Ep. 41 – How To Critically Evaluate Your Ideas Before Your Start

Biggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss:

1. There are ideas, dreams, and visions. This is in response to visions
2. First, you need to be satisfied with your life in Christ. Be at peace with who you are.
3. Try to catch the experience or feel the feeling of where the vision is going.
4. Imagine its a Yes, what steps will you take?
5. Be emotionally detached from the idea. Ask yourself: who has done it before? What could go wrong?

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Ep. 41 Transcripts: How To Critically Evaluate Your Ideas

[Intro ]

Olu: You’re listening to Like Jesus Podcast. This is Olu Sobanjo. I have my husband here with me as well, Ade Sobanjo.

Ade: Hello Everybody!

Olu: You’re welcome again today.

This week, we want to look at, How do I critically evaluate my ideas and vision? We’ve been talking about spending the time to hear God and God’s guidance.  After you begin to hear God speak to you, the next step is to clarify the idea that comes. The point is not to start running with what you get because you still need to fine-tune it until it becomes perfect or gets to the point where it is 80%, like what Pastor Ade was sharing the other day; where it begins to be clear enough to know that, “Okay, I need to begin to go – proceed with this now.” But before it gets to that point, you need to clarify it in your own head; you need to critically analyze it and evaluate it so you are able to see what exactly it is that may be a challenge in the future. Or maybe you need to prepare in some way for that. So, you really need to evaluate what you are doing. But, I discovered that over the years, one of the problems that I have had personally is that I didn’t want to share my ideas with people because I feel that they are going to dismantle my ideas and then, nothing will be left over in that idea.

There was a post that I did a couple of weeks ago about surrendering what you’ve always had as an idea of who you want to become to God. I’m going to link that post in the description for this episode where you can go back and listen to and read it. What I was saying in that is, you see, as we grow up, depending on the experiences that you had; depending on your childhood; depending on some of the things you’ve gone through, what happens is that you create a picture of who you want to be in your head. And, everywhere you’re going, every person you are meeting, you want them to help you achieve that thing that you want to become. When you meet people that are helping you, you like them. When you meet people that make you feel like you’re not as good as what the picture is in your head, you would not want to hang out with them. You’d be fighting them, getting angry or getting mad at what they do and all that.

I remember I used to look at things in this way where I’d hold on tightly to who I want to be. When it gets to the point of sharing the idea with somebody, most especially when it comes to sharing with my husband, I’m thinking “Why is it that you always poke a hole in my ideas? Whatever I want to do, you have something wrong with it…” That’s the I look at it because I thought in my head, “This is what I want to be and I don’t want anybody to take that away from me.” But the problem with that is that you are not able to critically analyze and evaluate your ideas. And when you do it, you start and you stop because the challenge that you were supposed to figure out before you start, you didn’t figure it out; you didn’t analyze it to the point of discovering that this challenge is going to come. But you jumped in and then you have to jump out or you cover your face out of it.

And I began to discover that this is one of the reasons why a lot of us that are maybe like me [people that are like me], don’t achieve many of the things that God puts in our hearts because we don’t critically analyze it. Because, you are scared that if you analyze it, you won’t have anything left. I discovered this on a particular day when I had been planning to have a project and somebody asked me a question and I was cut off guard. I didn’t have an answer to that question. In my head, I’d been thinking about this project and it’s so beautiful but the question was bringing another side to what I was thinking and then I realized that my husband had not just been poking a hole in my ideas. I really need to learn how to look at it critically to be able to project into the future and see how it is done. After that was when I began to… That was when I wrote that post I was talking about and realized that I always want to do this and this is because of the fact that there is a void inside – there’s this scarcity that is inside. At a point, I wasn’t completely satisfied with whatever God was calling me to and I wanted to paint it a little bit better. I wanted to appear a little bit better in my own eyes or maybe in the eyes of other people. So, I hoard that idea but the problem is that I still don’t do it or I still don’t get to successfully achieving that thing. I began to realize that I actually need to… and if you’re out there, you have this idea; you’re scared to share with people; you’re thinking if you share it with people you’re going to mess it up or they are going to mess it up for you and you’re not going to have anything, it’s partly because you are still maybe holding on tightly to an idea of who you want to be and you are not completely satisfied with what God wants you to be.

