Marketing Dopamine • October 13, 2026
The Next Idea Trap
Few things feel better than a new idea.
It arrives full of possibility. It has not yet run into any of the obstacles the current project is facing. It promises a fresh start, a better approach, and a faster path to the result you wanted all along.
So you start it. Then another idea arrives, just as bright, and the cycle repeats.
Before long, there are many beginnings and very few finishes.
Starting delivers the reward. Finishing delivers the results.
New ideas are exciting because they live entirely in the anticipation stage, which is exactly where dopamine is strongest. They have not yet asked anything difficult of you. The current project, by contrast, has reached the unglamorous middle, where progress is slow and the excitement has worn off.
That middle is where most of the value is created. It is also where most projects are abandoned, not because they failed, but because something newer felt better.
The discipline is not to stop having ideas. It is to write them down, let them wait, and keep finishing what is already in motion.
Not every new idea is an opportunity. Some are just a more exciting way to avoid the middle.
The businesses that grow are rarely the ones with the most ideas. They are the ones that finish the right ones.
Lisa Carmichael is the author of The Marketing Dopamine Workbook: From Awareness to Action, available now, a companion to her book Marketing Dopamine: What Your Brain Is Really Doing When You Think You’re Building a Business, coming soon. Learn more at marketingdopamine.com
I have since retired our business but this sounds like me live now! I am full of possibilities and start a project only to move on to something else before I finish. However I’m doing much better and I’m sticking to and finishing up my one plan before moving on! Wish I could have done it this way years ago!
Ahh, retirement! I think about it often. It’s nice to hear you’re finding a rhythm that works for you and finishing one project before moving on to the next. That’s a lesson we can all benefit from, retired or not!
A very good tip..this is something that most of us know but don’t really follow with discipline. Sonits good to be reminded again ..I keep making note of so many ideas but can never seem to get to it for different reasons…. but yes, this was something I learnt on my first job – when one starts something one needs to finish it first before abandoning and moving on to the next great idea
I can relate to having a list of ideas that never seems to get any shorter! It’s easy to get excited about the next idea before finishing what we’ve already started. Sometimes the challenge isn’t coming up with new ideas, but staying focused long enough to follow through with what’s on the list. Thanks for sharing!