PLAN

Carla Harris, managing director at Morgan Stanley and motivational speaker, inspired this next exercise. Learn about Carla's most important pearl, the perception pearl, in the following video clip.

Now that we know where we're going, we need to know how to get there. Your three weapons will point you in the right direction. They will tell you how to tackle challenges, made decisions, and take actions. They provide the armor required to battle the challenges that threaten to keep you stuck where you no longer want to be.

Your three weapons are your Strengths, Aspiring Strengths, and (Aspiring) Leadership Titles:

1. Strengths (Adjectives)i.e. how people currently describe you; characteristics you frequently exhibit (e.g., creative, thoughtful)

2. Aspiring Strengths (Adjectives)i.e. how you would like people to describe you; qualities that will help you pursue your purpose (e.g., confident, ambitious)

3. (Aspiring) Leadership Titles (Nouns) i.e. the title description of the type of leader you want to be (e.g., builder, social entrepreneur)

Instructions:

4. Set the timer on your phone for 90 seconds

5. Start the timer and list your Strengths on your piece of paper

6. Reset the timer, start it, and list your Aspiring Strengths

7. Reset the timer, start it, and list your Aspiring Leadership Titles

8. Tip: Don't think, just write.

Alternative Instructions:

1. Text five people and ask them, "What three words would you use to describe me?"

2. Revisit your company values and examine the qualities of role models who are where you want to be to determine what strengths you'll need to achieve your wish

3. Identify the activities you excel at and enjoy most in your work and turn those verbs into nouns (e.g., getting to know people --> relationship-builder, doing things differently --> innovator); consider revisiting the qualities you listed when you identified your Sweet Spot

To select your three weapons, follow these instructions:

1. First, go back to your list of fears and doubts

2. Then, revisit your lists of Strengths, Aspiring Strengths, and (Aspiring) Leadership Titles

3. Identify one word in each category that will help you overcome these obstacles when they arise
   (For example, creativity helps me overcome the fear of failure)

Tip: The most important criteria to use to help you select these three weapons is that you believe them. Don't try to pick words that would impress other people (you never have to share these!); instead, pick words that truly mean something to you. You get to define these words, not Webster.

A weapons is more than just a word. The three weapons you picked represent more than just three words; they represent a category of values, actions, and beliefs that will help you defeat your biggest competitors: fear and doubt. To expand the meaning and richness of these words, write a list of words that describe each weapon.

1. Reflect on the weapon

2. Write five to ten words that define what this weapon means to you (tip: you can include words from Part 1)

For example, creative means fun, inspiring, unique, doing things differently, problem-solving, frugal

To outsmart stress, fear, doubt, and other paralyzing obstacles, switch into problem-solving mode by asking yourself a question.

1. Fill in the blanks with your three weapons, where (1) is Your Strength, (2) is Your Aspiring Strength, (3) is Your Leadership Descriptor, and [purpose statement] is your purpose statement from the Wish section.

Voilà! You have your question.

How would a (1)__________________, (2)__________________, (3)__________________ who [purpose statement] handle this situation?

You can also simplify the question to your three words:

How would a (1)_____________________, (2)_____________________, (3)_____________________ handle this situation?

2. Memorize this question

3. Any time stress, doubt, or fear arises, ask yourself this question

You don't necessarily need to be in stress-mode to reap the benefits of this exercise. In any moment, when you need to refocus your attention, you can simply remind yourself:

I am a (1)__________________, (2)__________________, (3)__________________ who [purpose statement].

Or, simply:

I am a (1)_____________________, (2)_____________________, (3)_____________________.

You can even shorten this mantra to two words. For example, before every golf game, my dad says: I am a great golfer! After practicing this exercise for three months, he's been playing his best golf game and recently shot his all-time best score of 74!

Carla reminds us, "you can train people to think about you in the way that you want them to think about you." For 90 days, "walk, talk, eat, and drink" these three weapons. Your behavior must reflect what you want people to perceive you. Look at yourself in the mirror every morning upon waking and remind yourself of who you are and what you do. Then, get out there in the world and use these weapons to outsmart the obstacles that stand in your way, whether they are your own fears and doubts, or they are the fears, doubts, judgments, and assumptions that other people have about you.

And, if these three weapons are not working for you, rewrite them. In the next section on Persistence we'll learn to see every moment as an opportunity to collect new information and experiment with new behaviors. The benefit of this human life is that we get infinite chances to learn and iterate; armed with purpose and weapons, we can override our old habits, change our trajectory, and get to where we're going, faster.