Positive framing
State the outcome you want instead of the one you are trying to avoid
Swap the instruction from don't to do. Don't forget your lines becomes remember your lines, and don't eat on the couch becomes eat at the table. Sinek's reasoning is that a negative instruction leaves your attention parked on the thing you are trying to avoid, which is why skiers are taught to look at the gap rather than the trees. On a team it works the same way as it does on your own self-talk. The whole cost is a second of rephrasing.
People on record
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Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Simon SinekRecommends
Author · Start with WHY
Tell yourself to remember your lines rather than not to forget them. A negative instruction keeps your attention on the thing you want to avoid, he says. His illustration is skiers looking for the path between the trees instead of at the trees.
Source: The Optimism Company: Simon's Mental Trick to Beat Self-Sabotage
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under focus, productivity or stress.
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Shipping creative work
Publishing on a schedule rather than waiting for the work to feel ready
On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it, 1 recommends it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Vision setting
Write down a specific picture of who you are becoming, then filter decisions through it
On record from 2 of 62 tracked people: 2 do it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
5 Second Rule countdown
Count 5-4-3-2-1 out loud and move before hesitation talks you out of it
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
Automatic rules
Decide the behavior once, as a rule, so it is not decided in the moment
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it - ProtocolFREE, no cost
WHY discovery exercise
Ask a close friend why you are friends, then listen for what they say about themselves
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - Book$$$Cheap: Roughly under $50, or under $15/month.
Clear Thinking
Parrish on the ordinary moments where a decision is really made
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it
Protocol entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.