If you’re a Scanner who can’t stop thinking and start doing, I’d like to propose three small steps that, used together, will get you into action every time.
Step 1: Learn to use a new kind of planning (the BACKWARD PLANNING FLOWCHART), which won’t replace action but will actually nudge you into taking real steps.
Step 2: Let this flowchart expose any hidden fears you might be feeling that make you avoid action, so you can take steps to reduce the danger.
Step 3: Set up a REAL DEADLINE, a "drop-dead date" when you must be ready. This is also known as making an appointment with a living human being and will provide you with both the companionship that reduces stress and the accountability that makes you move even when you do feel stress.
Used together, these three steps will transform you from a planner and listmaker into an action hero. They’re quite amazing.
I won’t give you all the details here. They are in the book. But pick a goal, any goal, and do these three steps. In a new comment, tell us about your experience. We would love to hear about your goal, the hidden fears exposed by your flowchart, what steps you took to reduce the danger, and when your deadline is. We would love even more for you to return and post your progress right here on this page as you move toward just one of your many goals using these three steps. You may even want to ask for an accountability partner. But those are optional. We’ll settle for hearing how the process works for you. And for a few supportive replies or questions for your fellow book club members.
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Use the Next link (up above the title) to continue on to Exercise 2: Reality Research after you are done adding your comments.
I’m not currently doing this one and I wonder if that’s the case for others.
I did one recently. I found the path challenging. Then I questioned the goal, significantly reduced the goal, and found the path feasible.
I don’t know what other goal to apply a backward planning flowchart. Everything I think of, the path seems clear; it’s just a matter of finding the time against other priorities. Maybe I shouldn’t do it at all. Maybe there’s some goal of which I’m so afraid, I don’t even know it’s a goal. Maybe I’m not the type for which this tool is particularly useful (although I do think I apply this type of thinking regularly for others struggling to pursue a dream).
Maybe I’m afraid that if I pursue my own goals, my children will suffer. I’m wondering if supporting them is what I really want right now and it’s ok to postpone pursuit of my own ideas/goals. Maybe this is a time to share my talents with them and resist pressure to be more independent. Maybe learning and sharing these sorts of tools with them is what I want to be doing right now.
I feel like my son’s been making huge strides with my support and is at an age to do so. Shove him out of the nest with some life skills/hacks and move on to the next one. Maybe they can become my accountability partners. Hey, that’s not a bad idea. I don’t want to be a burden on others, but they seem open to watching me struggle through life. They made their own entries in my daybook. I try to emphasize I won’t be upset if they’re able to do it better.