Summary of How to Begin by Michael Bungay Stanier. A successful life is filled with a worthy pursuit, lots of worthy pursuits.
A worthy pursuit is something you find THRILLING (You eagerly await the opportunity each morning.), A worthy pursuit is something you find IMPORTANT (It will be advantageous for more than just you.), and A worthy pursuit is something you find DAUNTING (demands commitment and exploration).
Consider your options for a worthy pursuit in each of the following three categories: projects, patterns, and people.
- Project pursuits focus on achieving something ‐ “Make a podcast that is downloaded 1,000 times each month.”
- Pattern pursuits involve new ways of being and behaving – “Every weekday, get up at 6 AM to read and journal.
- People pursuits are about improving your interactions with people – “Be a closer friend”, “Be a patient, fun parent,” or “Be a self-assured team leader.”
Consider a project in one area that you want to prioritize this year. Then elevate the thrilling, important, and daunting scores to at least a 6/7 to turn it into a worthwhile endeavor.
- Increase the “thrilling” score: Consider how you might turn your endeavor into a stimulating intellectual challenge and a means of mastering a skill you’ve always desired.
- Increase the “daunting” score: To find your “Goldilocks Zone,” a goal that is within the range of possibility but that you cannot accomplish on autopilot, create various iterations of your pursuit by adjusting the scope and timeline.
- Increase the “importance” score: Increasing your “importance” score may require you to broaden the scope and reach of your endeavor OR to simply become aware of the indirect ways in which your pursuit is enhancing people’s lives (for example, how taking up fitness can extend your life and enable you to have a positive influence on your children’s lives for longer).
When you increase your pursuit’s thrilling, daunting, and important scores to 6/7 or higher, it qualifies as an admirable pursuit and an irresistible quest that you simply must start.
If not, add a killer action verb. Michael Bungay Stanier found that “Launch a podcast” motivated him far more than “Create a podcast.” When I upgraded my pursuit from “Complete five sets of push‐ups or pull‐ups every day for the rest of my life” to “Crush five sets of push‐ups or pull‐ups every day for the rest of my life” I was far more excited to get out of bed and do my first set each morning.
The following seven excellent action verbs can be used to kick off your chase and make it irresistible: transform, launch, crush, devour, revive, supercharge,and kickstart.
COMMIT
You must commit once you’ve created a worthwhile and alluring endeavor. Explicitly stating why the rewards of your quest much outweigh those of the status quo can help you stay committed to it.
Every pursuit is like traveling across the galaxy on a rocket ship; no matter how hard you try to keep on course, the gravitational pull of massive planets and stars always throws you off. The conveniences you currently enjoy, such as position, power, familiarity, and control, are represented by those planets and stars.
- Take two minutes to make a list of the benefits you will miss out on if you don’t begin your worthwhile endeavor and stick with the status quo. Then, if you do follow your worthy goal, list the rewards you anticipate receiving.
- Write down the consequences of maintaining the current situation and the prospective consequences of pursuing your worthy goal in two minutes (temporary setback, frustration, and embarrassment).
You are prepared to start your worthwhile pursuit and generate unstoppable momentum with a reliable practice if you can find more worthy pursuit rewards than status quo rewards and fewer worthy pursuit punishments than status quo punishments.
CREATE A RELIABLE PRACTICE
A solid practice entails a sequence of easy activities you can continuously perform to maintain your worthwhile pursuit. Discover your practice through trial-and-error and iteration; try a few suggested approaches until you find one that works for you, then streamline and simplify it.
Through a series of experiments over a week, I discovered that adding air squats as a third exercise option and performing each push-up and pull-up set to half exhaustion with more than 15 minutes between sets (as advocated by renowned strength coach Pavel Tsatsouline) led to a regular strength practice.
(Seek) simplicity on the other side of complexity.”
‐ Michael Bungay Stanier
Author: The Pinoy Engineer
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