Successful launch in 90 days: Never mind the frogs and monkeys - just start with the hardest part

A few years ago, Brian Tracy wrote a book called:

Eat That Frog!: Get More of the Important Things Done - Today!

The book title is referring to  a saying that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that it's probably the worst thing you'll do all day. 

Photo from Pixabay

Since I care about animals and avoid eating them at all, I am not fond of the metaphor, but I believe in what the author wants to say:

If you take care of the most difficult thing first - something that most likely also has the biggest impact - you are likely to get more done. 

This concept is described very well by Astro Teller, also known as "Captain of moonshots" at the factory X (former Google X) in this 5 min video. One of the examples he uses is that if you are going to teach a monkey (again this disrespect towards animals I don't like, but the message is still important) recite Shakespeare standing on a pedestal, you had better start working with the monkey - not building the pedestal.

This is important in Factory X, so they can cancel projects as soon as possible and start new ones with better chances of succeeding. It is also valid for my Successful launch in 90 days challenge. Not because I want to figure out if I will fail (I will not) but because I want to start with the most uncertain things so I have as much time as possible to figure out how to do them.

Of course there are many things on my way to the successful launch that will require a lot of effort and time, but some of them I have done before. I have had books published before, I have arranged events before. I know approximately what needs to be done and how much leadtime is required.

On the other hand, I have never created an on-line course and I have not yet learned how to turn digital markering into sales. I will not eat frogs or teach monkeys, but I will start with the items that are new to me, to give myself as much time as possible to figure out how to do it.

In my updated issue tree I have added more detailed actions in these areas:

I know how tempting it is to do the stuff you already know. Making progress, ticking of items on your To Do list feels good. But it is not the best way to secure your goal.

When you get to work tomorrow - start with the toughest / riskiest / most uncertain task. Once you have handled it, you will not only be closer to your goal - you will also feel more confident about your ability to succeed.

You can find the previous posts in this challenge here:


Go, go, go!
What is your next challenge?