How many times have you built the perfect routine—only to have life smash it to hell?

You wake up early. You’ve got your system dialed in. Sticky notes on the wall, timers set, inbox cleared, completely in the zone. For a while, it feels like everything’s working. Progress, predictability, control.

And then—boom—chaos.

It doesn’t even have to be bad chaos. Sometimes it’s the kind that comes disguised as opportunity. A new project. A big launch. A once-in-a-lifetime chance you can’t say no to.

That was me this past summer.

The Order Before the Storm

For months I’d been in a good rhythm. I woke at 5:30, spent an hour in quiet reflection and writing, and usually cranked out an article every week or two. My mornings were structured and calm. My systems—Pomodoro timers, sticky-note wall, color-coded priorities—gave me a sense of clarity and flow.

Work was equally organized. My inbox stayed under control, projects tracked, metrics clean. I felt productive, creative, and steady.

Order feels good because it gives you the illusion of mastery. You’re in control. You think you’ve finally cracked the code.

Then life checks to see if you actually learned anything.

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The Chaos Arrives

In August, I got the wild idea to design and launch an introductory course on reading the Bible through its ancient cultural context. It wasn’t part of my schedule—it was an impulse born out of curiosity and momentum.

I set a 30-day deadline before my 43rd birthday, determined to go from idea to delivery in one month. I knew if I gave myself more time, perfectionism would bury the project. So I applied Parkinson’s Law to myself: shorter deadlines, higher focus.

And it worked—at first.

Four hundred people joined the waitlist. More than a hundred bought the course. It was the most successful launch I’d ever had.

But behind the scenes, I was drowning. Fourteen video lessons to record, edit, and release over four weeks. The deadlines started slipping. I was recording in the morning—the time I usually spend in reflection and writing, editing after work, running on fumes.

Then came the second punch. My team at the hospital went live with a major project we’d spent a year preparing for. The demands were relentless—issues, meetings, inbox explosions. My calm, ordered life evaporated overnight.

By late September, I was wrecked. I couldn’t focus. My pulse raced constantly. Some days it took effort just to breathe. I was short-tempered, anxious, and exhausted. My body was done, but my brain wouldn’t stop.

This wasn’t new stress—it was the kind I’d built myself.

Losing the System

I tried to force control back. I’d sit at my desk at 5:30 like always, determined to write, to keep my streak alive. But every attempt dissolved into distraction—checking messages, tinkering with to-dos, chasing fake productivity because I couldn’t bear to feel unproductive.

The harder I clung to my systems, the more powerless I felt.

That’s when I realized how much of my identity had been tied to being “the guy who always has it together.”

The truth?

Systems are supposed to serve you. When they start owning you, that’s not discipline—it’s slavery.

The Pivot

What finally shifted things wasn’t a productivity trick. It was a conversation with my wife and my two oldest sons. We’d started talking about order and chaos—the idea that life moves in cycles, and growth comes through disruption.

That idea hit me hard. I’d spent my career studying systems—nuclear engineering, critical-care nursing, process improvement—and yet here I was forgetting the most basic principle: every stable system eventually reaches a point where it has to break down to evolve.

It’s not failure. It’s transformation.

I started to see that my burnout wasn’t punishment; it was a signal. The chaos wasn’t the enemy—it was the invitation to upgrade.

Letting Go

So I did something radical for a high-performer. I stopped fighting it.

I let my routines go quiet. I stopped pretending I could do everything. I gave myself permission to rest, recover, and recalibrate.

And I stopped feeling guilty for not being “consistent.”

Because here’s the thing: consistency isn’t about never missing—it’s about always returning.

The “consistency is key” crowd loves streaks and checkboxes. But growth doesn’t work in straight lines. It’s cyclical. Think agriculture: there’s planting, harvest, and rest. Even the land takes a break. Yet we act like rest is rebellion.

New Order

When I finally came back to my systems, I came back different. I still use sticky notes and timers, but I don’t worship them. I’ve learned to bend with reality.

If I sleep terribly, I skip the gym. I don’t shame myself for it. If my inbox explodes, I let it sit. The people who really need me will follow up. Funny thing—ignoring my email for a month led to more creativity and sharper problem-solving.

Adaptability, not consistency, is the real discipline.

You can maintain habits and still be flexible. Systems are scaffolding for growth, not prisons for perfection.

The Heartbeat of Life

We like to imagine life as a smooth wave—ups and downs, neatly alternating. But it’s closer to an EKG readout: erratic spikes, sudden drops, moments of static followed by surges of life.

Those spikes—good and bad—mean you’re alive.

A flat line might look peaceful, but it’s death.

My chaos season was an arrhythmia that forced me to reset. Now the rhythm feels stronger, more real.

Takeaway

Order. Chaos. New order. That’s the cycle. Every time you think you’ve stabilized, the next disruption is already forming—and that’s okay.

When life wrecks your perfect routine, don’t panic. Don’t cling tighter.

Step back, breathe, and ask what this chaos is trying to teach you.

Break the streak. Miss the workout. Let the inbox pile up. You can always rebuild—smarter, stronger, and better aligned with who you’re becoming.

You don’t need a perfect system.

You need the resilience to rebuild when it breaks.

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Work always takes as long as you let it.

Is this familiar? You start the day with a large list of tasks. Midday hits and you’re still working on the first item.

Until recently, this was my life.

Reason? I started with the top priority task and never set a time limit.

I silently gave myself permission to add bloat to the project.

Before I realized it, that one hour task ballooned into three hours, leaving me less time for my other to-dos. I was stuck working late or not finishing everything that needed to get done.

You feel drained.

Your evening is shot because you lost control of your morning.

This changed when I applied Parkinson’s law—giving myself less time to complete a task rather than more.

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Why Common Wisdom Fails

The common solution is to give yourself more time.

“Take the time you estimate it will take to complete the project, then double it.”

Expert wisdom, right?

That may work if you’re negotiate a government contract and your goal is to collect money for surfing the internet, but is that how you want your personal life to operate? Built-in inefficiency?

Think of it this way: Your employer assumes it will take you 40 hours per week to do your job.

But how much time do you spend on extracurricular activities during the week?

This popular image is funny, but it’s true in so many more ways. You are given 40 hours to complete a task, and so you take 40 hours. Your mind knows it has a LOT of time, so it wanders. You find a million ways to get side-tracked.

When the deadline approaches to deliver, you scramble and complete the job with seconds to spare.

The countdown of the clock created focus.

Consider: Is this the model you want for your personal or entrepreneurial endeavors?

32-Hour Workweeks

Recently, European companies have trialed a 4-day work week.

100% pay for 80% of the time.

The results are astonishing:

• Productivity remained stable or improved

• Revenue increased

• Lower turnover rates and fewer sick days

As a manager, I can relate. My company removed PTO from manager and above positions. We have a job to do and when we need to take time off, we’re responsible to ensure it’s covered in our absence.

Recently, I took a 4-day weekend. That meant for the two weeks, I had to complete a week’s worth of work in four days instead of five.

Crazy thing—I was more productive those two weeks than normal.

Shorter deadlines create clarity. They breed focus.

So why do we fall into this trap?

Parkinson’s Law

Work expands to fill the time available for its completion.

Some British bloke named Cyril Parkinson wrote this in 1955, intending to mock bureaucratic inefficiencies.

In addition to the solid jab, he also stumbled onto solid gold.

This law is a keystone of productivity and time management. Most people have never heard of it. It’s a game-changer.

Here’s the basics:

Give yourself more time to complete a task and the task will likely take all the time, even if it could have been completed sooner.

Give yourself less time to compete a task and you’ll focus only on what is vital, completing the task in the shortened amount of time.

You focus only on what delivers value and remove all the fluff.

Think emails. How many times have you spent 15-30 minutes stressing about the contents of your email? You worry about the opener, the formatting, the ask.

Harsh truth: The recipients will spend 30 seconds or less reading it.

They’ll skim the niceties. They’ll ignore formatting. That dense paragraph you worked so hard on to pack with meaningful information—they won’t even read it.

Want a quick win on your email inbox? Give yourself no more than 3 minutes to write or respond to any email.

Type your thoughts out. Use bullet points. 1-3 sentence paragraphs (copy my writing style). Hit send.

Quit overthinking things.

What About Quality?

I can already hear your objections.

You show pride in your work. You want to wow your audience. I get it.

Here’s another harsh truth: Every “yes” to perfection is a “no” to progress somewhere else.1

To determine if it’s worth the cost, ask yourself if the quality you are pursuing is something your audience needs or something you need to give them.

Consider: Some film companies boast about their 4k content. Do you care about 4k content when you’re mainly streaming the video to your phone?

Deliver what matters.

Use the Pareto Principle. What is the 20% I can do to deliver 80% of the value. Focus only on that for your shortened burst of productivity.

When Quality Matters

Quality does matter when gathering information.

Giving yourself a bit more time to explore with curiosity can make a huge impact on the output.

It’s like a photographer searching for the perfect shot. You start fully zoomed out to take in as much information as possible. Exploring the landscape with a curious eye.

Once you find the interesting subject, zoom in to maximize the bokeh effect—that camera effect that blurs everything else out but the subject.

