The Wayfinder Mindset
How to achieve goals YOUR WAY instead of beating yourself up when someone else's way doesn't work for you
Knowing yourself is the best productivity hack.
You probably heard this one before. But do you act accordingly?
The problem is that really understanding what makes you tick and under which conditions you work best takes a lot of work. It's quicker and easier to just follow a path laid out by other people. Take their systems and solutions and run with it.
And actually, most of the time, there's nothing wrong with that.
There's a reason popular systems, methods, and tools are popular - they work! The problems begin when you're part of a minority of people for whom they don't work.
For example, flip through any book that promises to help you write a novel. I guarantee that 9 times out of 10, the author will recommend that one of the first things you should do is write an outline for your novel. And that's good advice - for most people!
But if you're anything like me, you're not 'most people' when it comes to writing fiction.
I can't work with outlines to save my life. And I wasted years trying to make them work for me, all the time thinking that I was the problem, not the method. Because I'm as stubborn as a tank (that’s actually how my mom once described me when I was a kid), I persisted way too long in trying to make it work.
Don't let that be you!
Here's a better method, which I learned from Anne-Laure Le Cunff of Ness Labs: The Wayfinder Mindset
It's essentially a scientist's mindset.
You try something out, see if it works, and if it doesn't work after a predefined period of time, you just try something else. Without judgement or getting emotional or beating yourself up.
Here's how to make this mindset work for you:
Commit to trying something out for a pre-defined period of time - whatever time horizon makes sense for your project. For example, in my fiction writing example above, you could commit to working with an outline for 60 days.
After the pre-defined period is over, assess. Ask yourself questions like:
Did I get what I hoped to get from this thing I tried out?
How did it make me feel?
Did it come easy to me, or did it take me a lot of effort?
Whatever you do, don't beat yourself up.
If it worked for you, keep doing it. If it didn't work for you, try something else. Easy! In the fiction writing example above, you could try the Snowflake Method or intuitive writing next.1
That way, over time, you'll find out exactly what works for you and what doesn't.
Other ways I can help you: If you need help building a more meaningful life, I offer 1:1 coaching. I work with multipotentialites, artists, and basically all adventurers of life who want to create their own path through life. If you’re interested, I invite you to book a free 30-minute discovery call.
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