Tuesday 7 March 2017

The Magic Of The Parking Lot

I'm in planning mode around here at the moment you guys. I've spent a good part of today with my notebook, my computer and a king size cup of coffee.

Ok maybe two or three kins sized cups of coffee because I stayed up late last night watching trash TV... but that's a whole 'nother post in itself.

There's always a zillion thoughts and ideas I have bubbling around in my head at any given time and with all that action going on up there - my head is at risk of exploding or something if I don't get those ideas out by writing them down.

So this week I am planning on knuckling down and focusing on that little gold book of mine in that photo up there. That book is very very special because that book could potentially be - my very own mine full of gold in the form of ideas I have had and I plan on serving up each one of those ideas and smashing them out of the Parking Lot.

Well that's the plan anyway.

I was chatting about this Parking Lot strategy I have with a friend of mine this morning.

He was telling me about how he frequently feels overwhelmed with all the ideas he has every day, and how he just doesn't know where to begin with them and which one to begin with.

I can totally relate with that kind of idea overwhelm... I mean, can't we all?

I shared my Parking Lot strategy with him, which is something that I adopted for myself many years ago when I used to make my living out of business development in the corporate world, and it's a strategy that I still use today as my make my way in my own businesses.

I thought I would share the Parking Lot with you guys too, as it's something you can use for pretty much any area of your life, blogging, family, hobbies, health and fitness whatever... and of course for business.

It's called the Parking Lot for good reason - it's somewhere that you corral and park all those million and one brilliant ideas you may have on any given day, until such a time that you are ready to give them a good look over and the energy you need to bring them to life.

Think about how many awesome and potentially even lucrative ideas you have when you wake up in the morning, or the ones that may come to you as you go about your day or as you drift off to sleep at night.

Now think about how many of those ideas are lost because much like a squirrel who gets distracted by nuts, your thoughts and ideas get distracted by kids and life and random thoughts and *POOOOFFF* just like that... those ideas are gone, maybe they've floated off to someone else who has more time for them and you will never have the chance to realise their potential.

What if you have somewhere safe to park all those ideas until you have the time and energy and you're in the right head space to think about them more and give them a plan on how you will bring them to life?

You could be sitting on a gold mine of ideas right there people and you need yourself one of these...


So the way the Parking Lot works is this...

1. You get yourself a drop dead gorgeous notebook or diary. One that makes you go all mushy when you look at it. You want this book to be like SUPER special because this book is going to be the home of your dreams and it's going to go EVERYWHERE WITH YOU... it will even rest beside your bed whilst you sleep.

2. Every time you have an idea, whether it be whilst you are in the shower, waking from a dream or cooking dinner, you need to write that idea into your Parking Lot as soon as possible. Include as much detail as you can at the time but don't be afraid to go back and add to an idea at any stage.

3. Now here's where the magic happens... set yourself a goal of actioning maybe just one or possibly two ideas a week if you have the time.

For each of those ideas - you are going to need to write out a bullet point step by step strategy or plan on what you need to do to bring those one or two ideas to life.

Break your plan down into bite size pieces of what needs to be done and give yourself set timelines for each step and a deadline for when you will have it finished... then get to work.

NOTE: If an idea doesn't go anywhere, that's ok... it may be a lemon and every Parking Lot has a few lemons in them right?

Right!

It may not be a lemon though... it may just not have been the right time to bring that particular idea out of the lot, so simply put it back and leave it parked there for another time.

4. Once you have actioned an idea - celebrate your win by treating yourself to something, even if it is just a coffee with yourself and your notebook in your fave cafe and use that time to dive into your Parking Lot and decide on the next brilliant idea you are going to put into play.

Keep on diving into your Parking Lot for ideas whenever you need some inspiration and add more ideas to it as regularly as you can.

With a little love, focus and energy, that gorgeous book of yours that you are carrying everywhere with you - could just be the key to all the success and the most amazing life you could ever have imagined.

So what do you think -  is this something that might work for you? 
Are you going to give it a go?