When I produce a video teaching, I use a similar process.

• Study a breadth of information on and adjacent to the topic

• Cut 80% of the material to focus on the 20% that impacts my audience

• Record in 4k to capture maximum details

• Compress to 1080p to maximize deliverability

High quality inputs + compression = maximum value.

You can still apply Parkinson’s law to gathering quality information by setting a time limit for each research session.

This forces you to focus on the information that brings value and reduces going down rabbit trails.

Take Back Your Time

I’ve put Parkinson’s law into action in my life with some amazing results.

If you want to reclaim your time and sanity, here how:

• Pick one task and give yourself a hard time limit

• Use standard time blocks—25 or 55 minutes.

• Use a visible timer—keep the time crunch forefront in your mind.

• When the time is up, hard stop. No exceptions

• Take a break—use the free time to recalibrate.

Applying this to only a few tasks allows you to learn the system and adjust it to your personal needs.

Try out various blocks of time, but find a standard block that works. Use the time between tasks to stretch, walk, or another activity that gives your brain a break from the mental burden.

You can use anything as a timer, but to level up, download a Pomodoro timer app or buy a Pomodoro cube (my personal choice).

When the timer goes off—STOP. Don’t work past the end time. Stop mid-sentence if you’re writing an article. You can come back later in another time block.

You’re rewiring your brain for efficiency.

You’ll quickly get to the point where you will be finished just before the timer ends. Your mind naturally adjusts the flow of work to meet the time requirements.

Adjust as Necessary

Getting the timing right is an art, especially when producing something for an audience.

When I speak to audiences, I’m often given a different time limit to present the same subject. Often 30, 60, or 90 minutes. I naturally adjust to fill the time, but I’ve generally found that the 30 minute presentations garner far more praise than the longer sessions.

To apply this to your work, try an A/B test.

Give yourself 60 minutes for the task. Next time, give yourself 30 minutes. As for feedback. See which version worked best for your audience.

Project estimation experiment

Remember that “wisdom” of doubling the time estimate?

Give your stakeholders the same doubled estimate. Give your team half the time to complete the project.

If they finish in half the time, give them the extra time off.

Then, adjust your future estimates.

Final Thoughts

Stop letting your day get hijacked by perfectionism and distraction.

It just takes a few intentional steps.

Set a timer for your next import task right now.

Beat the clock. Then use the time to do something you actually care about.

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Dread fills you as the alarm screeches.

Another day has started. Reality crashes down on you like a piano dropped from a high rise.

Your chest tightens. You want to retreat under the covers, hoping the world will leave you alone for just one more hour.

Things started well—you chased your dreams. Mapped out a success journey. Created a vision statement.

You floated on a dopamine-fueled high for days or weeks. But somewhere along the line, that initial momentum quickly reversed, dragging you under the waves, paralyzing your progress.

Here’s the frustrating part—you did everything right! You set SMART goals, dreamed big, [insert common guru advice here…]

It’s easy to fixate on planning. For many of us, it’s even fun.

I love filling pages with outlines and building planners. My hard drive is a graveyard of good intentions that suffocated as I failed to act.

The worst part? Those gravestones became mental weights, dragging me down daily.

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Failure After Failure

Failure has inertia.

Failure compounds, resulting in a downward spiral that feels impossible to claw your way out of.

Newton said objects resist change. People do too. Especially with a trajectory of failure or success.

This is why there’s a billion-dollar industry built around helping people change. Lasting change is hard to achieve without proper implementation, even when you crave it.

This person’s struggles caught my attention:

Repeated failure reprograms you. You go from “I failed” to “I’m a failure.”

I’ve been there many times. The losses keep piling up. Nothing works out despite you pouring your heart and soul into the project.

Another described it as:

How many can relate?

These compounded failures have sunk into our core, creating a negativity monster.

It whispers in your ear every time you try:
“Why bother?”
“You’ll fail again”
“You aren’t good enough”

Failure starts as a pebble. But setbacks quickly compound—until you’re chased by a boulder of past defeats.

The monster didn’t push it, but it constantly says you’ll never outrun it.

How do you stop it?

Better—how do we roll it the other direction?

Core Habits

Every video game starts the same: zero skill, no gear, and a boss you’re not remotely ready to face.

You must undergo a hero’s quest—building your skills from the ground up.

A skill tree maps out your progress from the fundamentals to the ones that truly matter. But no matter how much you desire the advanced stuff, you must first unlock the basics.

Life is no different.

Journaling, making your bed, and daily walks are core skills that unlock a broad array of other possibilities.

Most people skip these core skills just like they skip video game tutorials. They want the action. A taste of success. To defeat of the final boss.

This is why 92% of people never achieve their goals—they strain against boulders instead of starting with pebbles.

Success comes from starting small but intentionally.

Start with “keystone habits”—small routines that break apart the boulders of failure, creating momentum in a new direction.

They’re inertia-busters. Confidence-builders. Identity-shifters.

They’re beginner-level habits. Nothing impressive.

What matters is progress. Change.

The identity shift.

A way to say:
“I’m not a failure.”
“I get knocked down…but I get up again.”

New Inertia

I wasn’t a writer.

I’d written papers in school, even a thesis. But those were anomalies.

I struggled.

Most of my creative content came from bullet points—brainstorms I turned into video. It was efficient. Comfortable. Safe.

But life changed. I wanted to write more.

I had momentum, but it was in the wrong direction.

I set a goal of writing each morning. It didn’t matter what I wrote—only that I wrote.

Some days it was freewriting, others journaling, a thoughtful social media post, a note in my Obsidian vault, or a single sentence on my article. The goal is consistency, not big results, for a core habit.

Initially, writing was torture. I’d stare at a blank screen for hours. Failure. Failure. Success. Failure. Success.

But I kept showing up.

It took time, but now I have a new inertia—I write daily without thinking about it.

Writing is no longer something I do; it’s something I am.

I’m a writer.

That’s the power of a core habit. It’s not just a behavior change, it’s a rewiring of your identity.

Start small, whether you’re battling a negativity monster or shifting to a new path.

Pick one habit at the bottom of your skill tree.

Then show up. Every day.

Build One Core Habit

Every RPG starts with a choice:
Knight. Mage. Archer.

Class selection shapes your gameplay and skill tree branches you pursue. Skills and identity are intertwined. When aligned, your character flourishes.

Why?

Because identity drives action.

Real life works the same way.

To defeat the negativity monster, define your future self.

Failure to define that will leave you stuck chasing side quests. Constantly switching paths. Changing tools. Starting over.

This is why most people fail—they focus on goals without reshaping identity.

Consider weight loss attempts: Set a goal. Eat unrealistically for months. Achieve goal.

A year later, you’re back at the same weight—or heavier.

Goal-setting without identity change is a recipe for failure.

Want lasting change? Decide: I’m the kind of person who eats to nourish, not to indulge. Study what (and how) that person eats daily. Adopt those patterns.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Identify the type of person you want to be

This is your character selection screen.

The sky’s the limit. Who will you be in three years?

Consider your current struggles and goals:

• Struggle with weight → become a person who nourishes your body with intent and moves daily to stay strong, energized, and focused.

• Cluttered house → become someone who puts things back and clears space daily to create peace in your home.

• Credit card debt → become someone who tracks every dollar and spends intentionally, not impulsively.

Shifting from goals to identity allows momentum to build. The pebble keeps rolling, picking up mass until it becomes an unstoppable boulder; there’s no hard stop after meeting your objective.

If you struggle to convert your goal into an identity, use this prompt in ChatGPT or another AI model:

I have a goal, but I want to transform it into an identity statement to help create lasting change. Here’s my goal:

“[INSERT GOAL HERE]”

Rewrite this goal as an identity-based statement. Instructions: Ignore the result. Focus on the type of person who would naturally achieve this goal.Describe the core habits or behaviors that this person lives out daily.Return the answer as: “I am the kind of person who [habit/behavior].” Example: Goal: “I want to run a marathon.”Identity: “I am the kind of person who runs every day, even when it’s hard.”

2. Identify the daily habits of the person you’re becoming

Skill tree time!

Envision the future. What does a day in the life of the new you look like?

Vividly imagine the details.

Identify daily actions that reinforce your new identity.

My character is a writer impacting the lives of tens of thousands of subscribers. He writes and shares valuable ideas daily, regardless of the audience.

For example:

• Waking up early

• Spending the first hour of each day writing

• Prioritize daily posting over perfection

• Reading interesting blogs and books for fresh insights

Now it’s your turn.

List the daily habits of your future self. Go deep. Get detailed.

If you need help, go back to that AI chat you started and ask a follow-up question:

What are the daily habits or routines that make up this person's life?

3. Choose your first quest

Now that you have your list of potential habits, choose your first quest. Choose one habit.

The simpler, the better.

This isn’t about turning your life around. It’s a proof of concept for your new identity. This is about shifting your mindset.

Here’s the criteria for choosing:

• Easy to accomplish

• Easy to do daily

• Reinforces the identity you’re seeking

Here are some examples:

• “I’ll walk on the treadmill for 1 minute daily”

• “I’ll write one sentence in my journal daily”

• “I’ll share one thing I’m grateful for to my spouse”

Don’t skip this tutorial! You need to build confidence. Yes, it’s easy. But that’s the point.

