A brain dump is the most useful thing you can have going into your goal setting process, big or small. In this post we’ll be talking about what brain dumps are and why they’re great for setting goals.
Brain Dumps Are Expansive
Have you ever sat down to set goals but had no idea where to start?
You might be afraid that some of your ideas might be received poorly. There might be some self-doubt about whether or not your ideas are great, to begin with!
Secret Tip: Write your big, weird, awesome ideas down anyways.
Metaphorically speaking, a brain dump is exactly what it sounds like. You take all of the ideas in your brain and dumping them onto a sheet of paper. Or a word processor. Or a collection of sticky notes on your wall. Whatever works for you!
Think of brain dumps as a method to keep a running log of all of your ideas, whether they’re good or bad.
Review Your Ideas
You might glance at your brain dump and think, “wow, why did I even write that one down?”
If it feels stale after a couple of days of looking at it, feel free to take it off your list. This is okay, especially if some of your other good ideas have already translated into goals for your business.
Additionally, if you come up with a way to tweak an older idea into something better, you still have it on paper.
Goals Can Help Plan Your Year
In How Strong Annual Goals Can Help Plan Your Year, we talked about how strong annual goals can help plan your year.
By making a brain dump, you’ve essentially made a list of things you’d like to cover over your business year.
You can use them to plot out your schedules as well as plan future meeting items and other logistical items for your business.
Brain Dumps Are An Endless Source Of Contingency Plans
Your business’s emergency productivity idea might not be what you think it is, and it might be hiding in your brain dump.
It could be an idea that you thought was terrible or that didn’t fit in your current business plan.
It could also be a goal that was going extremely well before hitting a sudden roadblock, forcing you to come up with a new idea to pivot to in the meantime.
Life happens, and that’s what your brain dump is for.
Your formerly “terrible idea” might end up being the perfect fit for something that may have gone sideways.
They Don’t Have To Be Your Own Goals
This is especially relevant if you have more than one employee for your business. If one of your ideas doesn’t fit into your goals, it might fit into theirs. That way you can still have some focus on an idea that you yourself might not have the time that day, whether it’s a busy day at home or if it won’t be on your radar for a while.
In their article, The “Brain dump” approach to goal setting, Lifetick explains how “the more you put in the more a picture will begin to form and the more you will understand just how big this can be.”
This also applies to ideas generated by other people. If you’re reading through another blog or see a great idea that someone else is doing that could apply to your business, write that one down too. You never know when it could fit in.
Conclusion
Here are our five reasons why all great goals come from making a brain dump:
- Brain dumps are expansive
- You can always review your ideas
- Goals can help plan your year
- Brain dumps are an endless source of contingency plans
- They don’t have to be your own goals
Having a strong set of both long and short-term goals is key to having a driving business. Here are some reasons why you should set strong goals in our Why You Should Set Strong Goals And Why That Matters blog post.
