Capture Your Thoughts. Write Down Things to Remember

Do you have a lot of things to remember?

Carry some kind of memo book, recorder or electronic note taker with you. Often, your phone is all you need. It can be loaded with helpful apps. And a simple old paper notebook comes in every form possible to suit almost anyone.

For years, I literally used to use a little black book to make notes. I have several hundred of them going back many years. They contain almost every kind of information that has gone through my head, both business and personal.

I can look back several years and find notes on a meeting, poignant quotes from books I have read, project notes and hundreds of other things.  Most significantly, I can look back and find my ideas.

What is one good idea worth to you? I know I don’t want to lose any of mine. But if you don’t get it written down it may be lost. Find a way to capture it for later use.

Things to Remember? Things You Don't Want to Forget? Coaching to Capture Your Thoughts.

DAY ONE

Ideas have shaped the world. Some ideas have been worth millions, or have profoundly shaped the lives of people for the better. Some have changed whole nations in positive and profound ways. Ideas matter. Record yours.

The Coach asks:

• Remember that really great idea you had that you forgot to write down? Exactly!
• Reflect on what a good idea is worth.
• How much does your work and leadership require remembering? How's your performance at capturing important information and recording it somewhere? Is it successful? A failure? Pretty mediocre?
• From the simple to the profound, how do you capture those things you want to remember? What, if anything, needs to change?

DAY TWO

Today is about capturing your ideas. This will not only help you to remember and retrieve information, it will help you to think bigger. The very act of articulating what is in your head gives it life and clarity. Be intentional about  saving your thoughts for written or recorded posterity. Take that information and turn it into positive momentum, action that will make a difference in your life or the lives of others.

The Coach asks:

• Take your notebook, notes, or dictation app. Record one or two things that are important for you to remember later on. What did the act of capturing that thought or information do for you? What would doing it frequently do for you? 
• Don't get hung up on all the details of handling your information. Just get it down in a useable form. You can develop methods and systems later. For now ... record. Try getting down things you'd like to remember for next week. Again, what did completing that action feel like for you? 
• What's the difference between what's in your head, and what has been committed to a note? 
• Capture things to remember and interesting ideas for the whole day. What tool best helped you do that? How effective do you think that might be moving forward?  

DAY THREE

Starting today, carry with you some means of capturing your thoughts at all times. Use whatever works best for you in the various situations you typically experience. Don't get stuck on whether it's high tech or low tech - it doesn't matter. Get into the habit of recording anything you want to remember.

The Coach asks:

• Today try a different tool for capturing your thoughts - some type of app, writing in a notebook, or speaking and recording. How would you compare? What one seems most conducive to the way you work best? 
• How are your high-tech, low-tech opinions swayed by what "they" say you should do or have?
• Take a look at the notes you captured yesterday or several days ago. How clear are they to you now? What could improve clarity? 
• What will you take with you today, so that you can capture your ideas and items to remember?   

DAY FOUR

Begin to organize your thoughts. Plan for a way to access your ideas and information easily. You've written or recorded it, now make it possible to find it later.

The Coach asks:

• Now think about the best way to return to your information and actually find it. Reflect on a few options for organizing what you've saved. What seems like it might work best over the longer term? 
• What sorts of categories are there for the information that is important to you? If some are more important than others, how will you handle that? 
• Where is that "one place" where you will always find your recorded information?
• How important is speed and quick availability in accessing things to remember? How does this influence the methods and tools you might use?  

DAY FIVE

Why you? Why did you have that particular idea pop into your head? Maybe it's yours to run with. What practical action can you take that will start the ball of an idea rolling down the hill? Write an article or a book, record or make a presentation, talk to someone who can make it happen, make a call, a drawing or a request. If it's a good idea, give it life.

The Coach asks:

• Think about "big" ideas people get. What big ideas have you had? How prone are you to discount your own ideas? 
• What one big idea could have a future, if you took action on it? Will you do that? When will you start? What will be your first step? 
• What do you think is possible? 
• What if your idea leads to something way more successful than you even thought? 

Spiritual Reflection for Christian Leaders

As a Christian Executive Leadership Coach I encourage Christian leaders to reflect on God's Word to add to their wisdom.

• Lk 1:3  With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certianty of the things you have been taught. 

• Neh 9:17  They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them.

• Lk 24:6,7  He is not here; he has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: "The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the thrid day be raised again."

• Is 46:9  Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.

• Est 2:23; 6:1-3  And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were impaled on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king. ... That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. It was found recorded ...

If you are a leader, executive, or senior level professional looking to work with a Christian Executive Coach, I invite you to connect with me here.

If appropriate, we can meet by phone or Zoom to discuss your situation.

Record Your Progress

This is your opportunity to track your progress. Start by asking yourself how important this practice is to you? Record the importance as - not at all, somewhat, fairly, highly or extremely. 

Now next to it ask yourself how well you carry out this practice. Record your performance as - very poor, poor, okay, good or very good. 

The things we track, we pay attention to. Across time, come back and record your new results. You will find that as you are intentional about making improvements, you will bump your "score" up higher. 

This is significant. Don't miss the opportunity to acknowledge your success, and use it as a springboard for making even further gain. 

Notes

Every great invention, each small or large step of human progress, and every improvement in some everyday process, began with an idea. Why not yours? If even the occasional good idea is among your things to remember, get it recorded somewhere. Don't lose it.