Why is it so important to get your ideas out of your head and into action?

Years ago I had an idea for my laptop computer. My idea is now worth thousands of dollars, only those dollars are in someone else’s bank account.

Oh, no one stole my idea. I simply failed to take action.
Here’s what happened.

I like simplicity, yet I enjoy going against the norm. When I got my first laptop computer, I grew weary of using the standard laptop shoulder bag.

With its standard red stripe across the front, most professionals knew immediately that my bag contained a laptop computer. Such awareness made the bag a target for theft. Besides, I didn’t need the capacity of that bag when I traveled locally.

One day, I happened to be digging through old clothing to weed-out items I would never wear again. In doing so, I came across a well-worn pair of fleece sweatpants. My laptop happened to be nearby. I had one of those “eureka!” moments when I looked at the legs of the sweatpants and realized that one leg was the width of the laptop computer.

The sweatpants had holes in both knees, and they were destined for the trash bin. Instead, I cut out part of one leg and set it on top of the laptop. With a little straight-stitch sewing (the only sewing I know how to do on a machine), I could easily slide the laptop into the cut pants leg and have a soft, padded slipcover for my laptop. I tried my idea a couple of days later and, voila! I had a way to protect my laptop while carrying it in my backpack or my soft-sided Lands End briefcase.

“Brilliant idea!” I thought. “I wonder if other people are also sick of their full-blown laptop cases and want something simple like this?”

I sat on the idea for months.

Occasionally I looked online for other simple laptop cases. I did not (then) find much available. There were carrying cases in a range of materials and prices, but no simple slip-on cases. I told myself, “I have no clue how to mass-produce such a product,” but the idea stayed in my head.

The Laptop SOC

One day in the shower (of course!) I thought about the slipcover. At the same moment, I noticed a pair of socks on top of a nearby laundry pile.

I had a moment of clarity. “Socks slip on our feet. The fleece cover slips onto the laptop. Why, it’s a laptop sock!”

The Laptop SOC was born, where SOC = Slip-On Cover. Bound to make millions!

Unfortunately, I scared myself into inaction. I said nothing to anyone and let the idea churn around long enough to create doubt that it could catch on. I thought of the trials of getting a product to market.

The daily demands of life got in the way and I found myself, months later, still thinking about the idea and how it could make money…if only I did something about it.

Years later, that idea has gone no further than one fleece slipcover protecting my now-ancient laptop.