The Mindset

My first car was a Plymouth Valiant. It was just like this one.

The year was 1978 and I couldn’t have been any happier or filled with hope to own this beast of a gas-guzzler as my very own.

Memory tells me I paid $500 (just shy of $2,000 in 2018 money) for it which sounds like a good deal until you hear the rest. It had a serious problem with vapor lock. It would kick and buck whenever I turned it off. Sometimes for up to a minute – just deciding if it was going to keep running or stop.

Oh, and it had no reverse. I learned to live without reverse – careful parking in pull-through spots and the occasional backward push, but the vapor lock always freaked me out.

Whenever it happened I felt embarrassment if people were around. I can still recall the shameful feelings because my car couldn’t decide if it was running or stopped. With modern, fuel-injection systems vapor lock is rare, but I still it in the world.

The modern version of vapor lock that I see these days happens in creative human beings. Not knowing if they are running or stopped. Embarrassment, shame. Ironically, often going into reverse and talking themselves out of the project, the creation, the idea which started as a place of happiness and hope.

Today we will look at what has us vapor locked, put some checkpoints in the workflow, and take a powerful step to make sure it never happens again. Welcome to Day 17 where we will look at HOW we work – because we now know why we do it, what it’s for, and who it’s for.

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The Fast-Action

• Put your project front and center – you know it well by now!
• I see that some people have already achieved what they were here to do! If that’s you, write the next project front and center so you have something to work on.
• Look at the big picture – you know why, what, and who from our past days! This should all be overtly clear to you now. Maybe the work of the past few days has modified your project?
• In order, what are the milestones along the way to completion? List them here.
• What are the milestones along the way to each milestone? None of this will ever happen by magic, nor with vapor lock!
• Timeline – by when must this be finished?
• What has to be complete in ½ the time? ¼ the time? (do on board)
• Make your steps small enough to be achievable and big enough to keep you interested
• SMART Goals – link on page

Photo of the Day

A milestone timeline takes the overwhelm out of th equation. Make sure that your milestones are both achievable, and challenging enough to keep you interested.

 Chat Roll

00:03:35 Kyle Gresham: morning
00:04:07 Danny Orleans: Good morning Barry and Kyle
00:04:26 Kyle Gresham: morning Danny
00:07:31 Danny Orleans: Just found something on my list of projects not done? Making a website for my wife who is now doing close up magic and her own feature show. We have great photos and one video and website URL: NotYourMothersIntuition.com
00:08:20 Danny Orleans: ………….Yes. I achieved 1st project: Newsletter. Now making list of others to do FAST ACTION.
00:11:34 Danny Orleans: ………..MILESTONES to getting website: Finding web developer that is inexpensive….. makes me so nervous….
00:19:59 Kyle Gresham: yeah, I love the idea that being nervous is a judgement. Will keep working on it. 🙂
00:20:23 Conjuror: This is great. Thanks, Barry.
00:21:23 Colin Campbell: 100% agree
00:21:27 Danny Orleans: Eugene Burger, Revered Magician, in his final book discusses replacing nervousness before a performance with the thought that this is Excitement.
00:21:46 Kyle Gresham: thx for the answer Barry!

Resources

S.M.A.R.T. Goals – A valuable tool for aligning milestones on a bigger project. Here’s a pretty concise video.