You need a win. You need to build consistency.

This is your grain of sand rolling in the right direction while life is barreling into chaos.

4. Track your wins

Visuals ignite our brains.

We love accomplishment walls. Games capitalize on this with unlockable achievements and progress tracking.

You need a simple system to track your progress.

Print a calendar and mark each successful day with an X. Or use a habit tracking app.

My favorite system is using my Sticky Note Productivity board. Each day, I put my keystone habit on the board and crumple it when I complete it.

Watching my completed notes fill the container gives me joy.

To learn more, read about it here:

Become Indispensable with Ryan White

Why To-Do Apps Didn’t Work for Me (and What Did)

Sunday evening was a huge disappointment…

Read more

9 months ago · 7 likes · 2 comments · Ryan White

Tomorrow Morning

Remember the person who couldn’t get out of bed—drowning in failure, weighed down in a graveyard of good intention?

That person is about to become someone new.

Tomorrow, when your alarm blasts you out of beautiful slumber, you won’t lay there staring at the ceiling wondering if it’s worth crawling out of bed. You’ll have something different.

A single, easy habit waiting for you to crush it.

It could be writing a sentence, taking a short walk, or flossing one tooth.

It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’ve started a grain of sand rolling toward your new identity. Remember it will pick up mass daily.

One small win. Then another. Then another.

One day you’ll wake up and realize that the boulder haunting you has reversed direction and is now unstoppable.

Your skill tree starts now. Choose your first quest.

One additional step that can help a declaration of intent.

If you’ve decided to change your life and redefine your identity, drop in the comments who you are becoming and the core habit you are starting today that will get you there!

Let’s encourage each other to grow.

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I’d taken PTO to have a 4-day weekend. It started with massive motivation and a huge list to accomplish.

But by the end, I’d marked off only a handful.

Rather than moving the ball forward on my life goals, I was making excuses each day. “I’ll just play one game before I get started.” “I’ll just watch one show.”

Once I was energized by that experience, I’d decide to amplify the experience with “just one more” episode or round. Suddenly, the weekend is over and I have nothing to show for it but regret. PTO wasted.

The rest of the week, I’d beat myself up about it because I knew better. I’m just being lazy. I should focus more. I need to have more self-control.

Here’s the kicker. I’m a high performer with an incredible amount of willpower. I’m phenomenal at making up my mind and sticking to it when stakes are high.

So why is this so hard?

I didn’t need more knowledge. God knows I’ve read enough books and blogposts about habits, the value of delayed gratification, and how to motivate yourself.

I’ve employed the common (generic) solutions like:

• Break it down into smaller tasks

• Use time blocks

• Set SMART goals

• Establish daily/weekly habits

• Minimize distractions

• Reconnect with your “why”

• Practice self-compassion and mindfulness

Those are great pieces of advice, but they don’t fix the problem. They are like lubricant for the machinery, but are worthless when the operator has left the building for an exciting adventure.

The real issue is that you are wired to seek pleasurable experiences.

Instant gratification.

It’s the weekend. It’s your time off. You don’t want to slog through learning a skill that won’t make your life immediately better.

You can live with frustration, or you can do what I did—stop fighting your nature and instead work with them to have a fun and productive weekend.

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Getting Sticky

Life changed a few weeks back when an article about a receipt printer curing procrastination caught my attention. I was 3 days into a 5-day weekend with nothing to show for it and down on myself for being lazy.

The author pointed out that our inability to motivate ourselves is the lack of immediate, tangible rewards.

I immediately decided to try it. I headed to the store and bought a pack of sticky notes and a nice container for my desk.

We’ll go into more detail about how to implement below, but here’s the basics:

• Break your to-dos into small tasks.

• Write each task on a sticky note.

• Place the sticky notes on the wall

• When you complete a to-do, remove the sticky note, crumple it up, and throw it in the container.

Sound too simple? Here’s why this simple system has taken me from ending my weekends in frustration to feeling like I conquered the world.

Small wins FTW

Accomplishing a major milestone feels amazing—once we get there. But the climb is daunting and our minds constantly wander.

It’s not that you lack self-discipline, it’s how you’re wired.

Neuroscience studies show that immediate rewards light up the brain’s reward centers (dopamine regions) far more than delayed rewards.

When you just try to push through, you are swimming upstream. You’re fighting your base instincts.

STOP.

Work smarter, not harder.

The key is to build frequent, small wins into your work on the larger goal.

This is why to-do apps work. When you complete an item, you’re rewarded with an audible “ding” and a checkmark. Unfortunately, most of these apps are overwhelming and distracting.

Simple is better.

My dopamine surge hits harder with crumpling a sticky note than it ever did checking a box in an app.

Even as I write this, I find myself occasionally glancing at my board, scanning for the next task I can destroy.

Why it’s so effective

In Atomic Habits, best selling author James Clear sets out four laws for positive behavior change:

1. Make it obvious—create a cue

2. Make it attractive—create a craving

3. Make it easy—eliminate friction

4. Make it satisfying—create a reward

This system meets all four laws.

Cue: Colored sticky notes on the wall next to my workspace trigger me every time my eyes wander, reminding me to get back to work.

Leaving a pad of notes on my desk also cues me to add to my board whenever a new task presents.

Craving: My victory container lives under my monitor. It makes me frequently smile and anticipate the next note I get to crush.

I frequently show off how full it is on Teams meetings (my coworkers think I’ve lost it).

Eliminate friction: The entire system is at my work desk, so there’s little effort required to get to the notes.

I create most of tomorrow’s notes the evening beforehand and use shorthand to keep it easier.

Reward: There’s something about destruction that is satisfying. My kids favorite part of my office remodel was helping rip out the drywall.

Crumpling a note is so much more satisfying that clicking a checkbox.

It’s addictive.

It’s that same level of addiction as the rewards systems in video games.

Turn your life into a video game

I spent years addicted to video games. It nearly ruined my marriage.

Game developers know exactly what they’re doing. The best games aren’t just fun, they’re engineered dopamine loops.

They hack you brain’s reward system using:

• Constant feedback loops (XP, level up, death animations, sounds)

• Variable rewards (loot boxes, achievement, power ups)

• Clear goals and fast wins (quests, missions, daily goals)

• Social comparison (leaderboards, custom skins, rankings)

It’s all instant gratification—cheap dopamine—that has you reaching for the controller for just one more game.

Video games provide a hollow promise. Your victory in the digital world will not make your real world problems disappear. But as Koe points out, we can take the principles from gaming and apply them to our lives to make pursuit of goals as addictive as cocaine.

Education companies embrace the idea as well. My younger kids love doing their homeschool lessons online because it’s presented as a game.

Steal these ideas and use them to your advantage.

Turn your boring to-do list into a dopamine dispenser.

When you gamify your goals, you become addicted to success. Distractions lose their appeal. Your ability to hyper-focus is amplified.

Gamify Your Goals With Sticky Notes

Your goal is to implement this system with as little friction as possible. It should be as easy as pushing the power button on a gaming console.

Here’s how you can change your life like I did.

Step 1 - Buy supplies

Don’t go fancy. Off-brand sticky notes. A pen. A clear container.

That’s it.

Your first objective is to get started. Building an elaborate system wastes precious time. Start simple.

You probably have all the necessary items in your house already, but it may help to make the symbolic gesture of purchasing them again. Things you’ve made a financial investment into tend to stick better.

Here’s a key piece of advice: Resist the urge to go digital.

Why sticky notes beat to-do apps

I’m a digital-only guy, and would have never tried this had I not hit a certain level of desperation.

I discovered analog has a few superpowers:

• Reduced distraction—no temptation to check social media while writing your to-do because you aren’t on your phone.

• Intentionality—by rewriting your recurring tasks daily, you reflect on whether or not it’s truly important.

• Visualization—One glance at your board let’s you know if you’re overcommitted. One glance at your glass container lets you know how much you’ve accomplished.

Step 2 - Set up system where there is the least amount of friction

You’ll want to set up your notes on a wall closest to where you do most of your work.

For me, that’s right next to my computer desk. As I write this, I can see my notes from the corner of my eye. I can also see my almost-full jar of completed tasks (I’m smiling just writing this).

My familiarity with my board is so high that when my wife sneaks a funny/loving to-do on, I spot the irregularity before making it to my desk.

I can’t stress how important it is to set up the system in your highest trafficked area. If you have to get up and walk across the room every time you complete a task, you’re less likely to use it.

Don’t use this as a weight-loss tool. Use it for what you need most. Getting things done.

Keep a stack of sticky pads within reach as well. As things come up, your goal is to get them off your mind and onto your wall as quickly as possible.

Step 3 - Write your first to-dos

The first time you do this, write out your to-dos on a piece of paper.

Then, break each one down into smaller parts as much as possible.

Your goal is to create sticky notes with tasks that take no longer than 15 minutes each. So, rather than having a sticky note of “write an article”, it should say “write the introduction to the article”.

Each section gets its own sticky.

Why?

