I’d just finished an online meeting with a potential new client about a keynote presentation.
Ideas were bouncing and (forgive a moment of ego) I shared some brilliant off-the-cuff ideas.
At the end of the meeting, they commented that it sounded perfect, they loved it and wanted to book me.
Then I realised…
In my moment of ‘flow’, I hadn’t made any notes.
Neither had they.
After the call, I wracked my befuddled brain for the order, stories and takeaways. Eventually, after much mental munching, I captured the fundamentals.
I wish I’d recorded that.
The Beatles have just released their last ever single.
I watched the short documentary on how they did it (it’s fascinating) and marvelled that a piano and vocal recording made by John Lennon on C90 cassette could, years later, be turned into the most streamed record of the year.
I’m pleased he recorded that.
I take hundreds of photographs (I have 71,856 pics and 6,412 videos). It’s so easy to search them via location, date, facial recognition, etc. I can easily access my visual memories.
I love it when my photos app suggests I look back at memories from 3, 5, 8 years ago. It’s joyful.
I’m glad I recorded that.
I sporadically keep a journal. When I’m writing it, I often feel like I’m simply repeating what happened just a few hours before. Why bother writing that down?
However, months or years later when I reread how I was feeling, the people I met and the places I’ve been, I’m always surprised. Mainly about how much I’d forgotten!
Whenever I’ve spent the time capturing my life in words; I’m proud I recorded that.
What do you record?
What do you wish you’d recorded?
What will you record?
I’d love to know.
Please record your thoughts and comments below.
Be Brilliant!
Michael
Did you know I’ve recorded every newsletter/blog I’ve written and stored them publicly since 2016? There are 341 covering everything from Customer Service to Christmas, Love Lessons to Leadership and they’re available for your perusal here.
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Ohhh I love this. Many years ago I was sat in my in laws lounge chatting to my Father in law about his childhood and the war. I clicked video on my mobile and caught it all on camera. It’s a treasured recording and 1 we occasionally watch back with fondness x
After reading your emails i have just realised I wish I recorded more! However i have an uptodate scrap book of all pictures my family&close relatives have appeared in newspapers from 2011, and during the recent Halloween floods in NI i spent a day getting me right up to date for the last 3 yrs! Moments captured are priceless, super email and reminder to record more, thanks for sharing!
I use AI apps to record my meetings. My favourite is ReadAI. It joins my zoom meetings as Karrie-Ann’s note taker and sends me the notes. Actions are recorded separately and it can also give me data about who spoke the most/least and how positive or engaging the language was.
A year ago my husband, David, was in hospital. The doctors usually went around the wards in the morning, not at visiting times, so David was on his own. He couldn’t always remember what they had told him (maybe he didn’t want to know). Our daughter suggested that he record the conversation and installed an app on his phone. We said that he should ask the doctor if it was okay to record the conversation. The first doctor said he would prefer it if it wasn’t recorded, so David switched it off. We suggested that David didn’t ask again and just do a recording! This he did and it was so helpful to hear what he had been told. I was with David at one recording, with a lovely female doctor who wanted to make sure we knew that the illness was terminal and what we could expect to happen. We were obviously very emotional and would not have remembered all that was said during that conversation. David passed away just over a year ago and I have kept all the recordings but have not listened to them again, I’m not sure I ever will. They were shared with our daughter and son and it was obviously very difficult for them too. But recording the conversations was so very helpful.
I keep a journal of my life, Michael
My father passed away last year and I am currently going through his dozens of photo albums where he recorded everything from his myriad of holidays. I guess my equivalent is on Facebook where I upload my holiday snaps once i’m back, just so FB Memories can remind me once a year that my life isn’t always as mundane as it seems today ( eating a salad, in Morrisons car park in a very grey Goole!) and how my family and friends have changed over the years
My parents died in 2019 and 2020, when I was 50 and 51. I guess I was like most people and didn’t ask much about my parents lives.
They lived with me, and I became their carer from me being about 39. My dad had alzheimers, pulmonary fibrosis and prostate cancer. My mum had angina, spinal stenosis and necrosis in her shoulders.
After my mum died in 2019, my dad spoke often about his childhood in Northumberland and how his dad who was an engineer, and died in the pits of a heart attack, made him and his brother wooden guns so they could shoot down incoming German aircraft. Also, how the beach where they lived was out of bounds as ot was mined, but sometimes they were triggered by dogs on the beach or occasionally seagulls landing on them ☹️.
He and his brother would go up the street and offer to ‘hoy yer coal misus’ for a few pennies. And they would shover the half ton of coal that had just been delivered to the back street into each coal hole.
I need to start to record my memoirs. I never married, or had kids as my folks lived with me, but I do have nieces and nephews who might be interested in their heritage, when they reach my age, and there is no one to ask!
The world is changing so rapidly, if it is still here in 50 years, they may not believe the things we did, unless they read primary sources.
I am an avid note taker & as someone who both runs and attends workshops they are essential.
I usually use reference cards & often use different colours to highlight specific things. The notes are primarily headline memory jerkers rather than much detail as I am fluent when standing up and speaking to rooms/ theatres full of people. I want to be looking at them rather than down at my notes!
I recently found a VHS tape of a ‘This is your life’ we did for my Dad on his 60th. Have had it copied to a memory stick for me and my brothers as so many people on it are no longer around. Delighted we recorded it 👍
I keep a daily journal and always document our trips both in separate journals and sketchbooks. Always a source of inspiration.