you are. No matter how many followers you have, there’s usually a discrepancy between how excited you are and how excited everyone else is.

You hope this lack of excitement is just a fluke. The algorithm must be working against you. Maybe within a few weeks your idea will gain traction. You still have hope it will go viral.

Why is it not taking off? It should have been a big deal by now. And here, the excitement plummets.

For a really long time, it will seem like no one cares at all about your new endeavor. And it will break your heart. Then the negative self talk kicks in. Why did I start this thing in the first place?

You have a choice now - quit or persevere?

Most people quit, but let’s say you decide to carry on. In order to carry on, you need to find a way to get excited about the day-to-day process of running your new endeavor. You stop fixating on success, because clearly it’s never going to happen. This new mindset is tricky, but possible.

You slowly putter on for months, maybe years. And steadily, you see a little growth. It’s so minuscule at first. Maybe a few buyers, a few subscribers, or a few followers. And this small amount of growth continues for A LONG TIME. I call this period the slog, because it never seems to end. The growth during this time is so small, you barely even notice it. And you continue on like this, because it’s your big idea and you don’t want to give up now.

In fact, you’ve decided you’re not going to give up EVER.

And then years (or even decades) later you realize you’ve built yourself a little something. Not just a little something. A big something. You’ve reviewed your yearly earnings, and it’s what you always dreamed of. When did this happen? You were so busy working, you barely even noticed all the growth.

All of that work was worth it. You stuck to your idea and it panned out. You were right all along that this was going to be something big.

How long it takes to reach this point is different for everyone. Some people catch a lucky break and find success sooner. Remember, that lucky break is simply being in the right place at the right time. For others, they may be unlucky and their idea takes longer to be successful. Timing is different for everyone.

Just when you thought you found success, your new idea keeps growing bigger and bigger. You’re now even more excited than at that initial lightbulb moment, because you actually did it. It’s real.

Sure, you have bad days where you question everything. Maybe you don’t feel like doing the work it takes to scale up your idea. But no chance you’re quitting now. You’ve invested so much time into this thing. And it’s all yours.

So the growth continues like a freight train. Because once you’ve left the station and picked up speed, gaining more speed is not as difficult. In fact, the growth feels easy now, like it will just happen on its own.

I wish the story ends here. However, the truth is that your curve will ebb and flow many more times as your idea of success adjusts. As humans, we always crave more success. And there will be continuous day-to-day challenges. They will feel bigger as your idea becomes bigger.

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And that’s how every new endeavor goes. The thing I wish I could tell the world is that the slog is inevitable. So is the minuscule growth that comes after that. Because if you’re expecting it, it isn’t a letdown. And then you won’t quit.

I’ve seen a lot of people become serial starters. They get addicted to the high of starting something new, and never see anything through. They are the people who start business after business, hoping this is the one. Don’t be one of these people. You have to stay on the train long enough to get somewhere. The power isn’t in the good idea, it’s in the commitment.

When you start something new, you need to be committed for life. And that might just be how long it takes. Full commitment is only way any new idea is going to become what you always hoped it would be.

I’ve learned to be choosy with new endeavors I pursue. I flush out the ideas, and test them out before committing. I make sure I’m fully confident the idea is worth my time - that I would actually enjoy the day-to-day tasks it would take to see the idea through. Finding joy on the journey is the only route to success. In fact, you have to do the idea from that place of joy in order for it to work, versus expecting that end result.

Another good skill is knowing when to quit. You quit when your idea isn’t working and when you lose your joy. I don’t just mean having a few bad days. You quit when you start to resent the thing you’ve built.

If your idea is like a freight train, your joy in the process is the beautiful mountainous view out the window. You’re so busy enjoying yourself, you don’t even realize you’ve picked up speed. Don’t take your train through an underground tunnel, hoping to arrive on the other side of success because you’ll never get there. You won’t want to ride that train long enough to experience success.

So don’t quit. Stay the course. And see your new endeavor through.