Because you’re creating a dopamine reward for each step along the process.

Small wins lead to large victories.

You must celebrate frequently along the road to success or you’ll lose focus and won’t finish the task.

Step 4 - Complete a task, crumple a note

As soon as possible after completing the task, crush that sticky note.

Take a small moment to savor the feeling as you roll it around between your fingers.

Victory.

Now, toss it into the container.

Once you get a few in there, take a moment to admire the growing stack of completed items.

Yes, it’s weird. Yes, it’s illogical. But do it anyways.

It doesn’t take a lot to convince yourself that this is a rewarding experience. But you must begin to visualize it. To crave it. To think about how nice it will be to crumple that note as soon as you finish what you’re currently working on.

Doing this creates an intense anticipation of reward, which releases dopamine while you’re working on the task, making the task itself more pleasurable as you near completion.

Build that anticipation.

Step 5 - Set up notes for tomorrow the night before

Pick a time later in the evening to reflect on today’s experiences and set up a few sticky notes for tomorrow.

You don’t have to have everything set up, but at least get three notes on the board so you can start your day with action.

I also use this time to reflect on any incomplete to-do’s to analyze if they really need to be done. For those that do, I either leave them for tomorrow or move them to an “upcoming” section.

Step 6 - Earn a reward once the container is full

Once you’ve filled your container with completed items, it’s time for a big reward.

You’ve just defeated the big bad boss of the first level of the anti-procrastination game.

Throw a party. Go on a vacation. Buy yourself a new car.

Don’t let this one slip by you. If you don’t take the time to celebrate this HUGE victory, your brain won’t build those essential pathways to solidify this system.

Your Turn

You’re now equipped with the weapon to defeat procrastination.

Set it up.

Crumple one note.

Feel the dopamine surge.

Watch the momentum build.

Then share your progress—I want to see your sticky wall.

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Saying “Yes” feels amazing…until you hit the cliff.

Each yes stacks up until BOOM, you’re plunging over the edge. It started with good intent, but now you’re buried in so many projects and tasks that you can barely breathe.

I remember the excitement I felt as a new leader when a meeting invite popped into my inbox. Heck, I still get a small surge when I see an invite filled with the names of VIPs.

I love solving problems, so meetings gave me a chance to shine. As time progressed, this turned into a problem because each meeting grew my to-do list. My stress levels went through the roof and I found myself working long hours to keep up with projects.

Physical manifestations of overwhelm started popping up in my life. Insomnia struck. Brain fog rolled in most days. It was hard to be present with my family.

It took me nearly having a nervous breakdown to realize that this wasn’t normal.

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The Illusion of a “Helpful Yes”

Things like this build up over time and you don’t realize the impact until you’re drowning. I thought I was just helping others out, but what I was really doing was making commitments that I had no realistic way of keeping.

Then I heard a statement that shifted my entire perspective:

Every “Yes” comes with a cost.

I went from chasing the dopamine hit of saying yes and started weighing the impact—what did this “yes” force me to give up?

Once you understand the hidden cost, there are several key strategies you can take to avoid making commitments that don’t align with your goals.

The Hidden Cost of Meetings

Companies hire people to solve problems.

Whether it’s building a piece of software, delivering a dish to a customer, caring for a patient, or managing a team, your purpose is to solve a problem that delivers value and provides revenue.

According to a 2016 article in the Harvard Business Review, many employees now spend 80% of their time in meetings or responding to emails. Executives spend an average of 23 hours a week in meetings.

I can attest to this.

It’s all too easy to let your entire day fill with meetings. Constantly switching contexts, scrambling to take notes, your to-do list filling up so fast that it makes you dizzy…madness! It’s a recipe for failure.

And emails? Coming back to 50-100 new emails after taking a day off reveals the insanity.

When your day is filled with constant noise, where is there time for deep work? How can you be indispensable in all that chaos?

You can’t.

You must take steps to reclaim your time.

You must calculate the true cost of each meeting you attend.

Escape the Meeting Trap (Tactical Shift)

How much more could you accomplish if you had 5 additional hours of uninterrupted focus time per week?

That’s the power of learning to reduce the number of unnecessary meetings by one hour a day. That power can be amplified if you can reduce the morning meetings, which is generally when we are at our peak mental performance levels.

Here’s how I’ve accomplished this.

First, I let my boss know that the number of meetings I was in is impacting my ability to focus and resulting in an inability to complete projects on time. We set guidelines on what meetings I had to attend and what ones I had the discretion of declining.

Then, I implemented my “Should I Join This Meeting” strategy:

• Is there a clear purpose listed on the invite?

• Does it align with our current strategic goals?

• Is it about an issue that is persistent or high-impact enough to justify meeting?

• Do I need time to prep for it? (If yes, block time before)

• Will I need post-processing time? (If yes, block time after)

The last bullet is key. Unless you have AI recording the meeting, you need time after the meeting to summarize, process, and file, otherwise you may have to meet again just to remember what was said.

Your brain also needs a break before diving into the next subject.

To be honest, this doesn’t work every day. There are still days where 6+ hours of my day is filled with back-to-back meetings.

But those days are fewer and farther between.

The hardest part was learning to let go of the need to be on every meeting. Fear of missing out is real.

The Power of Saying “No” (Mindset Shift)

At first, it feels like a punch in the gut to say “No.” Do I really not care about this person? What about the good that this will do?

People think focus means saying yes to the thing you’ve got to focus on. But that’s not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I’m actually as proud of the things we haven’t done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying ‘no’ to 1,000 things.

-Steve Jobs

Apple frequently gets criticized for not implementing the latest fad, but they are living out Jobs’ philosophy. As someone who started out PC and Android and is now fully converted into the Apple ecosystem, I get it.

You can’t unleash the creative beast within when you fill your life with distractions.

My best work occurs when I can block out everything and focus on a single goal. I enter a state of flow where I’m able to accomplish the impossible. But that requires a mindset shift.

Every distraction breaks your ability to focus. Some say it takes 23 minutes to reset.

When we take that to a macro level, Jobs’ words sing to us. Stop trying to boil the ocean and hyper-focus only on the select few projects that you can sustain at the moment.

Maximizing your potential means you’ll have to get comfortable with saying “No.”

Crushing The People-Pleaser

The lion does not concern himself with Microsoft Teams notifications.

I laughed when I first saw it, then headed for the comments section to commiserate with all the other poor souls enslaved by this “wonderful” all-in-one tool.

As I expected, the comments were filled with remarks about the inability to just ignore Teams or Slack notifications.

Something didn’t sit right with me.

It hit me. Quick responses to Teams messages are another form of saying “Yes” to someone. It’s a people-pleasing activity.

Allowing Teams notifications to disrupt your focus will lead to an inability to complete the things that are truly important.

What you tolerate today, what you are enslaved to tomorrow.

How can you break the slavery? Complete visual elimination.

If you can see that there’s an unread notification, your brain will nag at you until you open it. Go into settings. Turn off all notifications. All of them. No sounds. No pop-ups. Nothing.

You can’t produce your best work when you’re constantly wondering what that notification was.

I let my team and my boss know that during certain times, I will be unreachable (they can see it blocked on my calendar). During times I’m not focusing, I pull Teams up on a second screen to monitor for new notifications.

When I resurface from a focus session, I then triage any messages like emails and only respond immediately to any urgent messages.

Interestingly, I’ve found that by saying “No” to instant response, it reduces the desire for people-pleasing in my responses. Without the pressure to make a quick decision, I can process, remember that saying “Yes” to this request means saying “No” to other things, and then craft a response that lets the requestor know that I value our relationship, I just can’t say yes to the ask.

Sounds impossible, right?

Try This: Turn off all your notifications for 2 hours a day and see what happens. If the world doesn’t end, try extending it a bit longer each day.

Respect Earned Through Boundaries

Your job doesn’t have to feel like a plunge over a cliff’s edge any longer. I’ve gone from insane stress levels to a flowing stream level of calm by employing a few key changes.

Here are three things you can take away from this article:

1. Every task you accept, email you read, and message you respond to takes away from the time you could be spending on a meaningful project. Count the cost of every “Yes.”

2. Minimize distractions. Turn off pop-up notifications. Reject meeting invites without clear purpose. Focus on what matters.

3. Let go of your need to please everyone. When you try to make everyone happy, you end up miserable.

It sounds impossible, but you can do it. In my chaotic years, I remember a meeting where one person’s resolve stood out. We were in the middle of a fantastic discussion and ran out of time. My team normally just continued beyond the end of the meeting time.

This person refused.

She stated the meeting ended at 4pm. That was the agreement we had made and we would stick to it. We could request another meeting if we wanted to continue.

Were we mad? No!

Afterward, my coworkers and I discussed how inspiring it was that this person stood up for herself and set boundaries.

Hearing a “No” may sting at first, but if you are consistent and principled, your colleagues will respect you more every time they get refused.

Every “No” to chaos is a “Yes” to greatness.

What is one “No” you need to say this week?

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Your goals are constantly just beyond your reach because you’re caught in invisible time traps.

You’ve been trained to hunt for deals, clip coupons, and chase discounts—only to find your most important work still undone.

