If you have 101 ideas occupying your brain, then you must read this post!

You’ve finally got the gumption to make that one, brilliant idea blossom! You’re pumped and energized just by the thought of doing it.

You’ve gotten clear about the idea by asking yourself a few key questions that address the what, why, how, and who.

You’ve poured your heart out to your trusted adviser and let her in on what you’re trying to do. You appreciate her feedback and you’ve both agreed that she would hold you accountable.

You’ve even mapped the idea out. You’ve picked a date and have a basic understanding of the tasks that you need to do to accomplish the idea by the date you’ve determined is the right time.

Then it hits you!!

With the one brilliant, idea, 100 more start filling your head.  Just like that you have 101 ideas and you feel like you’re losing your mind!

A few of you have written to me about this and I’m actually going through it now myself.

Ideas bombard my brain relentlessly. They’re hard to ignore, even though I try. I write down the ones that really claim my interest. And if I write them down, I have to do something about them. (A silly promise that I made to trick me into having a bias toward action.)

After a quick scan of my little black notebook, I see 4 of the 101 ideas that I’ve written down lately.

• Create an online session to connect with GoneGirlGo community in a different way.
• Hold story slam so that GoneGirlGo community can share stories about their ideas.
• Respond individually to comments on a LinkedIn group post.
• Create a bookshelf on the website to display my favorite books on ideas.

Let’s go under the hood so you can get a peek of how I’m sorting through these ideas.

🌺 Consider the “why that makes you cry” of your original, brilliant idea.

As I consider my 101 ideas, I have to consider if they align with “the why that makes me cry” as my good friend Jill would say. The “why that makes you cry” is the raison d’etre that’s so powerful that it stirs your emotions and activates your spirit. When I think about the “why” of GoneGirlGo, I literally get goosebumps and I’m compelled to act.

THE WHY THAT MAKES ME CRY

Not only is GoneGirlGo declaration of my forward movement in life, it’s my desire to create a community for women to reclaim their girl-essence (be who they were created to be) so that they have the wherewithal to make their ideas blossom.

Acknowledging this makes me shiver internally and gives me goosebumps. The only way I can alleviate this is to do something about it.

🌺 Prioritize the list of ideas.

Remaining clear about the “why” allows me to prioritize the 101 ideas. Now when I consider my list of 101 ideas, the ones that stick out are the ones that align with my why. They’re the ones that are most likely to help me actualize the one brilliant idea.

The Action Priority Matrix is a prioritization tool that I’ve been wanting to try. It’s supposed to help you choose projects that are high in value. (Value is based on the impact of the idea and the amount of effort it takes to make it happen.)

The matrix contains 4 quadrants that I’ve adapted a little to conform with the concept of making ideas blossom and I call it the Idea Priority Matrix:

Quick ideas = high impact + low effort
Major ideas = high impact + high effort
Fill-in ideas = low impact + low effort
Thankless ideas = low impact + high effort

I then score each idea on impact and effort. To simplify this, I’ve assigned these scores to measure impact and effort.

HIGH IMPACT & EFFORT = 10 – 5
LOW IMPACT & EFFORT = 4 – 0

So let’s see how my ideas score on the impact and effort scale.

• Create an online session to connect with GGG community in a different way (9 impact & 6 effort)
• Hold story slam event so that GGG community can share stories about their ideas (9 impact & 10 effort)
• Respond individually to comments on LinkedIn group post (10 impact & 3 effort)
• Create a bookshelf on the website of my favorite books on ideas (4 impact & 10 effort)

By plotting each idea, based on the score, into the correct quadrant, I’ll know which idea has the highest value and takes the least amount of effort.

Click to see how my ideas are plotted on the Idea Priority Matrix.

Remember, quick ideas are the ones to focus on because they take less effort, but make the most impact. (Here’s a little background on my quick idea. I posted to a LinkedIn group when I relaunched April 1. Now I can’t seem to reply to comments on the post. While there are lots of comments to respond to, if I block out time to respond, it shouldn’t take so long. What makes this idea especially appealing to me is its potential impact of me developing one-on-one connections with women who were inspired by my post.)

🌺 Decide if the ideas go against your non-negotiable checklist.

Thanks to Karen, I have three non-negotiable criteria to help me decide if an idea is worthy to blossom.

• Does it contribute to someone’s growth and development, including my own?
• Does it allow me to express my creativity?
• Is it going to be fun to do?

Using this technique helps me stay true to me: what feels good to do, and what I’m good at doing. Anything outside these bounds are off limits for me mostly because I’ll probably be miserable doing them and I probably won’t follow through to the end.

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You have options, you know. You could let those 101 ideas go and save yourself some stress. Just because they popped into your head doesn’t mean you have to make it blossom. Timing is a key factor and it could be that it’s not the right time for you to make your ideas blossom. (I plan to say more about this in a future post.)

But if that doesn’t sit well with you because you’ve been pushing your ideas aside for too long, why don’t you try the 3 techniques I mentioned in this post?

• The “Why That Makes You Cry”
• Idea Priority Matrix
• Non-negotiable Checklist

As a matter of fact, I forgot to mention that I created a blank Idea Priority Matrix just for you.

I know, girl, all of this talk about ideas is a slippery slope. And there’s no right or wrong way of navigating these waters. Some of these techniques might work and some might not. What I’m suggesting may prevent you from getting bent out of shape and letting those 101 ideas drive you crazy.

I’d love to hear from you about techniques that you’ve used or heard about. Please do tell in the comments section of this post, in an email to zoe@gonegirlgo.com or on the Facebook page.