I get excited all the time: During Steelers games (well maybe not this year).  When I get a new idea.  When I read a book.  When I think something cool’s about to happen.

If you talk to most people they will tell you excitement is a good thing.  We want our clients to be excited by our products.  We want our audiences to be excited by our words.  I want you to be excited about this blog.

But sometimes excitement is the enemy.  Sometimes enthusiasm kills.

How you ask?  Because when we get excited we can often lose our way.  We run blindly through the forest because we are excited.  “We’re going to have an adventure!” we say.  But at some point we realize that we’re in the middle of a forest with no map.  No food.  And no direction.

At that moment we shut down.

Enthusiasm kills.

As awesome as excitement can be, it can be a destroyer of ideas, a wrecker of momentum, a killer of dreams.  Excitement needs to be channeled.  It needs to be focused.  It needs to be harnessed.  So the next time you’re working on a project and you’re excited about a new idea, channel that energy.  Don’t let it control you.  Excitement can drive you.  Just make sure you know where you’re going first.

photo provided by flickr