When you get a great idea, how do YOU begin executing?

It’s been a long time coming, but I realize that I do have a process that may seem cumbersome to the onlooker, but it works for me as I distill down from the lightbulb moment to ‘opening day.’ I’d like to share the basics with the hope that it helps you.

First I create a mindmap (this one is from a retreat I ran several years ago) where I visually dump my ideas on paper beginning with the central BIG IDEA as the jumping off point. From there, the component parts radiate out from center with more spokes emanating from each bubble of a thought.

You may be more comfortable with a formal outline style, but I have never been a linear thinker, so this method works best for me.

Once I can see everything that was in previously my head on paper, I take it another step and make each bubble a sticky note that I put on a wall. This gives me the flexibility to shift ideas around, to add and subtract, and to stand back and change my perspective.

This wall in my apartment now holds yellow sticky ideas plus some longer form pieces that I’ll be using when I launch my Soul Proprietor Community on February 1.

Here’s a close-up of one of the areas I’ll be addressing.

The next, and final step, before going live, will be to assemble these notes in a page format in the order I will be presenting them. Each page will have a large printed label for easy referral: EXERCISES, QUOTES, STORIES, etc.

The call will not be scripted, but I will use the bullet points I’ve created as my talking points.

I just read Seth Godin’s blog post today about what makes conferences (meetings, too) work. This is exactly what I’m going for:

Something that happens in the moment and can’t possibly be the same if you hear about it later.

I didn’t know that was what I wanted to create when I first drew the Soul Proprietor bubble  in the center of the mindmap I began in December. But now I know it in every fiber of my being. And I can’t wait to go live.

What’s your process of getting from A to Z, and how is it working for you?