Being Generous Starts with Your Notes

I'm not a good note taker. That is a very valuable skill and one that some possess in greater quality than others. But that doesn't mean that note taking isn't extremely important. Taking notes is a skill that equips us to follow through on what we are learning and committing to as we attend meetings and connect with partners and friends.

In fact, note taking is at the center of being a Generous Mind. There are two main ways that note taking helps to be generous with your ideas:

1. So many of our ideas come at strange times and in awkward places. We are not always ready to share them when we get them. That means that sharing them requires that we write them down for use in the future. We have all had the experience of waking up in the middle of the night with an idea, assuring ourselves that we would remember it, and then subsequently forgetting it entirely. Notes capture our ideas and allow us to share them in the future.

2. When we are with people in meetings or at events (like the ICRS conference I'm at right now), we commit to share many things. We want to connect people, share links, and send resources. Many times we make these promises but don't actually follow through because we don't have notes to remind us. Taking notes of our action points is key to being generous with those we are engaging.

So are you taking notes today? What do you need to be writing down in order to be a Generous Mind?

Comments

Unknown said…
Your post reminds me of Evernote. Do you use this program? I love it. I capture notes much easier this way, and there are lots of ways to share them from inside Evernote. http://evernote.com/