It’s tempting to jump into a new project the moment you feel inspiration strike and the excitement in running hot. After all, it’s not hard to be excited when you only have a vague idea of what’s really going to be involved.

But before starting down a path that will take you away from your current priorities, it’s worth asking yourself some questions about the project.

What does success look like?

So often we take on work without knowing what the end result we’re really working toward is. Without having thought through what success to us really looks like, we might succeed in building a product or business that we don’t actually want to be involved with.

Ask yourself what success looks like for you with this project, and set your compass accordingly.

What are the challenges on the way to success?

There are two types of challenges that you’ll face with any project: Those you can see from the start and plan for, and the unexpected variety that you have to adapt to in the moment.

You can save yourself time and stress later by deciding upfront whether or not those challenges are challenges you want to face, and if so, how you’ll address them when they show up.

What skills are required to succeed?

You might have all the skills required to get started on the project, but those likely aren’t all the skill required to see it through.

What skills or tools are you going to need to acquire to see this project through?

Who do I need to get involved in order to succeed?

Some projects are possible to see through entirely on your own. More often, however, you’re going to need to bring on help.

Maybe it’s hiring a freelance designer, bringing on a VA or even building up an entire team around yourself.

Maybe it’s finding the right partner to help bring the idea to life.

Or maybe it’s not about splitting the labour but about mentorship, guidance, support or accountability.

Regardless, know who you’re going to need and when you’re going to need them so you can keep a lookout for potential fits.

How long will it take to achieve the result?

One of the biggest reasons we quit projects is that we don’t realize going in how long it will take to achieve our end goal.

And so, when the excitement wears off and we realize that it’s going to take years of consistent, mundane work to see the project to fruition, we cut our losses to pursue something we’d rather be doing.

At some point, the fun is going to wear off on every project, and what’s required in order to achieve success is no longer creativity and innovation but labour, consistency and implementation.

It’s worth knowing what you’re signing up for from the start and deciding whether it’s a commitment you’re willing to make.

Will the work make me feel good?

Some projects may be enticing in every other way, but if the work required doesn’t make you feel good, may be worth passing on.

Maybe the path to success involves sweatshop labour, or multi-level marketing, or marketing something you don’t truly believe in.

Or maybe it involves you spending more time on social media or sales calls than you feel is optimal for you.

Just because a project could work, doesn’t mean it’s a good fit for you.

Can I keep this up?

Once you’ve taken stock of your answers to the previous questions, ask yourself honestly if you can keep up the activities required to achieve success over your projected timeframe.

Maybe your plan requires you to produce a weekly podcast, video or long-form blog post. Can you keep that up for the years it might take to reach your goal?

Maybe it requires you to have 25 sales calls a week. Can you keep that up?

Maybe it requires you to spend 200 days per year on the road. Can you keep that up?

So often, we think about what’s required in the short term. We don’t realize, however, that the hard thing about producing content, having sales calls or traveling for work isn’t doing them once, but doing them consistently again and again and again, well past the time when the novelty has worn off.

Think of a five-pound dumbbell. No doubt, you could easily curl it once, maybe even ten, twenty, or fifty times. Keep curling, however, and sooner or later, no matter how strong you are, even that tiny amount of weight becomes impossible to lift.

Know what size barbell you’re going to be required to lift going in, and decide how long you can keep it up.

Who else is doing this already?

Someone else is doing the same thing you’re planning to do already. They may not be in the same niche, they may not be following the same plan, they may not have the same end goal in mind, but there is someone (probably many someones) doing similar work already.

You need to know who they are.

I know, it’s easy to psych yourself out by looking at someone further along than you, but there are three reasons to seek out others doing the same thing you plan on doing.

1. Oftentimes, the only reason we get excited about a project is because we think it’s never been done before.
   
   When we realize that there are other people doing it already, we magically realize that we actually don’t have all that much interest in it and we can save ourselves some time and heartache.

2. You can gather a lot of useful information about how to approach the project from looking at how others are already working through the challenges.
   
   This doesn’t mean that you need to follow the exact roadmap they’ve laid out, but it can get you out of your own head and open your eyes to alternative methods, marketing methods, pricing models, and more.

3. If your project involves you actively competing against other similar creators or businesses, this research is necessary to help you position and differentiate yourself in a compelling way.

Without knowing what others are doing and what their value propositions are, it’s hard to position yourself as a better alternative for a select group of people.

Decision Time

Once you’ve answered the above questions (and any others you choose to throw in yourself) you have a choice to make.

There’s nothing wrong with realizing that this project isn’t actually a fit for where you want to be spending your time and attention. There are enough shiny objects and ideas bombarding us on a daily basis that you should be saying “no” to most projects.

If, however, you’ve interrogated yourself and your idea and are still excited to dive in, you’re ready to dive in, confident that you know what you’re getting into, and have done everything you can to prepare for the journey ahead.

I’ve created a project dashboard template in Notion that walks me through many of these questions before I start any project. If you’re interested in getting your own, you can snag the template for yourself here.

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