I’ve made music, built businesses, published books. With every venture into a new field, it seemed like I was switching. All over the place. I didn’t realize I was doing the same thing.
I was building projects, each one, to expedite my learning.
You can do the same.
Most people want to do stuff but don’t know where to start.
They take action to learn but that’s where it stops. In an era of ample information, it’s easy to stay in a mode of constant consumption.
The average human brain is exposed to 11 million bits of information per second, however, our conscious mind can only process around 40-50 bits per second. Distracted? Pay attention!
It’s important to have a reference point to channel your learning into.
You need a project.
This will help you filter what you consume because you look at everything in the lens of how it moves your project forward.
Experiential learning is what will set you apart.
The person that builds the agency to quickly bring ideas to reality is the one that stays ahead.
Build your “agency mindset” with little projects.
Do what you learn to learn what to do.
Experiential Learning to Fuel Your Growth:
My first business was a joke.
No seriously, it started out as a joke between my brother and I.
Sometime in 2011, we were on the couch watching TV. I don’t remember how it came about but we started saying a term we used growing up for getting stuff done quickly – kpá kpá kpá. (associated with some finger-snapping)
Then we were like: “man, I wish there was a website in Nigeria for doing things and getting info quickly, like kpakpakpa.com.”
We laughed. I had no idea a seed had been planted.
A few days later, I checked if the domain was available. It wasn’t (We weren’t the only ones with the idea). I bought that domain and started building the website. Later on, I hired some developers, and together we built a Q&A app. Launched it. It didn’t go anywhere. In the meantime, I started blogging to drive traffic to the site.
Afterwards, I used the website as a marketing asset to build a consulting business. I got my first client. I changed the name to KPA, helping industrial companies expand into West and East Africa.
All from a joke on a couch.
You’ll be surprised where your little projects take you.
Don’t just learn, put it into action.
Build a project.
It will help you gain clarity, initiate and maintain momentum, and live a more well-rounded life.
Here are a few steps to start with:
1. Choose
Plant the seed.
But give it to me to grow.
Stop rushing. We rush because we always think we have the brightest ideas and out of the gate, we just want to blow.
Blow, Blow, Blow.
How many entrepreneurs just want to blow? Dem still never blow!
You’re not a grenade. Relax.
Most times you want your new idea to become your main source of income. It might be or not. Take care of your bills and reduce your financial stress with a vocation.
Build your project on the side.
For instance, when I built my website, I had a nice cosy engineering job in Texas. I did all the tinkering at night or on weekends.
Where do you start?
It could be a joke or just something you find interesting.
Follow it.
2. Learn
You are what you consume.
When I started building that website, I had no clue how to go about it. I shuttled between stack overflow, YouTube, and some niche blogs to learn.
Google was really my main homie.
But knowledge is infinite. You can keep reading and reading and…you get the point. That’s why your project becomes a lens to curate the information you consume.
With my website/app project, I would see other websites and wonder:
“How did they get that banner up there?”
“How are they making money?”
“What’s their writing style in their blog?”
Educate yourself.
Do it through the lens of your project to narrow down the field of information.
3. Attempt:
What’s a project without action? Thoughts.
Each one of us has about 6.5 thoughts each minute.
There’s a time for thoughtfulness.
There’s a time for action.
Let me not get all Ecclesiastes on you.
At some point, you have to get busy.
Put what you’ve learned to propel your project. For my website then, it meant trying out a piece of code that someone had posted on a forum or setting up a “coming soon” landing page.
That’s the beauty of a project. There’s always something to try.
Here’s a little hack, if you don’t know what to do: Take a 10-minute action on your new knowledge.
Whenever you learn something new, at the very least, write a note about it. Note-taking is a great way to build your thoughts about your project. You can always reference the farther along you go.
Whatever you do, externalize your thoughts with action.
Build, write, or do both.
4. Share
Communicating an idea is as important as the idea itself.
Writing has an added benefit in your project because at some point you will get the urge to share what you’re working on. Writing doesn’t only clarify your thinking as you work through your project, it also helps you make sense of how to communicate what you’re building.
It’s a whole process to communicate your idea properly to the right audience.
That’s why I’m a fan of communicating as you build. It can start out with a few friends, then some colleagues, before you know it you’ve built a tribe around your project.
Bring your audience along.
Build to Learn
Take little bets on yourself.
Learning through experience is your best teacher.
Choose a project idea, filter what you learn through it, externalize with spurts of 10-minute actions, and share what you learn along the way.
Some projects will work out.
Some wouldn’t.
But you’ll learn something, and that’s priceless.
I hope you build a little or big project this year.
Yours truly,
Nifemi
P.S. Take 3-mins and write down a few project ideas you will like to tackle this year. Plant that seed.