From The Big Picture to The Daily Grind
Order of visionary operations.
Don’t break the chain when forming a habit, they say. But what if you nearly chop off your middle finger and cannot really type? Which is what happened to me yesterday.
Luckily, my finger is still attached to the rest of my hand. So the next best thing is to just get back on the horse!
We often lose to the all-or-nothing thinking, to the illusion of perfection, the perfect streak or whatever.
Don’t do that; it’s a trap.
Aim for 70%.
Here’s my favorite order of moving out of stuckness in life - it’s an excellent framework for turning big-picture aspirations into concrete actions.
From a clear, potent VISION to GOALS to PROJECTS to TASKS/HABITS.
Let's break this down and explore why it's so effective:
This approach creates a clear hierarchy that bridges the gap between your broadest aspirations and your day-to-day actions.
Here's why it's so powerful:
1. Vision:
This is your overarching direction, your "North Star." It's aspirational and provides the big-picture purpose that drives everything else. If you have no vision of where you’re headed, you can’t tell when you get lost. This is your destination, and there are many ways as well as means of transportation that you can use to get there.
2. Goals:
These are specific, measurable objectives that align with your vision. They break down your vision into more manageable chunks.
3. Projects:
Projects are collections of related tasks that contribute to achieving a specific goal. They provide a middle ground between broad goals and specific tasks.
4. Tasks/Habits:
These are the concrete, day-to-day actions you take. Your bricks that need to be stacked. Tasks are one-time actions, while habits are recurring behaviors that support your projects and goals.
The beauty of this approach is that it creates alignment and purpose at every level:
Your vision informs which goals you set.
Your goals determine which projects you undertake.
Your projects dictate which tasks you prioritize and which habits you cultivate.
This hierarchical structure helps in several ways:
1. Clarity: It's easier to decide what to do (and what not to do) when you can trace each action back to your overarching vision.
2. Motivation: When you're bogged down in day-to-day tasks, you can remind yourself how they contribute to your larger goals and vision.
3. Flexibility: If circumstances change, you can adjust at any level without losing sight of your overall direction.
4. Progress Tracking: You can measure progress at multiple levels - completing tasks, finishing projects, achieving goals, and ultimately realizing your vision.
5. Balance: It ensures you're not just busy with tasks, but that your efforts are meaningful and aligned with your larger aspirations.
To put this into practice:
1. Start by clearly defining your vision. You don’t need to know how to get there at this stage. That’s fine. Just get curious, brainstorm ideas.
2. Break that vision down into specific, measurable goals. These are the experiments you can try and see if you are getting any closer. Just don’t forget that the goals should serve you - and your vision - not the other way around. All too often we become slaves of our goals, and especially when they’re not aligned, it’s a tricky territory.
3. For each goal, identify projects that will help you achieve it.
4. Break each project down into specific tasks.
5. Identify which tasks need to become habits for ongoing progress.
This isn't a one-time process. It takes some tweaking and testing, as always, but helps align the vectors in life and helps cut out the noise.