The Choices That Make Us

"There is a choice you have to make, 
In everything you do. 
So keep in mind that in the end, 
the choice you make, makes you."

This short poem is by John Wooden, found in The Essential Wooden: A Lifetime of Lessons on Leaders and Leadership. 

Do you have a notebook where you keep things like this? For two decades now I have collected items like this in notebooks, on index cards, and in Evernote files. When a situation calls for a certain subject, I can quickly go into my files and pull out something great for that specific situation. I encourage you to start doing this. 

Here are some tips to get started making a Coach Notebook:

For the digitally inclined, Evernote is perfect. Create a notebook, name it something like "Coach Notebook" and start adding in things like articles, quotes, and thoughts on a specific subject. You can "tag" each note with a subject that makes it easy to find later. This is my default method for aggregating content. 

For those who prefer to use pen and paper, get yourself a nice journal and carry it with you always. As you find things, create a "table of contents" in the front of the journal and make pages like Quotes, Strategy, Leadership, etc. and when you run across content that would fit, then open to that page and write it down. Then, when in line somewhere, instead of taking out your phone, open your journal. I have at least 10 of these commonplace notebooks. I use Moleskin Notebooks and it is a rare occurrence that I am not carrying one around with me. 

Do you have a method you use for keeping good ideas at your fingertips? Please share!