That’s why Marine Corps recruits ask each other “why”: “Why are you climbing this mountain?”, “Why are you missing the birth of your daughter?”, “Why are you cleaning a mess hall, or doing push-ups, or running onto a battlefield when there are safer, easier ways to live?” Forcing ourselves to explain why we are doing something helps us remember that this chore is a step along a longer path, and that by choosing to take that journey, we are getting closer to more meaningful objectives.
To motivate myself to read studies on airplanes, for instance, I began writing at the top of each manuscript why it was important for me to get that task done. When I pulled a study out of my bag, then, it became a little easier to dive in. Something as simple as jotting down a couple of reasons why I am doing something makes it much simpler to start.
Motivation is triggered by making choices that demonstrate (to ourselves) that we are in control—and that we are moving toward goals that are meaningful. It’s that feeling of self-determination that gets us going.
TO GENERATE MOTIVATION
? Make a choice that puts you in control. If you’re replying to emails, write an initial sentence that expresses an opinion or decision. If you need to have a hard conversation, decide where it will occur ahead of time. The specific choice itself matters less in sparking motivation than the assertion of control.
? Figure out how this task is connected to something you care about. Explain to yourself why this chore will help you get closer to a meaningful goal. Explain why this matters—and then, you’ll find it easier to start.
GOAL SETTING
Simply figuring out how to motivate myself wasn’t always enough, however. Writing a book is a big goal—too big, in many ways, to grasp the entirety of it at first. In trying to figure out how to wrap my head around the objective, I was helped enormously by the reporting I conducted regarding goal setting. The big takeaway was that I needed two kinds of aims:
? I needed a stretch goal, something to spark big ambitions.
? AND I needed a SMART goal, to help me form a concrete plan.
One of the most effective ways to formulate both objectives, experts told me, is through a specific kind of to-do list. I needed to write out my goals—but in a way that forced me to identify my stretch objectives and my SMART aims. So I began writing to-do lists, and at the top of each one, I wrote my overarching ambition, what I was working toward in the long term. (That helped me avoid the need for cognitive closure that can force us to become obsessed with short-term, easy-to-achieve goals.) And then underneath, I described a subgoal and all its SMART components, which forced me to come up with a plan—which, in turn, made it more likely that all my goals would be achieved.
One of my stretch goals in reporting this book, for instance, was to find a story that illustrated how mental models worked. I knew that aviation experts felt that mental models played an important role in how pilots responded to emergencies, and so, at the top of my to-do list for this chapter, I wrote:
Then, below that stretch goal, I wrote my SMART goals related to that big ambition:
In case that’s hard to read, here’s what I wrote:
Stretch: Find an aviation story (a narrowly averted crash?) that demonstrates mental models.
Specific: Locate an aviation expert by researching academic papers on Google Scholar.
Measurable: Call four experts each morning until I find the right person/story.
Achievable: Clear my morning schedule to focus on this task, and turn off email from 9:00 to 11:30.
Realistic: On Monday, spend an hour researching aviation experts and creating a call list; rank those experts and, by 10:15, begin my four calls of the day. At the end of each conversation, ask them to recommend other experts to call.
Timeline: If I do four calls a day, then I should have made at least sixteen calls by Thursday. If I haven’t found the perfect story by Thursday, I’ll come up with a new plan. If I do find the right story, I’ll send a synopsis to my editor on Friday.
It took only a few minutes to jot down these stretch and SMART goals—but it made a huge difference in how much I got done that week. Now I create a similar to-do list for every big task—and as a result, I know exactly what to do when I sit at my desk each morning. Instead of having to make decisions—and running the risks of distraction—I have a clear sense of how to proceed.
In addition, because I’m always being reminded of my stretch goal, I don’t get easily sidetracked, or captured by the need to simply check things off of my list. As scientists might say, I’ve muted my craving for cognitive closure. I don’t stop working merely because I had a good interview, or because I found a helpful study, or because I found an interesting narrative that might go in the book. Instead, I’m always reminded that I’m chasing SMART goals for a bigger reason: to find the perfect story, or finish a chapter, or write a book. In fact, I have a whole series of stretch goals to remind me of my grander ambitions:
TO SET GOALS:
? Choose a stretch goal: an ambition that reflects your biggest aspirations.
? Then, break that into subgoals and develop SMART objectives.
FOCUS
This being real life, however, there are always distractions and other demands competing for my attention. And so, in addition to having a plan, I needed to work on maintaining my focus. There’s a key insight from the chapter about the averted aviation disaster of Qantas Flight 32 that I have tried to keep in mind:
? We aid our focus by building mental models—telling ourselves stories—about what we expect to see.
To make sure I stayed focused on my stretch and SMART goals, I had to envision what I expected to happen when I sat down at my desk each morning. And so, every Sunday night, I got into a habit of taking a few moments with a pad and pen to imagine what the next day and week ought to look like. I usually chose three or four things I wanted to make sure happened, and made myself answer a series of questions:
It typically takes only a few minutes to envision what I hope will occur. But by the end of this exercise, I have a story in my mind—a mental model of how my morning should proceed—and, as a result, when distractions inevitably arise, it’s easier to decide, in the moment, whether they deserve my focus or can be ignored.
If my email account says there are thirty new messages, I know that I should ignore them until 11:30, because that’s what the story inside my head tells me to do. If the phone rings and caller ID indicates it’s an expert I’m trying to contact, I’ll take the call, because that interruption has a place within my mental model.
I have a stretch goal and a SMART goal that give me a plan—and a picture inside my head of how that plan is supposed to unfold, so making the choices that shape focus is much easier.
TO STAY FOCUSED:
? Envision what will happen. What will occur first? What are potential obstacles? How will you preempt them? Telling yourself a story about what you expect to occur makes it easier to decide where your focus should go when your plan encounters real life.
DECISION MAKING
I had worked on coming up with stretch goals and SMART objectives. I had a mental model to stay focused. I had found ways to improve my motivation. Despite all that, however, every so often something came along that would blow my well-crafted intentions apart. Sometimes it was small, like my wife asking if I wanted to get lunch together. Sometimes it was big, like an editor asking me to take on an exciting, but unplanned, assignment.
So how should I make a decision when confronted with the unexpected? Perhaps there was a valuable insight in the chapter on probabilistic thinking:
? Envision multiple futures, and then force myself to figure out which ones are most likely—and why.