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[They Say]

ITWEEEEEE

Published: April 25, 2012

No, that isn’t a typo or a keyboard malfunction or even a new iPhone app. ITWEEEEEE (the number of E’s is a variable) is something I thought of while I was enjoying my morning walk.

Too many times we come up with an idea, talk about it and that’s as far as it goes. Many months or years later, someone else comes up with a product or service and you say, “Hey, I had that idea a year or so ago!”

Good ideas are a dime a dozen. I should know, I come up with just as many good ideas as the next gal. However, the difference as I’m discovering is ITWEEEEE.

What is ITWEEEEE?

ITWEEEEE stands for Idea, Talk, Walk, Experiment, Experiment, Experiment (and then Experiment again) and finally, you become an Expert. Expert status is short-lived because things always change. As soon as you master a skill or task, new technology or a societal shift comes along and makes your skill just slightly obsolete, so you’ve got to tweak and or continue to improve. I won’t even mention the C word (competition).

In general, most folks stop at the T. They come up with an idea and talk about it. Sometimes talking discourages them or sometimes talking allows other folks to discourage them. Whatever the reason, they never get to the W of walking the walk of the talk.

If we get to the W stage there’s a better chance of reaching the final E of Expert, but it’s not guaranteed. You see, walking the walk means putting things into action. We lose a lot of people at the action step because there’s a natural tendency to want to do things perfectly. If things don’t go as expected right out of the gate, the faint of heart quit.

What they don’t understand is that the process of experimentation is where the actual learning happens. If you’re really committed to your idea, here’s where you test the boundaries and find out all of the “what ifs.” This is the fun, exciting, scary and humbling part of the ITWEEEEE journey.

Always at an E Stage

I’m finding that I’m constantly at an E stage. Once you understand ITWEEEEEE you become addicted to experimentation. It’s the best teacher. Yes, I could read the manual and do things the expected way, but experimentation is so much more fun.

You’ll soon learn that once you’ve completed the ITWEEEEEE process once, it’s so much easier to do it again. As a matter of fact, you’ll soon wonder how you lived without ITWEEEEEEing.

About the Author: I am Felicia A. Williams, a wife, mom, grandma, writer and eternal student.

Last Modified: 1 December 2020