At the end of the day, we look back and wonder what went wrong, never realizing that our systems we’ve established to save a buck or two have cost us 10x as much.

Instead of results, we end the day with frustrations.

Most savings are lies.

You get what you pay for

This was a tough lesson for me starting out as a solopreneur. I didn’t think of what I was doing as a business, so I didn’t think to approach learning how to do things from that perspective. I was just helping other people learn more about the cultural context of the Bible and had a membership option for those who wanted to help support my efforts.

I’d started producing videos weekly, and had painted my office wall chroma-key green so I could have a professional look. Problem was, it took me about an hour per video of fiddling with settings to remove the green background perfectly. Editing a one hour video ended up taking 4-5 hours.

Everything changed in 2015 on an Israel tour. I mentioned my editing frustrations to a fellow tourist. He pulled out his MacBook Air and added my unedited footage to Final Cut Pro (a Mac-exclusive). With a single click-and-drag, the green background was removed perfectly.

That moment I realized how true the cliche “you get what you pay for” is. I’d tried to save money with the cheapest tools for the job. It cost me dearly.

It was a hard transition to Apple products because I love to customize things. I built my first computer. But when it comes to business, I need to spend time producing content, not tinkering with systems.

Focus on the goal

Distractions are the death of delivery.

Your audience’s attention is maintained by your ability to deliver consistently. So stop being a cheapskate and get the tools necessary for the job.

As a bonus, when something costs you more, you appreciate it more. If you paid premium for software, you’re more likely to use it than a program you got in the bargain bin.

Count the Cost

Whether it’s society wiring us this way or just the dopamine rush of saving money, there are landmines littering the landscape waiting to suck away precious moments of your life.

Here are some things to consider:

• How much time will be wasted trying out that cheaper version?

• What is the cost of replacing once you’ve determined the cheaper item doesn’t meet your needs?

• How long will it delay accomplishing your goals if you stick with the slower process?

• How much more could you produce if your process was streamlined?

We look for savings, but we miss:
Money is an unlimited resource—you can always make more money.
Time is a finite resource—you cannot gain back lost opportunity.

Challenge

The biggest challenge is identifying these hidden time traps. They disguise themselves as feel-good opportunities. So what can you do to turn things around?

Track your low-return time trades for one day.

Get a notepad and write down each task you do, along with the approximate time. At the end of the day, do a simple review and see if anything stands out that could be optimized.

What feels like there’s a better way of doing it? That’s an opportunity to look for better software, better hardware, or a way to delegate.

Then, find a way to share your discovery with others. Share in the comments below how you’ve overcome time traps so we can learn from each other.

Stop buying cheap. You can never get a refund on your time.

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If some creepy rich dude offered you $1.2 billion for the rest of your time on earth, would you take it?

Hell no!

But a $100 discount on an off-brand 55” TV the day after Thanksgiving? Sign us up to shiver all night waiting in line!

Do you see the problem?

We find the idea of selling our lives ridiculous, but we willingly give away chunks for a chance to buy something we don’t need at a discount.

Unfair comparison? Yes.

Here’s the point: We’d never trade away our entire life, but we nickel-and-dime ourselves to death one hour at a time.

The Golf Club Lesson

On my daily walk, I saw something that illustrates the importance of time vs. money.

Four sets of youth-sized golf clubs in excellent condition at my neighbor’s curb available for free. Resale value: $60-$100 per set.

My neighbors must be so filthy rich they don’t care about money. They do live on the lakefront side of the road, after all.

Then, something shocking hit me. I walked by without any desire to grab them and resell them. I went past $400 without blinking an eye.

Is $400 now pennies to me?

In my dreams.

That’s still a lot of money to me and isn’t an amount I’d spend without serious consideration (unless it was groceries...then yeah...it’s just an average shopping trip).

Old me would have picked up all four sets and stored them in my garage for resale.

Old Me: The Time Trader

Here’s how things would have played out with old me trying to resell these golf clubs:

• 30+ minutes inspecting the clubs.

• 30+ minutes researching their value.

• 30+ minutes taking pictures.

• 1+ hours writing the perfect Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace post description.

• 30+ minutes remembering how in the world to even post in those places.

I can feel my blood pressure rising just writing this—and this is the easy part.

Once it’s listed, you’ll deal with endless emails or messages asking questions or trying to bargain. BARF.

Then there’s the meeting with the buyer. Do you drive to a neutral location? Send a serial killer stranger your address? Then you’re forced into an awkward conversation. Multiply that times four buyers 🤯.

In the end, $400 cost you 6+ hours of free time, creating distraction, anxiety, and mental drag.

Yes, a $60+ effective hourly rate isn’t bad (assuming you get $100 per bag), but what’s the bigger cost?

Why It Matters

It’s not about laziness or privilege. It’s about clarity.

Flipping golf clubs isn’t a sustainable future. It’s a distraction.

Investing our mental energy in long-term goals leads to great achievements. But if we chase every small opportunity, we’ll struggle to find time for what truly matters—our “why.”

I’ve developed my “why” statement and read it every morning. It aligns me with my goals and focuses my attention on the things that move the needle.

Instead of chasing distractions, here’s what I’m chasing:

I live life on my terms, embracing freedom, flow, faith, and family without overwhelm.

My purpose is to elevate others by solving meaningful problems, clarifying complex ideas, and helping them unlock their potential.

I thrive in creating systems, simplifying deep concepts, and empowering others to experience joy, connection, and impact.

Success means abundant time, freedom from anxiety, and financial stability that lets me prioritize family, creativity, and authentic living.

I’m learning to protect my attention.
Along with time, it’s my most valuable resource.

That means saying no to “golden” opportunities that don’t align with my goals. Doing less to achieve more.

Those who can ignore distractions and focus on their goals will achieve great things.

You

What about you?

Are there any opportunities that old you would have chased but now ignore?

Did this article make you think of a small time-wasting task you should quit?

I’d love to hear what struggles you’ve overcome or are still facing.

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Walking by these golf clubs gave me more ideas that I will be sharing in parts 2 and 3 of this series.

In part 2 we will look at hidden time traps—how you waste your time without realizing it.

Part 3 will explore how to value time as a leader—how every “yes” has a hidden cost.

Make sure you get alerted when the articles are posted by clicking the subscribe button

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You can’t stand the thought of spending another minute in this job, yet here you are again. Trapped in a psychological hellhole.

You’re amazing at your job. People admire you and seek your advice.

But you want out.

You feel guilty. Your job is making a difference in people’s lives. You’re at peak performance. Many would kill to earn your hourly rate. So why do you want out?

Why does an amazing career feel like a long Monday morning at Initech?

Here’s the shift that transforms everything:

The human brain thrives on challenge. When a job becomes routine, you stop feeling engaged.

You’re not ungrateful—you’re unfulfilled.

If you’ve experienced this, I’d love to hear about it in the comments section! Just hit the leave a comment button.

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Why fulfillment matters more

Most of us focus on goals—financial freedom, optimal health, family experiences—but those give the illusion that happiness can only be achieved once we reach them.

We assume the good life comes from enduring years of mediocrity. Then you achieve those goals, only to find another hill to climb. The game you won is only level one in a larger game. You have less joy at the goal line than during the journey.

Why?

Because you experienced a state of psychological flow while working toward the goal, now that you’ve arrived, life has lost its vibrancy.

Video game developers thrive on this principle. They craft games that the user can’t easily beat but constantly feels close to winning.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi describes flow as “the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, p. 4

To experience flow, you must balance skill and challenge. Work must challenge your skills enough to engage you, but not so much that you can’t accomplish the goal. If you can’t succeed, you’ll get frustrated and give up. Once your skills surpass the challenge, flow diminishes.

This image illustrates the challenge vs skill zone:

At the peak of my nursing career, I lost flow.

It was disorienting. I was standing on my professional Mount Everest, and all I wanted to do was escape.

Why?

Life is about the journey, not the destination.

The good life isn’t something you unlock only after retirement. That’s the lie corporate culture promotes to keep people tied to menial jobs.

We’re told misery is the price for later joy. A proper mindset enables you to experience meaning, growth, and purpose during struggle—not just afterward.

This is where flow comes in.

Optimizing your life so struggle matches skill results in a flow state that produces joy.

This brings us to a harsh truth: the person holding you back can only be confronted with a mirror.

If you don’t enjoy the journey, you’ll hate the destination.

Enjoy the journey or choose a different path.

The Path Less Traveled

At 37, I was at the height of my second career. I’d already restarted when I switched from a nuclear power plant operator to a nurse. It took 10 years to reach the highest-paid position for a union nurse. I just had to ride it out to retirement.

Sitting in my car, staring at the parking garage pillar in front of me, not wanting to walk into the hospital again, I felt adrift.

I’m too old for this.

I can’t just reinvent myself and start a new career.

But I can’t remain here.

My job no longer pushed me. I lost motivation. I lost joy.

Despite my age and financial obligations, I decided to find a new mountain to climb.

A book I was reading sparked something in me. The author described a period of intense burnout and the need to reinvent himself. In his process, he discussed finding your Thread.

Your thread is the things you’re passionate about regardless of the context.

