Lesson from a Puzzle: 8 Steps to Transform Your Idea into Reality

Step 1: Open the Box

Dave received a Liberty Puzzle for an early Christmas present. Our daughter and son-in-law thought it would be a good project for him to do while he was healing from his shoulder surgery. Starting a Liberty Puzzle is daunting. The pieces are novel, such as skateboarders, musicians, feathers and fish, to name a few. And so, even after Dave had mostly recovered from his surgery, he still hadn't opened the box.

I'm not big into puzzles. I like to work on projects that stay done, unlike a puzzle that once I put it together, I take it apart as if it never happened. However, this puzzle was different. I felt a responsibility to our kids to see that the puzzle was completed, and so I did as much as I was motivated to do--I opened the box.

Step 2: Know What You're Aiming For--Vision

I spread all the pieces on a black felt board and assessed how much work was ahead of me. I knew when I found a straight edge, this didn't automatically mean I had found a border piece. They can appear anywhere in the puzzle. Nothing is easy about this puzzle except there is a picture of the finished scene on the box. I knew what it was supposed to look like. I had a vision to guide me.

Step 3: You Only Need to Know the Next Step

To get started I decided I only had to find two connecting pieces. That's it. Once I had these pieces, I could stop for the day. It took a long time to find two, but eventually I did. Goal accomplished. And yet, instead of walking away, I was motivated to find another piece that connected to what I had started. By looking at the picture, and the design and colors of the two pieces, I had an idea of what I was looking for among the remaining 532 pieces. It takes a long time to find one piece among all those on the board, but knowing what I was looking for kept me focused. One piece at a time: one step.

Step 4: Don't Go Away: Keep Taking Steps

Each time I approached the puzzle, my goal was to connect only two pieces. The goal was small enough that I wasn't intimidated or too discouraged to try. I didn't need to get the puzzle done quickly. I could be patient with the process, and at the same time, I was persistent. I continued to show up to the work. Don't go away. Keep taking steps.

Step 5: The Middle is Messy

Before long I made measurable progress on the top and bottom of the puzzle. The image was starting to look like the picture on the box. But, the middle is where it got messy. I no longer had different colored clothing and people to guide my steps. The middle was a sea of rowers, all wearing the same white top, shorts, and socks. All rowing. I felt discouraged. I didn't know where to start, even finding two matching pieces was difficult. The middle is messy. 

Step 6: Work With a Community

The puzzle lay dormant for a few days. Even when I found two connecting pieces, I didn't know where they fit into the whole picture. Instead of making progress, I felt like I had made a mess. About this time, friends came over for dinner, and while they were waiting for the soup to cook, they brought fresh eyes to the project. They started to see connecting pieces and how the boats fit in the sea of pieces. Their enthusiasm impacted Dave's and my interest in standing over the puzzle, searching for specific pieces, and celebrating each connecting piece.

Our friends stayed after dinner to continue working on the puzzle. By the time they left, the middle had enough shape that I was eager to return to it the next morning. Community had brought new life to this project. 

Step 7: As the Vision Takes Shape, Momentum Increases

The next morning Dave and I were close enough to finishing that we wanted to keep going. The 500+ pieces that were scattered on the board just two weeks earlier now looked like a beautiful rowing scene. As we were down to the remaining five pieces, it was obvious where they belonged. With ease, we carefully slipped them into place. Goal accomplished! 

Step 8: Just Start

The whole time I was working on the puzzle, I kept thinking that ideas and dreams are similar to puzzles. The amount of effort needed to do something with an idea might feel too difficult or overwhelming. A good idea can easily be dismissed as being too crazy, too lofty, or too something. It's easier to keep that box closed.

But some ideas and dreams don't fade away so easily. If you feel happy when you think about your idea, if your idea wants you to play with it, befriend it. Open the box. Without shape or structure, you might not know where to begin. Check in with your vision. If you had to guess as to one step you can take, what is that step? By putting something into motion you'll connect two pieces. And after that, take the next small step. 

Yes, it took work to finish this puzzle. But to get started, I only needed enough motivation, enough courage, to open the box. What box do you want to open? 

Copyright 2021. Patrice Jenkins. All Rights Reserved.