Hello Gentle Readers to Week 8! We’ve got a nice surprise for you this week, another tool to help make the journey a bit more fruitful – SparcCards. SparcCards are the latest tool we’ve developed to help you connect techniques that are proven to make life more fulfilling in an easy to read synopsis. Think of them as plays out of a playbook, ideas culled from the best the world has to offer that you can flip through to help you find what you’re looking for in new, innovative ways, completely free.
The idea comes from the various readings that myself and others in my network have done, plus experiences we’ve had. Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, states that using someone else as your proxy leads to greater results. That is, leveraging folks who’ve been where you want to go is the best way to determine your path. We’ve distilled all the learning and awesomeness into snippets that you can print out and read in a few minutes.
Its super simple to use this system. Just remember any good radar system “Search, Track, Filter, Engage” – or for short, the STEF model. (Yes, I switched the order of the letters. You can’t say STFE…I mean, stiffe? That doesn’t work, does it?)
Lets check out an example self-dialog with our friend Beatrice, who is deciding what she wants to do this year:
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Beatrice Questioner Gremlin: “What am I going to do with this year?”
Beatrice Leader Gremlin: “I leveraged Mind Mapping (SC03) and it uncovered three ideas: donut shop, complete that book, and start my masters degree.”
Beatrice Questioner Gremlin: “I don’t know a lot about donut shops, so I’ll do some more investigation by asking a friend who opened a restaurant last year and see what her experiences were like (SC01 – Interviewing Sherpas (SC01).
Beatrice Leader Gremlin: “I extracted the three items into a list (TR01- Prioritized List). The top two at least for now are the donut shop and the masters degree.
Beatrice Detail Gremlin: But I need more information! I’m going to visit some of the sites that I think I might use (TR02 – Check out the Space). And there’s this donut shop in a neighboring town. Maybe I can learn something by going there. Maybe I’ll take a few days off and visit that college I was thinking about.
Beatrice Leader Gremlin: “I’m choosing the Masters Degree (filtering). I loved that college! The donut shop sounded tough after talking to my friend, and the site isn’t what I hoped for. I can work on some aspects of the donut shop, but for Q1 I’ll be focusing on getting into my degree program. The book is just going to have to wait.
Beatrice Worry Gremlin: But I’m terrible at follow up.
Beatrice Leader Gremlin: I better use my cellphone to remind me to register…. (TR03 – Annoying Robot) and I’ll use a memo book to track progress (TR04 –Write Down Weekly Goals).”
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Make sense? SparcCards are best used in combos, as they amplify each other.
Check out the latest Card, SCO4 – Seek Diversity for Strength. If you go to the SparcCards menu, you’ll see a few more of them. The intention is to get a nice library of these cards going, so if you have any suggestions for a card (Search or Track), please let us know by commenting below.
Enjoy!