When you map out your job history, experiences, hobbies, and interests, your threads reappear regardless of the context.

After mapping my job history, experiences, hobbies, and interests and asking AI to identify my recurring threads, I received the following insights:

Unfortunately, AI didn’t exist 5 years ago, so my self-discovery was more manual, but no less enlightening. I came to many of the same conclusions as my new BFF ChatGPT.

Discovering my intrinsic motivations and interests could have helped me find new purpose in my current position, but I knew I had more to contribute.

I jumped off the top of Mount Everest.

I became a business analyst for a hospital transfer center that initially paid less but offered growth. Better, it provided the challenges necessary for flow.

I started as an analyst and was quickly promoted to a supervisory position. Within three years, the department created a second manager position specifically for me and gave me a team of analysts.

I went from a risky hire to someone to replicate. I became indispensable.

What made me appealing?

My job aligned with my threads. I found a path where my jobs, hobbies, and interests intersected. I’m good at what I do and genuinely enjoy the work.

My past was no longer a loss—it made me unique.

Alignment with my Threads made it easier to establish a flow state. I frequently enter deep work periods where I develop processes that enhance patient flow in a 12-hospital system with over 99,000 inpatient visits last year.

I went from caring for a patient or two daily as a bedside nurse to helping hundreds get quicker access to medical care each day.

How can you become indispensable?

Become Indispensable

If you want to stay bored because you’re terrified of a different path, stop reading. You’ll live an unfulfilled life and hate retirement.

If you’re ready for more, keep reading.

I can’t tell you specifically how to become indispensable because I’m not you. You have to discover how to apply the following steps to your situation.

Find Your Thread(s)

If you could get paid $500k/year for any legitimate job, what would you do? Forget sipping margaritas on a beach; you’d be bored 2 months in.

We need purpose to feel alive.

The problem for most of us is that the things that make us feel alive don’t pay enough to support our lifestyle. Don’t worry about that now. First, we have to dream.

If you need help, go back to my previous article and create your Life Map. Then have AI assist you in discovering your Threads.

Find Your Path

Your dream faces reality. You have to pay the bills.

Many people fail here.

We’re programmed to think only in society’s categories. If you love to teach, become a teacher and get paid little.

Screw that.

Time to think outside the box.

Here’s the dirty secret about making money—people pay you to solve their problems, regardless of your role (employee, manager, business owner, entrepreneur).

• Waiter - Facilitates the process of delivering food from the kitchen to the customer.

• Nurse manager - Ensures the workforce is present and able to care for patients on the unit.

• Taco Bell owner - Provides meals for people who lack time to cook.

• Digital course instructor - Provides education and practical steps to improve customers’ lives.

Want a job that supports and fulfills you? Look at your threads and determine how to solve others’ problems using them.

If you need help, explore creative ways to do this with AI.

Find Your Flow

People in the flow zone at work accomplish more and inspire others. They’re the individuals that managers want to hire, CEOs want to empower, and others want to follow and learn from.

No matter your path, living in the flow zone will make you an unstoppable force, indispensable to those who rely on you.

To achieve a flow state, you must:

1. Prime your mind: Create a ritual that signals it’s time for deep work. It can be a combination of music, environment, and mindset. For me, it’s music. Either the focus playlist from Brain.fm or Sleep Theory. I’ve trained my brain with these as a signal to focus.

2. Clarify the target: Vague goals kill flow. Aim for a challenging, specific, and attainable goal. Too easy = boredom. Too hard = exhaustion.

3. Eliminate distractions: It takes 23 minutes to refocus after interruptions. Get expensive headphones. Block out the world. Turn off notifications. Let everyone know you’ll be unreachable for the next 55 minutes.

4. Set up feedback loops: Get immediate feedback at every step. Don’t wait 20 hours to discover you’re on the wrong track. AI can help here. It’s not as good as your ultimate human customer, but it can point out areas of improvement, and it’s available instantly.

5. Train for it: Flow is a skill. Train like you would for a marathon. Start with 10 minutes, then slowly increase. The more you practice focused engagement, the quicker you’ll enter the zone—and the longer you’ll remain.

The spark is flow. The fuel is thread. The fire is purpose.

Build your life around that flame and you’ll never be replaceable again.

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Your life is a fuzzy blur.

You know you’ve done great things, but you’re struggling to remember your major accomplishments.

This leads to a feeling of disconnect—you run on autopilot without tapping into your past genius.

How did this happen?

How did you lose yourself?

You’ve spent so much time focusing on the future that you’ve missed the gold mine of the past.

You’ve never made a habit of self-reflection, journaling, or mapping your life. You’re disconnected from your past, and it’s impacting your future.

I’m guilty of this.

I never prioritized my past. I focused only on growth and value.

I learned the hard way that remembering the past is key to the future.

Don’t let that be you.

Today, we’ll explore how journaling and life mapping are essential tools to tap into your past.

Sound bland?

It is if we didn’t supercharge it with AI.

Instead of having you write lengthy unread content, we’ll use emerging technology to do the legwork and provide succinct, actionable insights.

You’ll go from feeling disconnected to making better decisions and accelerating your career growth.

Look Backward to Accelerate Forward

Our past defines us, but unless we’re intentional, yesterday is easy to forget.

Humans have faced this problem since the dawn of memory.

Intentional remembering isn’t new—it’s a principle observed in ancient cultures.

Consider the Exodus story we grew up hearing. One thing that stuck out to me is how often freshly liberated Israel is told to remember they were slaves in Egypt.

Why is such a demand necessary?

Humans are good at forgetting things, even those with sharp minds. Oh, we remember the event, but we warp the details so it no longer guides our future.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

-George Santayana

If recently liberated people needed to remember, how much more do you and I need to learn the skill of remembering?

Let’s take Santayana’s statement further:

Those who don’t reflect on their past risk repeating mistakes and losing insights that drive growth.

If you haven’t studied your history—your patterns, strengths, and pivotal moments—you’ll struggle to articulate your value when it matters most.

When seeking growth opportunities, you lack direction.

Mapping your past can plot your trajectory. It can reveal adjacent, complementary skills to pursue immediately to increase your value.

Here’s how I applied this timeless wisdom to my life.

The Personal Historian

When I transitioned from an ICU nurse to a business analyst role, I became aware of the need to remember.

I learned great skills as a Navy reactor operator and a nurse, but now I was in a different world.

I felt like an aircraft carrier without propulsion.

My interviews were a struggle, and once I got a job, I had to learn a new set of skills.

I’ve grown immensely, but since that transition, I feel like I’ve forgotten more than I know.

I hate that feeling.

This January, I decided to become a personal historian—remembering my history was the best way to move forward.

It started with journaling.

But I hate journaling.

By the end of the workday, I’m mentally exhausted. I’ve solved problems, dealt with conflict, and juggled a hundred active projects. I’m spent.

How do I journal?

1. I set a reminder with a prompt asking me questions about my day.

   1. I use ChatGPT’s tasks feature because it asks different questions daily, breaking the monotony and sparking creativity.

2. I don’t write.

   1. I use an app called VoiceNotes for an audio journal.

   2. Once VoiceNotes is complete, it automatically transcribes my journal (it can do AI summarization, but I don’t use this often).

3. I copy the transcript into a custom ChatGPT prompt I created to:

   1. Clean up the transcript.

   2. Provide a short summary.

   3. List the main points.

   4. List the action items.

   5. Create a list of follow-up questions to consider.

   6. Create a list of potential arguments against my transcript. This one is fun!

   7. Create a list of related topics to explore.

4. I save that output into my note-taking system after reviewing it for insights.

5. I don’t beat myself up for missing a few days of journaling.

I’m a total nerd, right?

This system has supercharged my managerial skills.

Don’t just take my word for it; try it for yourself.

If you want my prompt, send me a message with the word “prompt” and I’ll send it.

Map Your Life

I’ve recently started using a life map.

It’s the one tool I wish I’d started using years ago. I’ve had it in my head, but putting it on (digital) paper is powerful.

What is a life map?

It’s a visual representation of your skills, interests, and life experiences—a map of everything that makes you you.

It’s your personal way of remembering your past to avoid mistakes and propel future growth.

Notice I said “personal.”

I can’t tell you what will work best for you—but I can share how I created my life map.

I grouped my map under the following major headings:

• Core values and motivators

• Transformative moments

• Family

• Hobbies & Interests

• Every job I’ve held

• Future goal

Most of these are simple lists, but I spent significant time under each job. I listed the duties and explored the core skills required.

For example, as a business analyst, one of my duties was quality analysis—reviewing incident reports and determining the root cause. This required systems thinking—understanding the whole to identify the failure point—and summarizing and synthesizing information to provide a succinct report and a recommendation to prevent future occurrences.

You can use a sheet of paper or a word processor for a bullet point list to develop your own. However, I like visualizing my map to see connections. I chose MindNode because it allows me to see my map visually and gives me a bullet point list output.

Here’s what mine looks like:

As I developed this life map, connections or threads emerged.

Threads are patterns of thinking or acting that reappear regardless of job, industry, or context. They’re your default operating system.

