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"Go get in trouble."

About 2/3 of the way through this short video, Stephen Colbert tells a fantastic story about his early days as an actor, and how his friend Dex would call him up and say, "hey, you want to get in trouble?"

Dex had found a space, had made up the name of a play (that didn't yet exist), set an opening date in NINE DAYS, and invited critics.

So they had NINE DAYS to write and stage the play.

They did this three times, apparently.

My friend Jeff and I did something similar (though we had a bit more time) when we pitched the idea for our TEDx talk as a musical (even though singing in front of an audience scared us) to prove the power of committing to ideas that scare you. When we got booked, we had to figure it out (and write some songs).

"Locking yourself in" to a deadline and a crazy idea is a great way to make a crazy idea real.

Try it yourself. (Feel free to aim a bit smaller in ambition if you prefer). Pick a date in the next week or two, and set up a meeting or invitation to something that doesn't exist yet. Then watch yourself make it happen.

Let me know how it goes. (Or invite me!)
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