TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Rands:

You’ve been spending a lot of time thinking the result is what matters. You have a bright and shiny goal in mind that is distracting you with its awesomeness. It is this allure of awesomeness that is the continued reason why you keep searching around your house looking for that mischievous walking dial.

My guarantee is that what is going to make this bright and shiny thing awesome isn’t finishing. It’s all the little, unexpected details you discover trying to start. It’s all the small pieces of unexplainable execution that will not only make it yours, but also continue to teach you how you get things done. And when you’re done, you’ll discover finishing, while cathartic, is just a good reason to go start something else.

Often when I’m beginning large projects, whether they’re for school, work or TightWind, I find myself going on tangents, descending down rabbit holes that started with something directly relevant to the project but are now only (seemingly) indirectly related. While writing my final business strategy paper on Apple’s mobile strategy and working on the presentation, for example, I started reading Steve Jobs’s views on what role computers should play in our lives, and watching Apple’s “Think Different” ads.

I used to think of this tendency as delaying getting work done, a passive-aggressive way of avoiding work while still assuaging myself I am indeed accomplishing something. I think that’s wrong, though.

Actually, I think this habit ends up improving my work for two reasons: first, it lessens the pressure I feel to get it done; rather than working on an incredibly important project, I end up feeling like I’m researching some personal thing I’m fascinated by, which helps put me in the right frame of mind to work creatively on the project.

Second, by going on these tangents, I’m learning the context for the subject, where it fits in and what it means. In other words, I’m gaining perspective on it, my own unique viewpoint. And that, really, is the most important part, because you don’t just want to finish projects—you want to do something creative and meaningful.

Those interviews with Jobs, and Apple’s Think Different ads, ended up providing the entire thrust of my paper and presentation. Apple’s intent, from the very beginning, has been to change things, to use technology as a means to improve people’s lives. That became my project’s framework. That seems rather obvious; but without allowing myself to descend down those rabbit holes at the beginning of the project, I never would have thought to place my paper and presentation in that context.