Don't Google it.
“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.” ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
If you have an idea, any idea, and you Google it (or A.I. it?), you will inevitably find it. I found that hundreds of thousands of new books are published each year, and the average number of copies sold is around 250.
This instant access to information about everyone and everything is having a deadly effect on people’s creativity. It’s shutting down the childlike optimism required to pursue a new idea. The data is clear, so why spend the time or take the risk?
But the real risk isn’t found in the data. It’s the risk of not fully living during your one trip around the track. It’s the risk of regret. So ignore it. The great sociologist Emile Durkheim wrote, “A mind that questions everything, unless strong enough to bear the weight of its ignorance, risks questioning itself and being engulfed in doubt.”
No one can predict the future. Hindsight is required to tell us what works and what doesn’t. And while we’re waiting for the conditions to be just right, the beauty and excitement of life is flying right on by. So ignore all of that doubt-inducing information and be driven by curiosity and passion. Have the wisdom and courage to follow your heart.
Here's the truth. You are not your history. And, if you're working on something, someone else on the planet is working on something very similar. So forget who you were. Forget what you've done. And forget what others are doing (don't Google it!). Simply ask, What am I passionate about? Now go do that. And bingo!
That's who you are.
Stay passionate!