Something vs. the idea of Something

There is a difference between Something and the idea of Something. For example, an advertisement tells you only the idea of the product it’s selling, or a resume tells you only a brief introduction of the person. There are always more about this Something.

At some stages this distinction doesn’t matter, and helps to offer some preconception before one invests more than he should in this Something. I often suggest potential clients to first build a prototype, or a small-scale version of their ideas before they make the decision to kickoff the full project.

But sometimes, we exaggerate, amplify and idealise the idea of Something, before we have further evidences to know what this Something actually can bring us. That’s why we have economic bubbles. Or we over-hype a film and are let down when we finally see it. There are countless examples of this in life.

The totality of Something is not possible to be described. By describing Something, it becomes the idea of Something, like a projection of a 3D object on paper. It is guaranteed to have compression loss.

To know what Something is like, you have to see it for yourself. Or you may have to work with it a bit to feel what it’s like to you. No one can tell you the full story but yourself.

That’s why there is no perfect plan. There must be unknowns that seem to “come out of nowhere” in the process. So we shouldn’t over-spend time on making a flawless plan, which is pointless and inevitably leads to disappointment. Instead we should stay adaptive and ask: what can you make out of it right now?

Also, can you picture what may actually happen when the idea of Something turns into reality? If not, probably you shouldn’t assign too high an expectation on Something. Manage your expectation until it actually comes real.

If you like the idea of Something, why don’t you bring it a step forward and see what it’s like?

If you constantly find a reason not to do it, maybe you should look closer and see if your idea of Something actually can be exaggerated and distorted. If so, you can always adjust your expectation and make a tinier step forward to see it for yourself. You don’t have to risk it all for nothing.