Never have I been amazing at anything. I’m much too fickle to put in the 10,000 hours some experts posit it takes to become an expert at any one thing. I’m a 90% person. The first 90% is fun and ideas and strategy–and the last 10% is tedious.
You could call me Jack (Jane?) of all trades, Queen of none. You would be correct. I know enough to be dangerous–about a lot of things. I’m passionate about learning, and information, and ideas, and communication.
When I was younger, I told my dad I was going to run a mile. He told me not to tell him about it, just to do it. Don’t tell people your plans, because if you quit or fail you’ll look silly and like you cried wolf…no one would believe you could ever do it. He probably doesn’t remember imparting that bit of advice, but it certainly has stuck with me.
When you are an idea person, you have to learn to filter your own ideas, anyway. There was a point in our marriage where my husband thought he actually had to seriously consider each of my ideas–analyze them and declare them good or bad/plausible or too risky. That action on his part lead to a long season of me feeling unheard and, for lack of a more mature phrase, like he was constantly “poo-pooing” on my ideas.
You see, when you are an idea person, you have more ideas than you could ever accomplish. Not all of those ideas are good. Most of them aren’t. But, when ideas are your language and your lifeblood…I’ve learned it is okay to speak them. It is also okay to acknowledge that they needn’t come to fruition.
Maturity tells me not to invest too much money or time into a new idea without serious thought–and normally a good bit of time. My husband has learned to let me have a chance to get bored with my own idea before he uses his “relational capital” to “poo-poo” it too soon. This has allowed me to feel his support and learn my own lessons.
So, support the curious dreamer in your life. It’s likely that they’ll get bored of their new idea sooner than you think. But, if they don’t, they may stumble on something genius.