I observe a lot of people who get inspired and start projects, and the initial steps I see seem to fall into two categories.

First, there are the people who avoid the work of starting by researching and talking about the idea and being in a constant state of preparation. These are the people who are still preparing to pre-alpha launch the focus group survey that will give them the data they need to spend the next six months inventing new hurdles…

The other group of people (and I’m not exempt) approach new ideas with their previous and current understanding of the big picture. So even when necessary research is done, the likeliness of failure can still be high since the moving parts aren’t critically considered.

The most successful artists I know (and by artist, I mean people who ship their work) develop the ability to think critically about ideas with more intensity and objectivity than most.

The people I look up to aren’t necessarily smarter than their peers, they just have better habits. The ability to reject lazy and unhelpful patterns of thought is one of them.