In a future article, we’ll explore the importance of these more. But for this exercise, I wanted to highlight them, and it’s important to mark them (bold, highlight, etc).

You can now add to this life map as you remember more past events or gain new skills or experiences. It will be beneficial for your next interview preparation.

The life map prepares you to answer interview questions intelligently.

But wait, there’s more!

AI unlocks the true potential of this life map.

Creating a life map is a fun exercise, but if you can’t use it immediately, it will end up collecting digital dust.

Enter AI.

With AI, you can provide your life map and receive personalized advice and insights.

You can use any AI model, but I use ChatGPT because I have a Plus subscription for about a year. Its memory feature remembers our conversations, so it gives me personal feedback and recommendations that no other model can match.

Today, I sent my life map to ChatGPT’s latest o3 model and asked the following questions:

1. Analyze my life map for potential additions.

2. What are my threads?

3. What adjacent skills could I learn to complement my existing skill set?

4. What are other use cases for a "life map"?

The insights were amazing. I could immediately add to my life map and now have a list of skills to learn to level up my career.

You can send your map to an AI model and ask it to help you prepare for an upcoming interview.

With your journal, you can ask the AI to act as a coach and give specific feedback on handling situations, writing reports, or interacting with your boss.

Include instructions for brutal honesty, as some AIs, like ChatGPT, can be sycophantic.

Opportunities are limited only by your imagination.

Create your why.

Face it. It’s hard to make journaling or life mapping a habit, even if you’re excited about it.

Why?

Because you subconsciously filter out what doesn’t provide immediate value.

Using AI with journaling and life mapping is key to success because it provides immediate, actionable results.

People pay hundreds or thousands a month for professional coaching. With my method, you can get immediate, daily coaching for free.

I schedule a short time at the end of my workday for my audio journal. Then, I schedule a 30-minute block on Fridays to review the AI outputs and reflect on that week’s insights.

It’s made me a better manager.

This habit can unlock your hidden potential.

Your action plan

If you’re ready to stop letting life pass by and use the past for growth, here’s a quick recap of the steps you can take today:

1. Workday Journaling: Establish a daily habit of recording a voice note journal of what went well, what didn’t, and what you can improve tomorrow.

   1. Bonus: Transcribe the journal and send it to AI for analysis. Reply to this email for the prompt.

2. Map Your Life: Use mind-mapping software like MindNode or XMind to map your skills, interests, and life experiences. This serves as a reminder and helps you make connections.

   1. Bonus: Send your map to AI for analysis. It can help you improve it, learn adjacent skills, or prepare for an upcoming interview.

3. Periodic Review: Schedule a weekly and/or monthly time block to review your journal and life map. If you’ve used AI, dig into the output for key takeaways.

   1. Bonus: Use AI again with the key takeaways. Then, copy and paste them into AI and ask it to create an action plan.

Lastly, don’t get overwhelmed. Give yourself grace.

These things take time.

If you want to take one small step, start journaling. Most smartphones have a dictation mode where you can talk and it will type into a note program, so if you don’t want to invest in a specific app, you can use that. You don’t have to worry about spelling or grammar; AI will fix that.

Try it today.

Experiment with different prompts until you find one that gives you valuable insights.

Here’s a truth you need to embrace.

You won’t always feel like journaling. You can’t complete your Life Map in a single day. You’ll get distracted.

Don’t let setbacks become reasons to quit.

Your future depends on your use of the past.

If you enjoyed this article, do me a favor. Share it with just one other person you know who would benefit from reading it.

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You’ve done everything right.

Picked a lane. Built expertise. Climbed the ladder.

And then the job went to someone else—someone who didn’t “earn their stripes,” who didn’t follow the rules, who didn’t put in the time.

What gives?

The problem isn’t your lack of experience.

It’s that the game changed—and no one told you.

Today, the advantage doesn’t belong to the one who knows the most—it belongs to the one who sees what specialists can’t..

• The person who draws from multiple domains.

• The person who translates ideas between industries.

• The person who can learn fast, connect dots, and solve problems that don’t fit into a single box.

That’s the Anti-Specialist. If your career path has felt messy, nonlinear, or too weird to explain on a résumé… this might be your secret weapon.

The people with the greatest competitive advantage in today’s market are those who connect their varied interests, experiences, and career paths into a singular, powerful personal brand.

As David Epstein argues in Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, the people who thrive today aren’t the ones who drill the deepest into one field. They’re the ones who learn broadly, adapt quickly, and connect insights across disciplines.

More and more businesses are catching on. That’s why they’re hiring versatile, cross-trained outsiders over deeply entrenched insiders. They want adaptability. They want synthesis. They want Anti-Specialists.

I didn’t set out to be an Anti-Specialist.

In fact, for years, I thought my path was marked by scattered indecision and wasted time.

I didn’t realize the value I was creating at every turn. Here’s what that looked like for me:

• 8 years in the US Navy as a nuclear engineer, including several years in the training department

• A year remodeling homes

• Intensive care nursing

• Public speaking on the cultural context of the Bible

• Building a membership site and recording/editing videos

• Quality analyst role in a hospital system’s transfer center

• Manager in the same transfer center, leading internal optimization and system-wide initiatives to improve patient flow.

With each pivot, I faced the same skeptical questions:

“Won’t all that time be wasted?”

“Wouldn’t it be better to focus on this one thing?”

“When are you going to figure out what you want to be?”

Yet with each crossing point, I discovered something powerful: my previous experiences didn’t disappear or become irrelevant—they became the foundation for unique insights—bridges between fields that specialists couldn’t even see, let alone cross.

Rather than regretting the past, I harnessed it to make myself irreplaceable.

That’s why I’m writing—to share what I’ve learned and help you chart your path with confidence.

Why Specialists Are Becoming Obsolete

My story isn’t unique. It’s becoming more common.

The world that rewarded deep specialization is fading.

For decades, we've lived under a simple premise: specialize to succeed.

It makes sense—master one thing, become the go-to expert, build a career on knowledge no one else has. That used to make you indispensable.

The problems we face today don’t play by the old rules.

They don’t come with instructions.

They are messy. Unpredictable.

They demand a different kind of mind—one that adapts, connects, and translates across domains.

Take the tax professional who spent 25 years mastering an intricate tax code…only to watch AI do 80% of their job in seconds.

When your entire value is built on one niche skill, disruption isn’t just inconvenient—it’s life threatening!

When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.

But what if the nails are all gone?

Specialists can become locked into a thinking model optimized for outdated systems.

I’ve seen this firsthand in healthcare. The old world—where every hospital could do things their own way—is gone. Today, success requires systems thinking. It requires standardization, coordination, and integration.

Some embrace that.

Many do not.

They cling to the old methods. They throw outdated solutions at new problems and wonder why the fix fails.

Specialists struggle in a world that won’t stop changing.

It’s tempting to wish for the good old days, but they aren’t coming back.

Stop living in the what-ifs.

Start building for what is.

Embrace curiosity over control. Value exploration over efficiently getting the job done without questioning the entire system. Become someone who sees friction—and brings the oil.

That’s the Anti-Specialist mindset. It’s not about having a toolbox full of skills. It's about what happens when those tools intersect – what I call "intentional versatility."

Take my own path. I combined systematic thinking from the Navy, critical care knowledge from nursing, and digital strategy from running a membership website.

That mix helped me partner with IT to design optimizations in the electronic medical record systems across twelve hospitals, dramatically improving patient flow.

No one taught me how to do that.

But each experience gave me a piece of the solution.

That’s the Anti-Specialist Advantage.

You’re not constrained by your title, your department, or your past. You’re free to approach the problem from any angle. To see what specialists miss. To solve what AI can’t.

Here’s the truth you need to hear: Robots won’t replace the Anti-Specialist.

AI is fast. But it’s narrow.
It doesn’t cross disciplines.
It doesn’t ask better questions.
It doesn’t connect the abstract with the human.

But you do.

And that’s exactly what today’s problems demand.

They’re what scientists call "wicked problems":

• They don't fit neatly into departmental silos.

• They can’t be solved by a single discipline

• They demand translators, pattern-recognizers, and mental model collectors.

• They require people who can pull from one field to crack open another.

Deep expertise still matters. But breadth now multiplies that depth.

And not everyone should spend 30 years drilling into one problem. That path should be a calling—not the default.

For most of us, the future lies in intentional versatility.

It enables you to spot opportunities and threats earlier.

Adapt quickly.

Solve problems others can’t even see.

You’re no longer an employee.

You’re now an asset.

The 5-Step System to Unlock Your Anti-Specialist Advantage

So, how do you turn your unique background into your biggest advantage without starting over or hoping someone just “gets” it?

This is the system I wish I had years ago. It’s how I turned my winding path into something that creates clarity, value, and momentum

Step 1: Map Your Seemingly Unrelated Skills and Interests

Most professionals with diverse backgrounds make a critical mistake: they compartmentalize their experiences rather than seeing them as part of an integrated whole.

They say things like,

“Yeah, I worked in hospitality—but that was forever ago.”

“Well, I’ve done a little coding, but I’m not a developer.”

“I just volunteer on the side—it’s not part of my career.”

But here’s the truth: it’s all part of your story.