So, that’s why I want to ask you, sweetie, the questions today on… I know that it’s easier for somebody else to help you critically look at what you are looking for but I want us to look at the idea of “How do we even learn?” Even on your own before you even start sharing with other people, how do you learn to critically evaluate your own ideas in order to be able to achieve it, I mean, in order to increase the chances of actually achieving what you want to achieve?

Ade: Yes. Thank you so much for the opportunity again. I really thank God that people are really engaging with this podcast and they are learning and we are learning as well. So, it’s great!

As you were speaking, I realized that there are different levels of this that we are talking about. There are ideas, dreams, and visions. I’m talking about ideas – ways to improve what you are already doing. I want to call those ideas. So you’re already doing stuff and you have ideas to improve it. So those are ideas. Dreams are things that you really would love to achieve and I want to define vision as those things that you feel God is saying to you to do. It’s a little bit stronger than just dreams. That’s how I want to put it but sometimes, you can look at it as the same – big things that have to do with your whole life.

Now, let me answer that question with reference to things that are big like that – vision. You know you have this idea of something big that you are going to do with your life and you are thinking, How do I critically evaluate this idea? Is it a God idea or just a good idea? Is it a fantastic idea that is good? Is it for me to do or for another person to do? Is it the right time to do it?

So, how do you do that?

I think the first thing from what you were saying is you need to be satisfied with God. I think that’s a very fundamental step – you need to be satisfied… I think that people who achieve more, are people who are at rest where they are already. They feel that they are themselves. They are where they ought to be but there’s more than God can do with them so they are not trying to achieve. However, they are trying to be impactful – to impact more.

And, you may not think like that – like that’s a problem. Like you were saying, it may not even occur to you that the reason why you are afraid to really look deep or that you don’t know how to look deep, is because you have not yet settled the fact that “You know what? Where I’m at now is where God wants me to be. I’m just wanting to know if he wants to do more and if he leaves me here, I’m okay!” Once you settle that then, you are able to now look at whatever ideas more critically because you are not afraid that even if it doesn’t happen, then it doesn’t happen. That means that I’ve checked very well to be sure that it’s God or it is not God.

So, that’s how I looked at my ideas or my vision. When I was going into this – when I was going to decide whether I was going to continue to operate as an engineer or I was going to operate as a pastor, I needed to do that. I did that way before I became an engineer actually. I knew in my heart that I’m going to be more of a pastor than an engineer. I knew it while I was at the university doing my master’s program. And so, I think that helps us a lot.

Once you settle that like I mentioned earlier, the next thing is to ask yourself, “Okay, Where is this going to?” You have an idea, how far is this idea going? Is this going to go far enough? Am I ready to go all the way with this?

As a person, somehow [I don’t know how], I have a lot of ideas come to my mind. I share with you, sweetie that if this idea comes to my mind, it’s a great idea but I can’t run with it if it is a new career. You know I’ve said that a few times. I can’t run with it if it’s a new career. For example, I come to Nigeria and see it’s always hot, I could think that “Wow! A good ice cream company will do very well here.” But then, that’s a new career. I don’t have the time to sit down and run with that. So I say, “it’s a good idea but it’s not my idea.” I think about it for a while and then discard it because it’s not my idea. Why do I do that? I think of it, “What does it involve? How long? What stakes in the long run? How is it going to help? How am I going to be involved? What is it going to take?

So those are the questions that I ask… That’s the first one… I don’t know if you want to chip in on that or you have questions…

Olu: No, I think you are head-on, on this point because if one is not satisfied with who you are, you are not even going to be able to enjoy all the other things that God wants to do.

In my own life, I see the difference between the time when I was struggling to achieve – and I tell you, I was struggling to… You know me! I was struggling to achieve a lot. But I’m now doing it from the place of, “I don’t care if I’m not anything. I think I’m good. What I have in Christ, I’m fine. Anything else is an icing on the cake.”

And, I really like also, the way you brought the idea, dream, and vision, just to separate because sometimes, we waste time on ideas – things that are just supposed to fly in our head and go away. And people like me will do that a lot because you take those ideas, you sit around and you’re… the scarcity mentality. You want to make sure that it becomes something. And you waste time a lot on that – things that could have just been passed on to somebody else.

I remember the time that God helped me to see that these ideas – all these ideas that are coming to your head, it’s not for you. They are not for you. You can throw them to other people and move on but the call – the main thing is what I want you to focus on.

So, I really like that. I’d like you to please continue.

Ade: Okay, Great!

