How to Turn Ideas Into Reality

Turning ideas into reality is one of the greatest joys in life. This joy comes from the act of creation and the relief from problems. Both paths start with a thought, which is brought to life by action, and conclude with a bit of change in the world. This is a laborious kind of joy because the pathway from idea to reality is work.

Sometimes this work is the daily practice of our craft. Other times ideas ask more from us: in order to manifest them in the world, we need to pull together varied types of work, possibly from many individuals, and bring them to harmony.

This orchestration of work is the age-old practice of project management.

How to Turn Ideas Into Reality brings together the "minimum effective dose" of project management tools for entrepreneurs and self-employed creators: enough to help us orchestrate work but not too much that it distracts us from our actual job of building the business or practicing our craft.

Since this book is written for entrepreneurs and independent creators, it includes chapters not found in most project management books. For instance, Chapter 5: Cultivating Serendipity. Unlike full-time project managers, we have the power to start, end, or change our projects at any time. This gives us the freedom to pivot toward unexpected good fortune. How do we increase our chances of getting lucky? How can we be more ready to pursue good fortune? In this chapter, I share the serendipity playbook I have compiled over the years.

A concern I frequently hear from people I train is how to persevere in their projects. In Chapter 9, I share tools for managing motivation. In Chapter 10, I share my journey from “wartime productivity” to “peacetime productivity.” The key to more creative and impactful projects is not to become a productivity robot. It is to understand and embrace our humanity.