Reflection Tools
Happy New Year!
Reflections and resolutions are front and center of our thinking during this time of year. The frameworks we use to help us organize our thoughts about this stuff is crucial to the process. This edition contains tools that help you take stock of where you’re at and supplement your annual goal-setting process.
Goal Hierarchies
In a broader discussion about Grit, Angela Duckworth frames daily activities as being motivated by a hierarchy of goals. The higher up the hierarchy, the fewer and perhaps more categorically general or abstract the goal. At the top of the hierarchy sits the “superordinate goal” - a single goal that captures your ultimate concern. To move up a layer, you ask “Why?” To move down a layer, you ask “How?”
I’ve used goal hierarchies to get a better view of my daily commitments and inform questions such as “am I spending enough time on the activities that bring me the most value?” and “am I being deliberate about choosing commitments that align with what brings me the most joy?”
Fear Setting
Author of The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferris, proposes an unusual goal-setting alternative premised on your fears.
What do I want to do with my life?
Many people ask this question once, perhaps before college, and then never again. I think it’s useful to constantly revisit this question to make sure that you’re getting the most out of your career.
Thomas Frank suggests that ‘To find work you love, you need to find work that has qualities well-matched to you’. In this video, he shares seven qualities of work that you can use to guide your career thinking.
Thanks for reading
Delano
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