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Part 1: Energise

Chapter 1: Play

Experiment 1: Choose your character

Choose your character

1. The Collector - loves to gather and organise, thrifting

2. The Competitor - enjoys games and sports; takes pleasure in trying their best and winning

3. The Explorer - likes to wander, discovering new places, hiking, road tripping, other adventures

4. The Creator - making things, hobbies

5. The Storyteller - active imagination, writing, dance, theater and role-playing games.

6. The Director - plan, organise, lead - actives, performances, run a company

7. The Joker - making people smile, pranking

8. The Kinesthete - physical activities

Experiment 2: Embrace your curiosity

Pick a side quest when doing something boring.

Experiment 3: Magic Post it Note

What would it look like if it were fun? Is there a way to make it more fun?

Experiment 4: Enjoy the process, Not the outcome

Seems similar to experiment 3. Example: the guy who started pitching barbecue sauce to Mc Donald’s customers.

Experiment 5: Reframe your failures

Lower the stakes. Approach things as experiments, where failures are as valuable as successes - just another data point.

Experiment 6: Dont be serious. Be sincere.

Dont be serious- being fixated on winning or losing. be fully engaged in the experience. Focus on the process of completing each task rather than being fixated on the end result.

Chapter 2: Power

Experiment 1: The confidence switch

Think “what would I look like if I approached this task feeling confident that I could do it?”

Experiment 2: The social model method

Be inspired by the masters. Consume different forms of content created by your role models.

If they can you can too.

Experiment 3: The Shoshin approach

We learn through doing. We level our skills. Our confidence grows. We empower ourselves.

Shoshin refers to a state of mind in which we approach every task and situation with the curiosity, openness and humility of a beginner.

By letting go of the idea that we know everything or somehow should, we actually feel more powerful.

Experiment 4: The Protege Effect

He who teaches learns. Offer to mentor someone.

Experiment 5: Own the process

Take control wherever you can. If you are not in control of the entire situation, take agency over parts of it → Intrinsic motivation

Experiment 6: Own your mindset

Tell yourself: ‘I get to do this.’ ‘I choose to do this.’

Turn ‘have to’ → ‘choose to’

Chapter 3: People

Experiment 1: The comrade mindset

Think of colleagues as comrades, not competitors. Deliberately make them your team. Their win is your win.

Experiment 2: Find synchronicity

Try to find people with whom to work in sync- even if you are not collaborating on the same task.

Experiment 3: Random acts of kindness

Try to make someone feel better. Give someone a flower, bring someone a cake.

Experiment 4: Ask for help from others

Benjamin Franklin effect: Asking for help can be a gift to someone, rather than the burden we assume it usually is. It makes them think better of us. It also makes them feel better.

How to ask for help:

1. get over reluctance to ask.

2. frame the request the right way- in person, emphasise the positive aspects of the person, overcommunicate.

Experiment 5: Overcommunicate the good

Share good news.

Respond to good news with enthusiasm and positivity.

Experiment 6: Overcommunicate the not-so-good

Be more candid - ‘here’s what I think. Can you hear me out? We can do it together.’

Focus more on the solution and not the problem.

Part 2: Unblock

Chapter 4: Seek clarity

Experiment 1: Using Commander’s intent

Find the purpose behind the task? Are you procrastinating because you overestimate the task? Are you over-attentive to the signs of success or failure of a task? Try finding the purpose, the end state and key tasks.

Experiment 2: The Five Whys

With five whys you should reach your ultimate purpose otherwise you may choose to not do the task.

Experiment 3: NICE goals

Near-term, input-based, controllable and energising.

What immediate steps are needed to take along our journey?

Input-based emphasise the process. Not ‘lose 5 kg by December’ but ‘start walking for 10 minutes’

Focus on goals within our control.

Is there a way to integrate power, people and play (Chapter 1-3)?

Experiment 4: The crystal ball method

Identify the big obstacles before they have derailed your plans.

Mitigate the risk of the top three - by asking someone for help, increasing your odds of not facing the risk.

Experiment 5: Implementation Intentions

Create triggers to create long term behavior change. Example: ‘When I walk into the kitchen, I do a push up.’

Experiment 6: Time blocking

If you want something done, stick it in your calendar.

Level 1: Time-block specific tasks you tend to avoid.

Level 2: Time-block entire day.

Level 3: Time-block entire week to give importance to all aspects of your life: work, family, hobbies, exercise, relaxation, personal developments.

Chapter 5: Find courage

Experiment 1: The Emotion Label

Affective labelling: It is the act of putting your feelings into words, which forces you to identify and get to know the sensations you are experiencing. By naming and acknowledging our fears, we cultivate a deeper self-awareness that helps us better understand our emotional patterns. It reduces our ruminations.

Experiment 2: The Identity Label

Labels are a self-fulfilling prophecy. A negative label can amplify our fears and a positive label can overcome them.

Experiment 3: The 10/10/10 Rule

Cognitive reappraisal when you find yourself catastrophizing: Will this matter in 10 days? in 10 weeks? in 10 years?

Experiment 4: The Confidence Equation

Self Confidence = Perception of Ability - Perception of Standards

How confident do I actually need to feel to just get started with this?

Make a start. You dont need to be perfect for a long time yet.

Experiment 5: Stop spotlighting

No one cares.

Experiment 6: The Batman Effect

The Batman effect - Embody an alter ego. Find a quiet place where you can be alone and take a few moments to visualize yourself transforming into the alternative ‘you’.