The next thing is to try to feel the feeling of where you’re going. I think that’s important – you need to feel it. Try to feel it. How will I feel when I get this done? What are the feelings I’m trying to capture?

So, for example, when I was still studying to be an engineer now, I knew that God was calling me to pastor and build a church and to really be involved in the work of ministry. I could feel it. I knew when I went into a meeting or when I’d share, what I’d love to experience; the experience of being submissive to God; the experience of being used by God-given words from God and seeing lives changed… I loved that feeling and I wanted that with all my heart. That’s what kept me going. So, you should try to feel the feeling.

So example, I read the story of a lawyer who became a restaurant owner. So I’m sure… what does that woman need to do? She needs to think about it, “If I have people coming to eat in my restaurant, how do I feel?” If you feel so good about it, then I think that’s what made her quit the thing and went to become a restaurant owner. So, the same… If God is leading you in a way, try to feel the feeling.

Then, the next step I have here is “How do you begin to do that?” I ask people the question, “Very good now. You say you want to do this. What are the steps that are involved? Imagine you are going to do it now and you have all the money to do it now, what will you do?” So, the person begins to tell me and I do that to myself too. Imagine you have a go ahead and God is saying, “Yes!” You hear from heaven, “yes this is what you should do…”, what are the steps involved? You now begin to imagine it; you play it out in your mind without any risk. You’re not spending any money. You’re just playing out in your head, and you play it out step by step. So, how are the people going to know about it? What are they going to say? What if they don’t want it? Why would they want? Ask those questions. So, you keep asking more and more questions.

And in order for this to be able to happen, you have to be emotionally detached from it. In other words, you’ve told yourself, “If it doesn’t fly, it’s good. I know it’s not God. If it doesn’t work out, it means it’s not God. So I’ll just leave it. But usually, it doesn’t go away. If it’s God, it will keep coming.

So, what do you need to do?

You just keep asking those questions. Ask those tough questions from yourself. Imagine if it’s not you – someone came with the idea to you, what would you say to them? So I say those things to myself and when I’m done with myself, and it’s still going – the idea is still strong, then I pass it on to other people. I begin to share with them, I have this idea, what do you think? And most times, by the time I’ve done that – maybe 70 out of 100 times, people would begin to give me good ideas. The lot would say, “That’s a good idea. That’s fantastic!” Now, it became a good idea because I have worked on it and I’ve changed a lot of things as I’ve asked myself some tough questions.

And I also ask another question. So, that’s 3 things that I’m adding.

The third thing I ask myself is “Who has done this before?” And then I study to see what they are experiencing – what they are doing? do I like it the way it is? is there a modification that I want to put in it? I ask all those questions to give me an idea of what it’d look like in the future; what are the hindrances in my life right now that may not let that happen. Am I ready to learn the skills and all that stuff?

Olu: Wow… This is very good.

It’s good that you are talking about dissociating yourself from it because you won’t feel bad when somebody is asking you tough questions. You know that… You are happy. Almost like you hire yourself to help somebody achieve their goals. You don’t see it as your “do or die” thing. And it comes back to that scarcity thing. I like what you said in the beginning. You said something about being at rest. When you are at rest, you are not struggling with that one idea. You know that you are already satisfied.

One of the reasons why I began to do this podcast is I discovered that many of us as Christians, I used to be like that… We have levels, okay. I used to be where I wasn’t satisfied with what I have. I mean, when you compare me with a lot of people, I’m way better back in the day. I even wrote a book called living from the inside out. And that was my level at the time where I was not ready to do it on the outside anymore. But, I discovered that many of us as Christians, we’re going around and we are still looking for more. We still want some more satisfaction outside Christ. If we can remind ourselves that we are already satisfied with Christ – if I’m not satisfied in Christ, each one of us will and our listeners too as they are going through the process of clarifying their vision, if this is still a challenge, there will be some hesitation; there will be some stress. And even the devil would come and begin to poke holes in some of the great ideas – things that God wants to do because he knows that you are still trying to be something. You’re still not satisfied with God.

So, this key to being satisfied with God – enjoying Him fully, it helps you achieve what God wants you to achieve and I really like that. I think that it’s something that we must address very well that if you’re going to be able to see the future… I discovered that even making mistakes in life has a big part to play in it, if not the foundation. If you’re not satisfied with God, what it is, is you’d be looking at today and you’d not want to worry about tomorrow. You’d say, “let me just enjoy this one now. If I enjoy this one now, tomorrow will deal with itself. Let’s just do this one now. It’s good to enjoy today and not worry about tomorrow but if you’re making a mistake or if you’re going in a direction where it’s not supposed to be or you are shortchanging yourself, it will affect tomorrow. It will affect tomorrow.

