In an Office Hours podcast episode I listened to today, T.K., one of the hosts, mentioned how sometimes when people announce that they’re working on a new project or have a new idea, they get so caught up in the praise and glory from people congratulating them for what they’re going to do that they confuse it with actually having done it.
That sounds a little weird but here’s what I mean – say you started telling everyone that you were going to start a program for the homeless that helps get them jobs and off the streets, pretty much everyone you told would praise you and give you the utmost support and blessing. So much so that during this process of telling people, you actually get partially fulfilled from it.
The way people have treated you is almost like you’ve already done it. You are less incentivized now because you’ve already gotten all the high praise. If you do it now, what do you have to gain from it (except helping the homeless of course)?
You have gotten the honeymoon phase of the idea out before you’ve even begun, so now you don’t want to dive into the rest of the relationship.
That’s why it’s so important for your work to speak for itself or just shut up about what you’re “going to do.”
You shouldn’t be doing things for the praise of man anyway. If that’s the reason you’re going to start a company to help the homeless, I promise you aren’t going to last very long. Really, any job is like this. The more you seek only the praise of man, the more you’ll find yourself stressed and unable to please everyone.
You must be doing it for a higher cause so that you don’t get burnt out when people starting booing.