Vision setting
Write down a specific picture of who you are becoming, then filter decisions through it
Not a list of goals. One written picture of the life you are building: what that person does every day, what they protect, where they are heading, and what they are willing to give up to get there. The payoff is decision speed. Once the destination is clear, anything that pulls away from it is a distraction, and saying no stops taking willpower because the choice was made in advance. Most people who use it pair the vision with a calendar plan so it turns into daily actions rather than a mood board, and revisit it when a new chapter of life starts. It takes an hour of honest writing, a pen, and nothing else.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
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.
- Arnold SchwarzeneggerDoes it
Bodybuilding champion, actor, former governor · Arnold's Pump Club
Credits a specific, written vision for every chapter of his career and says it made turning down a $200,000 offer from Jack LaLanne easy. His current vision is health, family, climate work and promoting fitness, and anything outside it gets a quick no.
Source: Arnold's Pump Club newsletter: Arnold Schwarzenegger's $200,000 Gamble and How One Word Keeps Him Focused - Greg McKeownDoes it
Author · Essentialism
Two carefully worded pages at the front of his binder describe the fullest version of the life he thinks is available to him. Not goals, he says, and not shared with anyone.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #719 transcript
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under productivity, focus or stress.
- ProtocolFREE, no cost
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
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
Positive framing
State the outcome you want instead of the one you are trying to avoid
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends 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.