So, I really like this. I don’t know if you have other things that you want to add to this.

Ade: Yes, I just wanted to mention that when we talk about being at rest in God, I really want to emphasize the fact that it means just being happy that we are saved; we are the children of God, we hear from God and He’s got our backs. Just knowing that, I think is enough. We don’t need more than that. But because we are now in Him, He has the big plans and we can find out those plans.

And so, this “critically evaluating what we are doing”, is just making sure that it’s God’s plan, not just a good idea. It’s a God’s plan. God wants you to do that. And so, you already have this lingering desire. Something is coming up – It’s popping up and is not going away. So, you subject it to these barrage of questions and you bring it to others – your mentors. It’s important to have a mentor. It’s important to have someone in your life in different areas. You don’t have to have one mentor for everything but you can have a mentor for this particular area. Let them ask you all these difficult questions.

At the end, you come back and fine tune it if it keeps coming. Or sometimes, after they’ve asked you those questions, you go to sleep; you go to your prayer place and you hear nothing – it’s gone. That means it wasn’t really God speaking to you because it’s now gone… That’s how I do it. When I go back to the place of prayer… So after asking these questions, that’s not the end. I go back to the place of prayer and then check again in my spirit – how is it going? Many times if it’s God’s idea – if it’s something that God wants me to do, it comes up stronger. I feel still excited about it even though I’ve seen more difficulties. Sometimes, I didn’t notice some areas that’d be difficult but as I’m asking questions and I’m releasing to people, they show me areas. But then, when I’m in the place of prayer, I begin to get solutions to those problems. Then I know God is still working with me.

Olu: Amen. Amen. Amen.

And I also think that your spouse is the first person, I mean if you are married. And, I know that a lot of people struggle in the marriage with this because depending on your background and your spouse’s background, you may be thinking, “Oh… this person is just a pain…” But really, they are not a pain. God is going to use them. Then your siblings – maybe sometimes;  your parents – sometimes; your pastors, your…. In overcomers, we have life group leaders – your life group leaders. You are not scared that they are going to destroy the idea. You’re satisfied with God, remember! And even if this idea never flies, you’re okay. But the thing is if this is God, God will make sure that it happens because it’s important to Him that that thing comes to life. It’s just sometimes the fine tuning; sometimes it’s to cut it off completely; sometimes, it’s to fine tune it so that it will last a long time.

So, as we wrap it up, sweetie, why don’t you say a word of prayer?

Ade: Before I pray, I wanted to just say that what you said is very important. The people who this idea will impact the most, need to hear about this early enough.

Olu: That’s true! That’s true.

Ade: So that’s why your spouse, very important and your children or your brother or your roommate… whoever… The significant people in your life at that time must hear about it. After you’ve done your first level of fine tuning, then you talk to them and then you move on – just in stages and you’ll still go back to God.

Olu: And we’ll still talk about this in the future.

Ade: So yes, Let’s pray.

Father, we thank you for this time. Thank you for all the people that are listening and really want to fulfill your purpose for their lives. I pray oh God that your Grace will continue to abound upon each one of us as we pursue you and enjoy our relationship with you. We ask oh God for clarity for each one of us. We ask oh God, for grace to really look at whatever it is that you are asking us to do and bring up those tough questions and not be afraid to ask them. And not also be afraid to try to solve the problems that may pop up in our minds as you speak to us and prepare us for the future.

Lord, thank you to everyone that may be going through a difficult time this day, we ask together for victory for them. We ask oh God for breakthroughs, healings and for help in every area. Thank you, Father. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.

Both: Amen!

Olu: Alright, thank you, everybody. It’s always good to share with you. There’s something new that I want to add to this and that’s – You can send us your questions. You can send it by recording, send it by writing it; send it by email. The email to use is olu@olusobanjo.com. And you can also send it through WhatsApp if you have my WhatsApp number and you can also email it or just leave it as a comment on the website. Anyway, the way we are going to do it is questions that you have, we’d look through them. You can even do them by audio – you can record the audio and we’d add it to the podcast. We’d decide which ones we are going to use. But, send them to us and we’d be glad to use your questions.

Alright! So, thank you very much. We are glad to be with you today. Have a great week! Bye Bye.