book_stick with it - sean young - SA notes
step 01_ stepladders
1.1 the right first step
There is nothing wrong with having a vision, or with dreaming to change or better yourself.
But dreaming alone is not enough. Dreaming won't get you through the day-to-day trials that life puts in your path.
Just dreaming of reaching the top of the mountain wouldn't have been enough to keep me moving up those ladder, people need more than dreams to make lasting change. And the lesson isn't to give up on dreaming andjust do it. That won't work, either - not for the long run.
The lesson is to focus on finding the right first step. Put all of your energy into achieving the first little step. Tae the time to reflect on your progress. And then repeat.
Remember the first time you climbed a ladder or rock wall. It might have been scary. But as you put your foot on the first rung, then moved your hand up, then your next foot, then your other hand, you find a rhythm that made it easier. You probably were less frightened as long as you focused on the next rung and didn't look down.
With each step that you took, your confidence grow, making it more likely that you'd keep climbing. That's the force behind stepladder.
People might know intellectually that they should take small steps towards their goal, but they still plan steps that are too big.
There's a reason for this. It's hard to get excited about planning little steps. It's much more exciting to dream big.
1.2 how small is small?
After all the concept of small is subjective.
What I've learned is that instead of telling people to plan small steps, it's better to teach people how to mind works.
A person will not always give the same answer to a question. Their answer will be relative to other information they are focusing on.
Usually people give up because they do not know how to manage the steps size needed for achieving their final goal.
What happens is that people get frustrated when they do not see result quickly, focusing entirely on big dreams leads to fairly big steps, and can cause people to quit before they achieve their goal.
And example for this is the stock markets.
What happens is that people thinks that they can make easily money, becoming rich quickly.
But then , when they loose money and when they discovers that it takes time, they gave up.
Interviews with successful traders says that instead of spending their time focusing on dreams of getting rich, they focus on specific short-term goals, like not losing money this week.
1.3 the stepladder model: steps, goals and dreams
Usually people thinks that they are taking small steps, in reality they do not realize that their steps are big.
The size of the steps you plan depends on whether you are focused on dreamsor goals.
Dreams are bigger than goals. They are plans that typically take more than three months to achieve and which you haven't ever achieved previously.
People need to be reminded of their dreams to keep them motivated, but focusing entirely on dreams can lead people to give up.
Goals are intermediate plans people make.
Long-term goals usually takes one month to three months to achieve.
A long-term goal could take more than three months to achieve, but only if it's something you've already done before; otherwise it's a dream. For example, getting one million downloads would be a dream for most developers, but is just a long- term goal for an entrepreneur who has successfully built other apps that have been downloaded more than one million times.
If you already have experience doing something, than it's more realistic that you can achieve it and it becomes a goal rather than a dream.
While long-term goal take one to three months, short-term goals typically take one week to one month.
Goal are also easily quantifiable than dreams. Think about " I want to be a rock star " or " I want to sell one million copies"
Finally there are steps. Steps typically take less than one week to accomplish. Steps are the little tasks to check off on the way toward a goal.
How to break down-
Imagine q musician that wants to be a rock star.
Dream: being a rock star
Goal: learn to play the song x
Steps: pick up the music sheet, find space in its calendar for studying / practicing
Stepladder teaches that dreams are important for motivations, but they are not enought. Focusing only on dreams can lead people to plan steps that are so big that they quit doing things early.
Instead goals are key.
You need to focus in completing small, conc re ere goals to calibrate the mind and apply stepladders correctly.
Moreover people are not too good in estimating. So ask help to three people you trust in order to understand if you are setting goals or dreaming
1.4 the science behind stepladders
It's the power of incremental and split in steps that you could gradually increase your abilities
To change behavior, focus on the day-to-day process, rather than the outcome.
If you are opening a new business as a consultant, easy yourself into it by scheduling to meet with two potential clients tomorrow ( a step) rather than focusing on the longer-term reward of achieving the dream of picking the office space and new car you plan to leave after your first big paycheck.
How human brain works in terms of dopamine and motivation for keepin' on going ?
When the brain gets more/or the same amount than expected, it release dopamine.
When he gets less than expected, the brain doesn't release dopamine.
This means that people don't feel good based on what they actually accomplish; they feel good based on what they expect to accomplish.
