Two kinds of notes get taken at my workshops.

Type I

The first kind is exactly what you’d expect. People write down the important points we’re covering. They’re outlining, piecing things together, and making sure they can remember what happened during a very full day.

Did I say full day? I mean the fullest of days. It’s like you’re hit with a fire hose for eight solid hours (seriously). You’ll leave exhausted, informed, inspired, frightened, and exhilarated.

These notes are essential. They’re what we all do every time we go learn something new.

Type II

It’s the second kind of note that is different. The second kind of note is the kind I love. The second kind of note is what makes me keep doing the workshop.

I can tell when someone is writing down the second kind of note. I’ll feel it, you’ll feel it, and everyone in the room will feel it.

The second kind of note contains IDEAS for execution. These ideas are written down on the list of things you’re going to do. They’re on the list of things you might even start tonight.

Seriously, you’ll feel the idea getting written down, even when it’s happening across the room.

You’ll more than feel it. You’ll hear it. It’s sends a shock through the room. There’s literally a sound of a great idea happening in someone’s head.

How an Idea Is Born

Here’s what happens: I’ll say something, I’ll get a question about it. We clarify and expand on it together. One or two attendees will jump in. I’ll see the wheels spinning and boom! The idea goes down on the page. Sometimes it gets a star next to it. Sometimes it gets triple underlined. Sometimes it’s in ALL CAPS. There’s always a flourish of some sort. It’s never just a simple note.

The hand and the arm writing the note remind me of the symphony conductor leading the orchestra. It’s not just an arm, it’s not just a hand, and it’s not just a pen: it’s art, it’s movement, and it’s music.

These idea notes are fantastic. The energy is electric. It’s awesome.

• Sometimes it’s about the message. Maybe it’s the exact right way to describe the client’s problem better than the client himself. It’s understanding that describing it in that way will automatically lead the client to believe that you are the solution.
• Other times it’s about the medium. It might be realizing how the website—the one about you—says all the right things in exactly the wrong way. Maybe it makes clients feel you’re important and they aren’t. Maybe it’s the reason they’re dropping by your site and leaving 30 seconds later never to return.
• It might be about getting more productive or about turning a disorganized team into a unit heading in the same direction together. It might be about the leverage you achieve with specific technology or the value of understanding your financial progress.

It doesn’t matter what the idea is about. The magic comes from taking that action and coupling it with the energy to execute. It’s the energy coursing to the surface that everyone feels in the room. It’s the idea plus the motivation that makes it powerful.

How to Hear the Birth of an Idea in Person

We’re going to have a bunch of those moments this year. I can’t wait.

We’re gathering in Houston, San Diego, Seattle, and Portland, Maine.

Houston is nearly full. San Diego is filling up. Portland just got announced, and Seattle is the one I’m most looking forward to attending (I’ve never been).

Join me at one of the workshops and feel the energy, be the energy, and leave with a plan for taking your business to the next level. It’ll be fun, it’ll be valuable, and you’ll take that spark home and make things happen.

Click on the Workshop page for details and information.