Chapter 6: Get started

Experiment 1: Reduce environmental friction

Tweak your environment to make the thing you want to make a start on the most obvious, default decision. Example: Practicing the guitar: Move your guitar to the living room.

Experiment 2: Reduce emotional friction

Five minute rule: Just do a task for 5 minutes. Allow yourself to move on after 5 minutes.

Experiment 3: Define the next action step

Turn the intimidatingly huge long-term goal into an achievable concrete step. Want to do yoga? Roll out the yoga mat.

Experiment 4: Track your progress

Create tangible evidence that you are making progress.

Experiment 5: Find an accountability buddy

It harnesses the energising effects of people (Chapter 3). It weaponises your sense of duty. You and another person mutually agree to hold each other accountable at an agreed time for an agreed task.

Find your buddy - ideally someone with a shared outlook, someone who understands your woes and appreciates your successes.

Accountability culture - Set some ground rules. What would a positive approach to accountability look like? What amount of contact? How can they best help you?

Accountability process - What specifically your buddy will do, and when?

Experiment 6: Forgive yourself

I did not do X but instead I did Y.

I didn’t go for early morning workout but I did get an extra hour in bed. I am feeling rested.

Part 3: Sustain (Sustainable productivity)

Chapter 7: Conserve

Experiment 1: The energy investment portfolio

Come up with two lists. List A: a list of all your dreams, hopes and ambitions. Something you would like to do at some point, just probably not right now. List B is active investments. The projects you are actively investing energy into this week.

Experiment 2: The power of no

When you find yourself weighing up whether to take a new project or commitment, you have got two options - either ‘hell yeah’ or ‘no’. Opportunity costs reflect the fact that every ‘yes’ we say is a ‘no’ to whatever else we could’ve been doing wiht our time and energy instead.

You can also give yourself thinking space. Think ’Would I be excited about this commitment if it was happening tomorrow?’

Experiment 3: Add friction

Add friction to avoid distractions. For example, apps that deliberately slow you down from opening social media apps.

Experiment 4: Correct course

Give yourself permission to be distracted. Think of it as a temporary veering off-track - not an indication that it’s time to abandon your plans altogether.

Experiment 5: Schedule your breaks

Schedule time to do nothing. It replenishes our energy.

Breaks aren’t a special treat. They are an absolute necessity.

Experiment 6: Embrace energizing distractions

Not all distractions are equal. Create distractions that can bring positive energy into our lives, forcing us to pause, reflect and take things at a more reasonable pace. For example, setting a reminder to drink water and take deep breaths.

Chapter 8: Recharge

Experiment 1: Calm hobbies

Hobbies are CALM activities - competence, autonomy, liberty and mellow. It unlocks our sense of competence, increases our sense of ownership, liberty from work, makes us feel relaxed.

Integrate hobbies into your day. There is no end goal and no stress.

Experiment 2: Calm projects

Projects are useful in building our sense of competence as they give us a sense of accomplishment when we reach our goal.

Experiment 3: Bring in nature

Integrate a green space into your home -indoor plants, pictures of the natural world, natural sounds on YouTube.

Experiment 4: Take a walk

Take a walk, no time limits, no distance to reach. If you can, take your stroll through a park or a forest or a quiet street.

Experiment 5: Let your mind wander

Schedule moments of nothingness into your week. Your brain needs to wander (similar to shower thoughts)- and so solve problems with perspectives you didn’t realise you had.

Experiment 6: The ‘Reitoff principle’

The Reitoff principle is the idea that we should grant ourselves permission to write off a day and intentionally step away from achieving anything.

By doing less today, you can do more of what matters tomorrow.

Chapter 9: Align

Experiment 1: The eulogy method

What would I feel good about someone saying in my funeral? This method helps us get at the question of ‘What do I value?’.

Experiment 2: The odyssey plan

Reflect on:

Your current path: Write out, in detail, what your life would look like five years from now if you continued down your path.

Your alternate path: Write out, in detail, what your life would look like five years from now if you took a completely different path.

Your radical path: Write out, in detail, what your life would look like five years from now if you took a completely different path, where money, social obligations and what people would think were irrelevant.

Experiment 3: The wheel of life

Start by drawing a circle and slicing it into nine segments. Around the edges of each slice write down the major areas of your life - Health (body, mind and soul), Work (mission, money and growth) and relationships (family, romance and friends). You rate how aligned you feel in each area of your life and color it in. if you are completely fulfilled, you color the slice completely.

Experiment 4: The 12-month celebration

Imagine it’s 12 months from now and you’re having dinner with your best friend. You’re celebrating how much progress you’ve made in the areas of your life that are important to you. Write down what you would want to tell your best friend. Something like, ‘In the past 12 months, I have …’. Consult your wheel of life (experiment 3) to create these sentences for the major areas you want to improve.

Experiment 5: The three alignment quests

Look at your 12 month celebration and create three alignment quests for the day - under each of the areas of health, work and relationships (wheel of life, experiment 3), choose one subcategory to focus on.

Experiment 6: Alignment experiments

Experiment with what brings you meaning. And use those experiments to inform the decisions you make every hour.

Step 1: Identify an area of your life that is particularly unfulfilling.

Step 2: Come up with your hypothesis - one independent variable that you can change to get more satisfaction and motivation.

Step 3: Make a change. And as you do so, see what effect it has on your situation and your sense of alignment.