Large Projects

I've been rebuilding our family home for the past year and it's been a long, hard slog.

Of course, I haven't done everything myself, but I have done some bits. Mostly I've been directing the builders and various trades, organising materials and making sure that the money has been in place to get everything done.

I've not done anything on this scale before, but when I started out, I didn't really give much thought to the task ahead.

As it happens, we're almost there and will be moving on Wdnesday, though a few bits and pieces (like a kitchen for example) will have to wait a while until my bank balance improves a little.

Now we're near the end, it's actually getting scarier, because a goal is almost realised - and not many people get to realise a goal.

It's made me think.

Many people online and offline, fail at something because they don't have a declared goal. They fail to plan for something they want, success.

Then, even when they are on the cusp of achieving a goal, they give up at the last minute, possibly at the very point they should be charging forward.

I've done that myself in the past. I've been content to have tried, but haven't been too concerned about finishing.

It happens a lot when building web sites.

An idea can be brilliant when you first start out, but after a few weeks of trying to get your ideas over to a designer and a developer or two, with everyone telling you what can't be done, it's easy to just put a project on the back burner and go on to the next idea - and then repeat the process.

Although I've been knocking out a few Adsense sites recenty, my main development goal has been to get one of my sites off the groubd.

It's been hard going and although I have a site up at the moment, it's not quie there, so I can't launch it yet.

All of the building blocks are in place, but it's just not right yet.

A year or two ago, I'd have abandoned it, but now, after going through the process of building a house, I fully understand (after only 49 years), that in order to succeed, you don't simply start projects, you have to see them through to the finish before even considering the next one!

Building a house is a lot like building a web site. It's frustrating, it's expensive, budgets don't matter, people let you down, there's a lot of negativity about and most importantly of all, it is extremely rewarding.