And your first step is to connect the dots.

Build Your Knowledge Inventory

This is a personal audit of what makes you you—a map of your skills, interests, and life experiences, no matter how professional (or unprofessional) they may seem.

Ask yourself:

• What do I naturally obsess over?

• What problems do people always ask me to help with?

• What have I spent hundreds of hours doing—even if no one paid me for it?

• What weird skills or experiences do I have that others overlook?

Write them down. Don’t filter. Don’t judge. Just list.

Then take each one and dig a layer deeper

What is the function of this skill or experience? What does it actually do?

Here’s what that may look like:

Data analyst
→ I tell a story using numbers that influences how my company makes decisions.

Parent of five boys (yes, I really am)
→ I manage a small, chaotic team with no (legal) ability to fire them.

Weightlifting
→I create structure, build systems, and track progress over time.

This exercise isn’t about collecting random facts—it’s about discovering how your experiences all fit together.

Most people walk around with a thousand puzzle pieces in their heads. This is the moment you start to see the picture they form.

Your unique combination already exists. Mapping it makes it visible—and powerful.

Step 2: Identify Your Unique Thread(s)

Now that you’ve mapped your experiences, it’s time to look beneath them.

What you’ve done is only part of the story.

What really matters is how you do it. That’s where your hidden edge lives.

In my experience, Anti-Specialists tend to have 1-3 consistent patterns that show up across the different roles they’ve played. I call these Threads.

A Thread is a pattern of thinking or acting that reappears no matter what the job, industry, or context. It is your default operating system.

What do Threads look like?

• You bridge gaps between people who don’t understand each other

• You translate complexity into simplicity

• You motivate others to act

• You instinctively question assumptions

• You turn chaos into clarity

Your Thread isn’t a job title or a skill.

It’s a core behavior that keeps surfacing—even when you’re not trying.

For me, one of my strongest Threads is systems thinking.

I can’t help but break things down, figure out how the pieces interact, and rebuild them for better performance. That shows up in:

• My love for advanced math in high school

• My nuclear engineering work

• My time as an ICU nurse

• My approach to teaching the Bible through cultural context

• My current role optimizing patient flow in a multi-hospital system

There’s another Thread, too: I love making complex ideas simple and relatable—then teaching them to others. That shows up in almost everything I do.

Your Threads are the source code of your professional DNA. They’re how you instinctively tackle challenges—whether you’re parenting, building a project, or answering a customer’s phone call.

Identifying them gives you a powerful foundation for the next steps.

Your Threads are the lens through which you create value.
They’re what make your Anti-Specialist toolkit cohesive rather than chaotic.

So look at your Knowledge Inventory from Step 1 and ask:

• What shows up again and again?

• What do I always end up doing, even when it’s not in the job description?

• What type of work makes me feel alive, regardless of the setting?

Once you spot your Thread(s), you’ll never unsee them.

They’ll be your compass.

Step 3: Develop Your Learning Acceleration System

Here’s the truth that separates the Anti-Specialists from everyone else:

Learning fast is a skill.

And it’s the most valuable one you can develop.

Being an Anti-Specialist isn’t about knowing everything. It’s about being able to learn what you need—when you need it.

That’s your secret weapon. And if you don’t have it yet, you can build it.

I call this the Learning Acceleration System—a simple framework that allows you to gain real-world competence in record time.

Here’s how to build yours:

Know your learning patterns

• Do you absorb best through reading, watching, writing, or doing?

• Start paying attention to how you actually learn—not how you think you’re supposed to.

Build an Interconnected Second Brain

• A “second brain” is a digital or physical system where you store and connect your thinking—so you don’t have to keep it all in your head.

• Take notes in a system that helps you connect new knowledge with what you already know.

• There are plenty of systems out there. Just pick one. What matters is creating a system of linked ideas instead of letting it rot in a graveyard of disconnected notes.

Anchor It to a Real Project

• You won’t retain knowledge you don’t put into practice.

• Pick a real-world project that forces you to implement what you’re learning—no matter how messy. Execution creates retention.

Use the 80/20 Rule

• Don’t try to master everything.

• Identify the 20% of the concepts or skills that deliver 80% of the results. Learn those first, fast, and thoroughly.

When I stepped into healthcare leadership, I didn’t get sent to a 6-month management course. I had to learn on the fly—while navigating systems, stakeholders, and chaos.

It was painful.
But it worked.
And it taught me something most people don’t realize:

The fastest way to learn is to do it wrong, fix it, and then do it again—better.

That’s why I’m a huge advocate of intentional, accelerated learning.

Yes, you could spend tens of thousands on a degree to feel “ready.” But most of what you need can be learned faster, cheaper, and more effectively—if you know how to learn while building.

When you learn this skill, you stop waiting for permission.

You become a force of nature—able to enter new arenas, pick up new capabilities, and create value wherever you land.

Step 4: Create Value Through Cross-Disciplinary Thinking

This is where you start to use your Anti-Specialist advantage.

The most valuable problems in any organization are often the ones no one owns—because they live between departments, roles, or domains.

I call these cross-domain opportunities.

These problems persist because everyone sees them through a narrow lens.
The nursing unit blames the surgery team.
The surgery team blames patient placement.
Patient placement blames registration.
Everyone’s doing their job—and the problem still festers.

This is where you come in.

Anti-Specialists see what specialists can’t.

You speak multiple “languages.” You see how the parts affect the whole. You recognize when the solution isn’t in the room—because it lives in the space between.

So how do you spot these high-leverage opportunities?

Start by asking:

• “Why do we do it this way?”

• “Who benefits from this system staying the same?”

• “What would break if we changed this?”

• “What problem are we actually solving for here?”

Ask people to explain it to you like you’re a 10-year-old.

Ask the “dumb” questions everyone’s too embarrassed to say out loud.

When someone replies, “Because that’s how we’ve always done it”—you’ve likely struck gold.

Most people stuck in silos are blind to inefficiencies in the larger system.

But you’re not.

The Anti-Specialist sees friction, the waste, the gap—and starts sketching the bridge.

And here’s the key: your idea won’t always get implemented.

You’ll pitch ideas that fall flat.
You’ll suggest changes that make people uncomfortable.
You’ll raise questions that don’t have easy answers.

Do it anyway.

Over time, decision-makers will recognize the pattern. You’re the one who spots what others miss. You’re the one who finds the problem behind the problem. You’re the one who brings insights that don’t neatly fit into anyone’s job description—but save the company real time and money.

Problem-solvers are valuable.

Problem-finders are irreplaceable.

This is the skill organizations quietly look for—and pay premium salaries to keep.

Start cultivating it today.

Step 5: Position Yourself as a Versatile Problem-Solver

The final step is identity—and influence.

It’s not enough to be valuable. You have to help others see it.

Many Anti-Specialists stay stuck because they don’t know what they bring to the table. They minimize their past or apologize for it.

That ends now.

It’s time to own your path and present yourself as something radically different:

Not a jack-of-all-trades. Not a dabbler

You are someone with principled versatility—a pattern of learning, adapting, and delivering value across multiple domains.

You’re a cross-functional strategist. You spot patterns others miss. You bring synthesis to a world obsessed with specialization.

You are the person people come to with the problem they can’t solve.

This isn’t just a new mindset

It’s your new identity.

Let the world see it!

This isn’t about spin. It’s about clarity.

Rewrite Your Professional Narrative

Stop apologizing for your "non-traditional” path. Stop trying to reword your experiences into a generic job title.

Instead, position your background as strategic preparation for solving complex, interdisciplinary problems—the kind companies are facing more and more every day.

When I embraced this mindset, everything changed.

I stopped competing for positions and started creating them. The company didn’t just want to keep me—they built new roles to amplify the value I was bringing.

That’s the power of positioning.

Try This Narrative Shift Formula:

Instead of:

I’ve had a pretty random career—nuclear engineering, ICU nurse, educator, and now healthcare integration and optimization manger

Say:

I solve complex problems across disciplines. My background in engineering, healthcare, and systems thinking allows me to bridge gaps that most people don’t even see.

Spot the difference?

One sounds scattered. The other sounds irreplaceable.

You are not limited by your job title.

You are not competing with others in your role.

You’re offering something entirely different.

And the more complex the problems get, the more valuable you become.

Final Thought

The Anti-Specialist Advantage isn’t about rejecting expertise. It’s about leveraging your unique experiences and building a smarter, more adaptable approach to learning.

In a world defined by complexity and rapid change, the edge belongs to those who can think across boundaries—who can learn fast, synthesize well, and solve what specialists can’t.

By following this 5-step system, you can transform your “scattered” background into your greatest asset.

You won’t just keep up with change—you’ll thrive in it.

You won’t chase value—you’ll create it.

You’ll stop trying to fit into conventional boxes.

And this is just the beginning. In future newsletters, we’ll go deeper into each step, unpack more tools for your Anti-Specialist toolkit, and explore how to build a career that fits you.

The future belongs to those who can integrate knowledge across boundaries.

The future belongs to the Anti-Specialists.

The future belongs to you.

Tell me in the comments below about your wild and winding career path. I’d love to hear it. Your past may be more powerful than you think.

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