I've Got a Bright IDEA

Alyshia A.
Apr 8, 2019
3 min read

An Idea is a thought or suggestion as to a possible course of action, the aim or purpose. When we get ideas sometimes, they come out of nowhere sometimes they come as little errant thoughts, and sometimes they come out of desperation or great need. As we are on this track together of Doing It Afraid I thought it important to talk about our ideas and how we can get them all down; not losing a single one. Below you will find a few of the tools and strategies that we can use to capture our Ideas.

Mind Map

The whole point of a mind map is to capture all the thinking that happens in your mind down on paper. It helps you to collect those rabbit hole thought processes that bring you to brilliant solutions. Gathering every aspect of the process that brought you to that point into detailed notes. You begin by writing down your idea in the center sometimes starting with something that looks like a brainstorming circle and then spidering with further thoughts or ideas after that.

I love this process. I use it for everything. I even used it to come up with our current Blog Post series and even to come up with my business idea New Leaf Consulting. [Shameless Plug here: If you have not had a chance to check out my new WEBSITE check it out here ---> New Leaf Consulting

Starbursting

And no I do not mean the candy that is Unexplainably Juicy. Starbursting is an idea mapping tool that focuses on asking yourself questions rather than coming up with solutions. By working this way, it allows you to find all the major problems that may arise when working on a specific situation or idea and then going back afterward and coming up with solutions or answers to those questions. Think of this strategy as playing devil’s advocate with your idea. The documentation can be completed many ways; from as simple as a running list to a brainstorming web especially when working in a group setting.

For example, our idea is adopting a new dog. The questions that may arise are:

What kind of dog do we want?
Do we have money in our budget for doggie expenses?
Does our apartment allow for pets?
Do we know a great vet?
Do we have a dog walker in our neighborhood?

Vision Board

This is one that has recently been on everyone’s mind for creating a dream of where they want to be in the future. It is normally an encapsulation of images that showcase where the person would like to be in the next year to ten years. But this same idea can be taken and used when brainstorming your idea. You would take down, draw, clip out

ree — This can be done in a group or by yourself.

pictures from the magazine or from the web that goes with your idea. Any image that has come to mind when you have thought of your idea. Anything that has spoken to your passion or anything that has added additional plans/ or steps that you would like to accomplish in your project. This strategy allows you to convey sometimes the emotion of your idea that goes beyond words. It also allows you to visually showcase what you have been thinking or dreaming up.

I love this style when my ideas are not exactly concrete. I use this when they are more just dreams or picture stories. Or even if I’m running my ideas past my sounding board (Thanks Baby aka Joe to all of you and Mom) very visual people.

If you take a look at the picture below you will see our case study that we have for Our Do It Afraid track. In it you will see our IDEA in the middle "Amazing Blue Apples"