The Shoebox Bucket List

As a coach and business owner, knowing what project to work on can sometimes feel like what I imagine it would be like to go into the Tianjin Binhai library to browse...

So many choices, so little time.

Not only do we have things we know we HAVE to do to build our businesses, we also have all those project ideas we WANT to do.

Can you say squirrel?

And I’m just as bad as anyone else.

At times I have a serious case of shiny object syndrome.

But I’ve been at this long enough to know how detrimental it can be to building a successful business.

And it’s one of the reasons I created the "Shoebox Bucket List."

Whenever you get a great idea and want to start it right away, you instead write down everything you can about it. Write down all the details that you can think of.

Write down how exciting it would be to implement it and have it out in the world.

Draw diagrams and sketches and anything else that makes sense.

Just get everything you can think of about it down on paper.

Then staple all the notes and sketches together and stick it in a shoebox to come back to later.

The purpose is so that you can relax and keep doing what you're currently working on knowing that this new project idea is waiting in the wings ready for you whenever it's actually appropriate to work on it.

And if you work in a quarterly system like I do, you would just revisit all your shoebox ideas while planning your next quarter.

Now, of course, it doesn't actually have to be a physical shoebox. You can create a digital version instead.

But the main goal is to capture as much of the idea as you can so you know you haven't lost anything.

This will allow you to move on with your current projects and alleviate that shiny object syndrome that can often get in the way.