Don’t forget to dream (and then follow up)

If you’re like me, it’s the second week of January and some of those New Year’s Resolutions already feel like an uphill climb. Things that felt very doable over a long New Years Weekend now feel much more difficult. You’re back into the daily grind, personal and professional priorities are tugging at you from left and right…

But that doesn’t keep the great ideas from coming. In the shower, on a run, during the commute.

It will be far too easy to let those great ideas stay on the back burner in lieu of today’s fire fight, but don’t let them fall off of the oven altogether.

Oprah, of all people, had a great suggestion in her “mission calendar” last week (I’m not a loyal Oprah reader, but you spend enough time surfing the Web and you find these things).

In summary: Find a dedicated place to record those great ideas, dreams, crazy concepts, etc. Categorize them if you can or must, and look back on past ideas from time to time. Think constantly about where and how those ideas could take shape or be tested.

And don’t assume that the majority of those great ideas will ever see the light of day. Last night’s epiphany might not make sense in the morning, but at least get it on paper. A few days of perspective and the right opportunity could be what’s necessary to get the right few of those ideas into play.