I was talking the other day with Serina Kelly of Relevate and a crazy analogy came to mind – Ideas are like Goldfish.

Every kid has shared the experience of bringing home a brand new Goldfish at one time or another. Remember, Goldfish were fun. It came in a cool bag of water and then into a nice shiny bowl. This was YOUR pet! You gave it a name like Goldy, or Slimy, of Phish. For the first few days, you jumped out of bed in the morning to rush down and drop the pellets of food into the bowl. What a time.

But, soon enough, other things came along, and Goldy was just another decoration. The initial passion of feeding him gave way to apathy, and soon it was mom feeding the fish (when she remembered). The bowl got cloudy and green with algae. Then, one day you came in and Goldy was a floater. You said a few words and… flush… he was gone.

It hit me that ideas are like Goldfish. I have lots of ideas and get genuinely excited when a cool one hits. It fires me up, and inspires me – for awhile. Then, like my old pet, the excitement fades. Too often, my ideas end up as floaters, just like ol’ Goldy.

Don’t let your ideas go ‘belly up’. When you have a good idea, commit to making it a reality. Write it down, tell it to friends and colleagues along with your commitment to carry it through to fruition.

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