The Undead — Thoughts on Unfinished Projects
Years ago, I read a book by a colleague who walked the Camino, a 500-mile trek over the Pyrenees in Spain, ending at the cathedral in Santiago. He reported that the next-to-last day was the hardest. He was tormented by the thought of all the unfinished projects of his...
Making an Action Plan That Shifts Subconscious Programming
When people think about changing their subconscious premises, they often envision therapy. Therapy is an important tool for understanding and addressing deeply-held conflicts. A therapist can help you identify such conflicts and give you emotional and practical...
Three Levels of Intervention to Get Unstuck
There are only three basic cognitive obstacles that can stop your thinking in its tracks: blankness, overload, and conflict—or some combination of the three. Level 1 Intervention: The 3-Minute Solution When you first notice you're stuck, try "thinking on paper" for...
The Value of Daily Thought Work
In the Launch Program and in my Thinking Lab courses on "Developing a Central Purpose" and "Evolving a Scheduling Infrastructure," I advocate doing "daily thought work." This means that you schedule 15-30 minutes every day to "think on paper" about a specific topic,...
How Values Form
In a previous article, I explained that your motivation to act results from the interaction between your present awareness and your value hierarchy. A value hierarchy is a psychological structure consisting of all of your values, interrelated with one another. Some...
Top Ten Thinking Tactics
My list of "Top Ten Thinking Tactics" has evolved over time. Many years ago, I sent out a postcard that listed the top ten thinking tactics as: Think on paper in full sentences. Overloaded? Make a list. Confused? Ask yourself “What DO I know?" Stuck? Complain to...
FAQ: What Is a Value Hierarchy?
If you want to manage your motivation, you need to understand your own value hierarchy. A value hierarchy is not a list of your top ten values or a bucket list. It is a psychological structure consisting of all of the values you have formed in relation to one another....
How to Say “Yes” to One Project When That Means “No” to Another
Many people get stuck prioritizing, because to say "yes" to one thing is to say "no" to another. That "no" feels like giving up something that's important. Faced with the need to prioritize, your subconscious exclaims: "But I want them all." Of course you do. Let's...
Stop Those Circular Conversations in Your Head and Get Some Sleep
Here's a common problem: you wake up at night, working through a difficult conversation you are going to have. You find yourself wide awake, in a loop where you keep trying out the conversation in different ways. Or maybe it's not a conversation, it's a tricky...
How to Be Decisive to Avoid Churn
One of the problems of having many projects at once is that there's a tendency to churn — to work a little on one, then a little on another, without making good progress on any. The general solution is to prioritize: to choose one project (or one chunk of a project)...
