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You've been there. You have an idea. A great idea. You're going to start selling macarons and that'll translate into insane smack-a-roons (money). It's easy. You'll buy the mac baking sheet. You'll snag the almond flour. You'll watch a Maradee Martin Live on the topic. Oh - don't forget the windowpane packaging. Bows - bows always look nice. Well, gonna need that Munbyn erry'body is talking about - you know, for stickers and branding. Ah - don't forget photography - aeCore backers launched that new Rose Marble too - that'll really make these macs pop off the page. Oh yeah and... and... and...

📋 Welcome to your secret to-do list. 

A secret to-do list comes from a simple idea hiding behind it a multitude of tasks, costs, mental processing power, and even storage space. It's what takes a good idea and makes it a terrible experience. It's everything attached to an idea that we forgot to account for. 

Secret to-do lists are hiding everywhere. 

🌱 Look at my (Heather here) venus fly-trap experience. What started as a Wegman's impulse buy (my entire buying experience at Wegmans is summed up as an impulse purchase) turned into a planting pot, potting soil, a mister, gardening tools, and time... so much more time than I considered whilst standing in the self check-out. 

Consider that each purchase or idea comes with the following strings attached:

• The time needed to execute and implement
• Physical storage of the supplies needed to create
• The mental power needed to conceptualize and learn
• The financial investment to acquire the necessary tools 

That's... well, that's a lot more than the good idea we started off with. And that's why we always must consider the secret to-do lists attached to ideas and purchases in our business (and frankly, in our lives (ahem - corrie's closet)).

It's not to say that you should never have an idea or purchase something for a new hobby or product offering. No no - I'd never encourage that. Frankly, I love buying things. But consider what else comes attached to that idea or hobby - and make a list. See your secret to-do list before you buy into that hobby.

🤏 Then come up with your MVP - the minimum viable product you can invest in (time, money, and mental) to get the idea out the door. It'll be a trimmed-up to-do list that will let you taste the concept before you're too knee-deep in the thick of secret to-do-list-ness. 

Or better yet - budget for it. Spend time watching a Facebook Live about the idea before you invest anything further. Ask questions in a group dedicated to the idea and see what others' feedback is on the 'secret to-do list' associated with the idea, product, or purchase. 

And if you tried something and it didn't make the cut? Cut it out.

Secret to-do lists have an even more hidden string attached - 😔 the guilt trip of not having completed the idea, hobby, or product. That box you have sitting with never-used cookie cutters. Those Amerigel food colorings you have more than you'll be able to use before they expire. That label printer you just never found a true use for? Yeah - get your tickets ready - we're on a guilt trip. 

Let that stuff go. ♻️ Donate, sell, or trash. If you're not going to use it, don't let it continue using your mental mind space. Donate your cutters to cookie class attendees, sell that label printer and roll the proceeds into your business (or an experience), and trash (and recycle) boxes you don't have space for.

🚫 Take the power back from the secret to-do lists! 🚫

Got any more ideas to add to this list? Feel free to start a thread in the Sugar