Idea-itis

I recently got back from an amazing event called Be The Change.  What I love about these events is that I learn tons of things, get new ideas, find inspiration, build new relationships, discover opportunities for growth and, of course, uncover new paths to profit.

These events are amazing brainstorming sessions on steroids!

But there is a problem with them.  Oftentimes it’s too much.  You end up with a terrible case of “idea-itis”.  You have too many ideas and after a day or two of excitement you find yourself overwhelmed, frustrated and in some ways in worse shape than you were before you went.  And let’s be honest here, it doesn’t take an event to leave you feeling this way, does it?

The truth is that there is no way that you can do it all, even if you have a team of people helping you.  The only way to create a thriving and sustainable business is to first, evaluate your options, second, decide which things you will do and which you won’t and finally, getting into action and doing!

Letting go of super cool ideas can be tough so here’s the three step process that I will be using over the next few days with my own to-do list and with those of my clients.

1.    Evaluate:  Gather all of your ideas.  Your to-do lists, scraps of paper and notes and the ideas floating in your mind.  Create two lists, one with quick “no-brainer” ideas that you can do in less than two hours or have someone else do and a second list with your bigger ideas that have multiple steps that require a significant amount of time, effort and energy.

2.    Decide:  Using the following questions to guide you, identify the top five quick things and one (at most two) longer more involved project.  This number may vary based on the amount of support you have.

• What results do you expect by doing this?  Will doing this increase your revenue or client base?  Is it an idea to save you time, energy or improve the quality of your life?
• Does this idea or project fit into what you are already doing and into your larger goals?
• Does doing this project eliminate the need to do something else?
• Does the idea sound like fun?  Are you excited about putting you time and energy into it?  (By the way, this is my favorite question!)

3.    Act:  Decide how and when you will do these few projects.  For the quick things you can either block out a few “mini project” blocks of time on your calendar or simply keep your short list handy for those times when you have an hour or two between things.   For the bigger project I suggest taking a few moments to identify the first few steps of the project and plan to do at least one step every single day.

Here’s the real secret to all of it…it’s not about doing it all it’s about continually moving something forward.

Please share what you will be moving forward today.