What do you think would happen if you took your own advice?
If you had a conversation with yourself and asked yourself for guidance about how to move forward.
What would that advice look like?
And what would happen if you took it?
Even if it was only for an hour a day. And the rest of the time, you just went back to doing whatever the hell you were doing before.
Let’s consider tomorrow Day 1.
Which makes today Day 0.
Day 0 is the day you begin to figure out what your advice to yourself actually is.
My favorite way to get my own advice is to have a dialogue with myself on the screen in front of me.
Sounds a little strange. And it is.
But what the fuck, you're already having a conversation with yourself all day anyway.
The only difference is that instead of the conversation taking place in your head as it always has, it will now happen on the page.
Imagine you’re meeting yourself at your favorite cafe for a chat. Write out the conversation between you and you.
Let’s say your name is Taylor.
» Hey Taylor, what’s happenin? Thanks for meeting me. I got you a latte.
» No worries. You know I got you. And thanks for the latte. What’s up? how can I help?
» I don’t even know. I’m just overwhelmed. I have so many things I want to do, and I don’t even know where to begin.
» For sure. I get that. Well, what are those things?
» There are so many. I can’t even think of all of them right now.
» Ahh. I know how that feels. Well, let’s just make a list and see what’s on it. Hit me with the first one.
» Well I have been sitting on that idea for a coaching program for like 2 years. And I also have an idea for a Podcast. I even bought a microphone to record them. And there’s that…
You get the gist.
Yes, it sounds weird.
But I’m telling you, it’s one of the best ways to figure out what the wisest parts of you think you ought to do.
Here’s what I recommend:
Write dialogue for 20 minutes without looking at your phone. 2 characters. You and you.
Ask yourself for advice, and write it down.
Drill down into specifics about what actual physical action-steps you should take in real life. And deadlines.
Anything that can be scheduled and put into your calendar, put it into your calendar.
“send email to Peter,”
“call Mary to schedule appointment.”
"do the FRC morning routine first thing"
"post a talking video every day"
Then take your fucking advice.
Once you’ve done it, do it all over again.
You might be inclined to be lazy and think you can do this in your head.
Don’t. You’re too likely to be dissuaded by self-doubt and judgement. The supportive, wise voice gets lost. You have to make space for it on the page and wait to see what it says. If you’re in your head, you often won’t hear it. The critical voice is too loud.
Also, when the dialogue is on the page, you end up with action steps right in front of you. All you have to do is put them in your calendar.
That’s a giant step closer to getting things done than just being generally aware of a desire to do them.
So go get weird and get the important shit done.
Strangely helpful strategy #23 this year from Ryan’s daily email project. Thanks!