Every new initiative starts with a vision.

The beginning is an invigorating time. People get excited about the fruit a new project will bring. Plans are made and expectations are set.

Then there’s the hard work to get to the fruit. The sweat. The tears. The inescapable grind.

The vision begins to fade. The fruit becomes forgotten. Fear takes hold.

And then your initiative fails. Miserably. But why?

Steven Pressfield calls it the resistance. Seth Godin calls it our lizard brain.

Stick It Out…or Get Out

Back in 2005, ABIS had a big vision. We were all working hard, but the fruit we had envisioned seemed a long way off. Some of my coworkers were frustrated and fearful.

Vision without fruit creates fear. But, if you know that up front and are ok with it, then you just have to be able to push through the resistance and quiet the lizard brain. If you’re not ok with that; if you want something that feels safe and easy, then you should call it quits and move on.

It’s now five (almost six…hard to believe) years later and some of us stuck it out. Some of us never forgot the vision. We plugged away, pushed through, and stayed committed to shipping a remarkable product. Now we’re starting to taste some of that fruit we envisioned from the beginning.

And it tastes good. Damn good.

What About You?

Is there a project you’re involved with that’s starting to flounder? Maybe a new customer experience or customer service effort?

One piece of advice: if you believed in it from the beginning, then stick with it.

I promise the fruit is much sweeter in the end.