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How to Decide Which Project to Work on Next · The Daily Writer

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hey friends, welcome to episode 113 of the Born to Create Podcast.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Kent Sanders, and this is the show where we explore the mindset, habits, and skills to help you make a bigger impact in your life and creative work.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: We're in a about a two-month series where I'm just answering some listener questions, and I've had a blast doing this, and I hope that you guys have enjoyed it as well.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Today's question was sent in by Jessica Gigliati, and here's what she says.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: How do you decide which project to work on next?
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: I have running documents for capturing notes and ideas for a few different books I could write, but nothing is going to happen unless I can pick one idea to focus on.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: How do you choose?
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: Jessica, that's a great question, and I think this is something most creative types wrestle with.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think by definition, most creative people are interested in multiple things at one time.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's part of what makes us artists and creatives.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: We are interested in lots of different things and we can blend those things together and come up with new things.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: However, the downside of that is that it's really easy to get caught in the squirrel quote unquote syndrome where we're constantly distracted by, oh, it's a squirrel, it's a squirrel, it's a squirrel.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: We see all these shiny new things and we get distracted by all these new ideas, and we don't end up actually completing anything.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: We just end up with a bunch of ideas and half-finished projects.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: So what I would suggest is having some kind of a framework to help you take the emotion out of this decision and to give you the to give you the ability to look at it objectively.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Let me give you three criteria that you can use to help decide which book to write next.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, which book idea fits your goals?
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: For example, let's say you have four book ideas, but you want to ask which ones are most in line with your overall goals for your business.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Now I know we're talking about creative work here, but I also want you to think about your writing as a product that you're selling.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, unless you just plan on putting a bunch of work into a book and giving it away and you spending money that you're never going to recoup, you need to be thinking about your work as a business.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: So which book most fits your overall goals for your business?
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: So that's number one, which book idea fits your goals?
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, which book idea are you most excited about?
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, a book takes a long time to write, to edit, to publish, and to market.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: So you want to make sure you have enough enthusiasm about it to sustain it throughout the whole project.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, number three, which book is your audience asking for?
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now again, if we're approaching this as a business, which I think we should, you want to make sure that your book idea is meeting the need of your audience in some way.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: Have people asked you to write on specific topics?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have an audience that's focused on particular topics?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Has somebody asked you to write a book on this topic?
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Those are good questions to ask because many times we we simply approach this from a creative standpoint where we think, oh, I'd love to create this, and then we have to figure out how to market it and how to price it and whether people are going to actually buy it and so forth.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: So it's definitely valuable to think of this from a business standpoint as well as a creative standpoint.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And what I mean by that is, you know, just ask, is there a market for this product I'm creating?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Have people been asking for it?
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Are there other products that are or books that are similar to mine that have been selling?
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: So when you look at it from both of those angles, I think we have a more balanced perspective.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: So for example, in my case, my readers often ask me questions about habits, creativity, and productivity.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody ever asks me questions about car repair or fly fishing, or anything to do with uh makeup or perfume or fashion or sports.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, those are all topics that other people have written books about, but if I wrote books on those topics, it would be a total failure because nobody associates me with those topics and nobody is asking me to write books on those topics.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want a book to be a part of your business, it should be aligned topic-wise with your core message or your core audience.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: I go into a lot more detail on how to think through all this in my free ebook called The Art of Completion.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that short ebook is all about how to decide which creative projects to focus on.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, it's part of a bundle of free resources in my ultimate toolkit for creative entrepreneurs, which you can get for free at KentSanders.net slash toolkit.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Jessica, thanks so much for your question, and I hope this is helpful.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Give these ideas a shot and let me know which project you decide on.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: Well, hey friends, those are my thoughts, but I'd love to hear what you think about this episode.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: You can leave a comment by going to KentSanders.net slash one one three, or you can also go over to Apple Podcast and leave a rating and a review for the show, which I also greatly appreciate.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, remember that you were born to create and designed to make a difference.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what are you going to create today?