When you have too many ideas you want to execute

 As someone with many undiagnosed ADHD symptoms I tend to get many ideas for things, as well as get distracted and hyper-fixated on many different things on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Many time I've tried to eliminate some things so I could focus on fewer things in order to actually make some progress with something rather than flopping around between the beginning stages of different projects. And after 26 years on this earth and much curating and experimenting with different ideas on how to manage this, I've come to the conclusion that I can't exactly curb my curiosity in so many things, but I can somehow herd them all together like sheep and manage them in a somewhat organized bundle. And because I've observed this to be a common problem that other human beings also struggle with, I figured I'd give some insight into what's worked for me so far in actually focusing enough on something to make progress while also making progress in 5 other different things. 

Firstly, accept your human limitations. Realistically, we only have 24 hours in a day. Many of those hours we're required to spend on other stuff. And that's fine. Just start with accepting that you probably won't do EVERYTHING you want to work on EVERYDAY, but you can probably work on them all semi-consistently. 

Secondly, consistency is KEY however it also takes time and practice to build up the habit of consistency. AT first, 'consistent' might be one every 3 months. That's fine, eventually it'll become once every 2 months and before you know it it's a daily or weekly habit, but you just gotta keep going. (Take this blog for instance. I don't have a "consistent posting schedule". I don't think any of the posts were planned ahead. Last year I wrote 11 posts. This year I've written 3 and it's already the end of September. And quite frankly I'm not even 100% sure about what I want to write content about, and my blog doesn't look anywhere close to how I want it to look. But it's definitely gotten closer since I started. I've tweaked it as I go. I write posts when a good idea strikes me. But the point is that I decided writing a blog is something I enjoy and want to spend time building, regardless of how long it takes to figure everything out. And eventually I will, but for the time being I show up as much as I can, and that's the most important thing to me). The potential problem here is that the low frequency of doing something this infrequently, will make most people give up. The key is to keep doing it because you enjoy doing the thing. Which leads me into my next point...

Only do things you actually want to do. This is a difficult one. Like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, I have A LOT OF IDEAS. And often I want to execute them all. But realistically, a lot of these ideas I don't feel particularly passionate about. I might think something is a good idea, and know I'm capable of executing said idea, but am I excited ENOUGH about it to enjoy the process of  that idea? Many ideas no. Another thing you have to be careful of is wanting to do something because people expect you to do something, or people tell you they think you'd be good at something. And although the people closest to you who know you well might have good insight into things you could be spending your time on productively, that doesn't mean you have to do it. 

Something you could try to filter out what you actually feel passionate about is to frequently write a list of the things you're excited about at that point in time. You don't have to schedule this per se, I tend to often just brain-dump thoughts onto a paper when I find myself starting to jump between ideas. Write the date on the paper and keep them. After a few weeks or months you can look back on them and see if there's anything that repeatedly pops up on your list. If you keep going back to a particular idea that's probably a sign that you should pay attention to that idea & spend some extra time developing it.

Something else I do is to write a mind map of all my ideas (usually at the beginning and middle of the year) and write what progress I'd like to make in the next 3 months, as well as what progress I've already made. After doing this a few times you'll also pick up on where you've made progress, where you no longer care to continue and what you still haven't gotten to. It's overall a good reflection exercise. 

On a slightly different note, if you're wanting to build a brand or business out of your 5 million ideas, try to fit them into one singular identity. This will seem hard at first but the more your ideas evolve, the easier it will become to see how they fit together. It also seems to be a tendency in life that nothing you do goes to waste, everything will usually come back in some or other way that you can re-use skills an ideas in new projects. But ultimately, I believe that once you figure out your life purpose, most things end up fitting together like perfectly fitting puzzle pieces. You can look up the concept called "Ikigai" for more explanation on this. Many books have been written on the topic. (Basically it's a Japanese concept about bringing your passion, mission, profession and vocation together in order to find happiness and fulfillment). 

Lastly, accept that some things won't fit into the "bigger picture". This statement somewhat contradicts me previous paragraph but bear with me. Although everything does end up fitting together like puzzle pieces, there will be things that you decide you merely want to keep in your life for fun, and you don't particularly care to have is as part of your bigger mission in life and you don't necessarily want to become the best at that skill. You might decide to not monetize it, or do it infrequently, or do it badly on purpose. It simply takes a backseat to everything else. And sometimes you need to let some ideas take the backseat so you can really hone in on the things you're most passionate and excited about. This doesn't mean you suddenly dislike the thing, it just means your priorities have shifted. Which is part of life. Things are constantly changing and be re-prioritized.  

All this to say, managing an abundance of ideas and interests can be a challenge, especially for those of us who may struggle with focus and consistency. But the key is not necessarily to eliminate these ideas, but to accept our human limitations and find a system that allows us to nurture them in a way that feels fulfilling. Consistency takes time to build, and it’s okay if progress is slow. The important part is to keep showing up for the things you truly enjoy, while being mindful of what truly excites and resonates with you.  Whether it's figuring out your life’s purpose or just allowing yourself to explore for fun, learning to prioritize what matters most—and letting go of what doesn’t—is essential. Embrace the process of refining your passions, knowing that everything will eventually come together in its own time, and that even the things that seem unrelated now may find their place later.

PS: I truly believe that if you just keep showing up to your own life, amazing things will happen that you probably weren't even dreaming of.