Thoughts on Following a Daily Plan
What skills are needed to follow through on a plan for the day? How about a plan that was made up at least one day before? And how will the tasks actually get accomplished in the time allotted for them? That is a question I have been working on for some years. The...
Book Recommendation: The Practicing Mind
I recently read The Practicing Mind by Thomas Sterner, and I highly recommend it. The topic is how you continue to grow your skills to a higher and higher level by means of systematic practice. He is a musician and concert-piano tuner, and reached a high level of...
The Courage to Speak Up
Do you speak up about issues in your sex life with your romantic partner? Or about political issues with close friends and family who disagree with you? Or about fundamental philosophical differences with friends from work or school? Many people are afraid to discuss...
5 Steps to Emotional Presence
Emotional presence is a sometimes elusive state that is variously called being "in the moment," or "in the flow," or "centered," or "grounded," or "present." I think of it as a state of mental poise, which you achieve by being fully aware of your surroundings and your...
Turn Off the Trigger with a 5-4-3-2-1 Switch
Every emotion needs to be introspected to identify the deep values at stake. Don't misunderstand this advice. I am not recommending that whenever you get triggered, you should stop whatever you are doing to go to your desk to work through an introspection tactic. My...
A Case Study in Integrating Systems
Last week I wrote about the problem with setting twofers as goals. Drafting that article took longer than I planned, as I mentioned. What I didn't say was that it took 5x as long as I planned! 14 hours! That was ridiculous in some ways, and okay in others, because it...
Why a “Twofer” Doesn’t Work as a Goal
When your goal is really a “twofer" — two benefits you think you can get for the price of one project — it often turns out that you don't get either benefit. That's because a "twofer" doesn't guide action the way a properly integrated goal does. What makes something a...
The Role of Self-Understanding in Achieving Ambitious Goals
When you set a challenging goal, you need to plan multiple ways to motivate yourself to ensure you follow through. There will be days you are distracted or have low energy. There will be unforeseen difficulties. Some of the necessary steps will seem like drudgery. You...
Did That New Year’s Plan Flop?
Are you still keeping your New Year's Resolutions? And/or working toward the goals you set for this year? Or did your plans flop? If you're thinking they flopped, you need a new way to set goals — one that motivates you to follow through instead of breeding...
The Foundation for Managing Motivation
In order to gain power over your own motivation, you need a rational morality — a self-consistent morality — that guides all of your choices and actions in a way that enables you to live, productively and happily, in long-term loving relationships over the course of...