Lots of people have no idea what their passion is in life.

But many others face a different kind of challenge: having lots of ideas.

The problem? They don’t know where to begin. Their indecision means nothing ever gets done. Which means their ideas never see the light of day.

Does this sound like you?

I like to think of myself as a relatively well-rounded conversationalist. I can talk to you about a little bit of everything; history, science, philosophy, business. I even know a wee bit about sports. (Ugh, sports).

But there’s one thing I almost certainly know nothing about: TV shows. Ask me about the latest episode of The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, or whatever else half the world is raving about on social media, and I’ll be absolutely clueless.

Success is elusive.

Everyone wants it, but not everyone achieves it. There’s a reason why it’s called “chasing” success, after all.

Naturally, when someone figures out a strategy that yields desirable results, we seek to emulate it. Why work harder than you have to when a formula for success already exists?

This makes sense in the short-run — it’s a smart way of moving forward when you’re just getting started in your craft. But there’s a point of diminishing returns — a grey area between inexperience and mastery — where being formulaic compromises your potential.

I get a common reaction when I tell people I’m a blogger:

“That’s awesome. I wish I could start a blog!”

When I ask what’s stopping them, they respond by saying they don’t have enough inspiration to write consistently. They don’t realize that as a creative, the biggest mistake you can make is relying on inspiration to follow through with your ideas.