Ep. 339: The Higher Horizons of Focus  ## Metadata - Author: [[Getting Things Done]] - Full Title: Ep. 339: The Higher Horizons of Focus - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/49dab735-0923-4a2e-8abe-546cd2f9c25a ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **Future Focus Improves Today's Performance** - Higher-horizon thinking makes current decisions smoother by changing perception and performance today. - Ana Maria says the future never shows up; focusing on it improves how you act in the present. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez So what we're going to be focusing on as the, let's say, part A or the beginning of today's session, it's going to be on higher horizon thinking. And what's very important to remember or understand about the approach of this methodology is that it is really about where you are, not where you should be. So to me, the good news here is to understand that we're actually kind of working throughout these different horizons all the time. And it's actually what got you where you are. So what's going to be happening next is you're kind of going to make, you're going to make more conscious that kind of thinking that you're already involved in as part of today's session. So I'm going to invite you to focus on this higher horizon thinking with, you know, as in with a lighthearted approach standpoint. Don't take it too seriously. Just really enjoy what shows up and just let's kind of play along if that makes any sense. The other thing I wanted to frame for today is this interesting truth that the future never shows up. Have you not noticed that it's always today? However, the future, it's a very handy illusion or focusing in the future, as one would say. And for that, you know, David Allen has recognized a key principle that can really help with motivation when it comes to engaging in this higher horizon thinking. So here's a quote from David that I want you to read. So that is very, very critical. Like if you really let that sink in, to me, the greatest value after all these years of implementing the GTD methodology, when it comes to focusing or visualizing or having a goal in mind, It's not so much in terms of achieving it. But more so in how it changes my perception and performance today. ([Time 0:02:03](https://share.snipd.com/snip/3e27948a-ed47-4d25-839f-805fdd7a19d4)) - **Longer Horizons Yield Smoother Moves** - The longer the horizon you focus on, the smoother and less reactive your actions become. - Ana Maria compares horizon focus to driving: looking further ahead creates smoother moves. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez It's similar to when you probably remember when you learned to drive a car. As the beginning, as you were beginning to learn, you had quite jerky movements and in very small intervals. And it was kind of clumsy and it wasn't really like smooth and elegant. And you could barely take your eyes out of the driving wheel when obviously you need to be looking at, you know, out to the road as you're driving. As you got better and better, not only did your moves become smoother, you actually started looking not only at the road, but the scenery and everything around it. And it just became a very natural move for you. So, you know, another thing that we want to be thinking about is this next quote from David. The longer your horizon, the smoother your moves. That is also true as in, let's say, getting seasick, right? I don't know that you've ever heard if you get seasick that they will tell you, you know, just focus on that little picture frame. It's just moving like this, moving like this, moving like this, because that's just going to make you sicker. What they do is they say, you know, look out, look out of the horizon. ([Time 0:05:19](https://share.snipd.com/snip/28f6720e-333f-48c5-936c-95cb22e0feeb)) - **Driving Example Illustrates Horizon Awareness** - Ana Maria compares learning to drive with jerky early moves and smoother actions as you look further ahead. - The driving example illustrates how horizon awareness develops into elegant decision-making. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez As the beginning, as you were beginning to learn, you had quite jerky movements and in very small intervals. And it was kind of clumsy and it wasn't really like smooth and elegant. And you could barely take your eyes out of the driving wheel when obviously you need to be looking at, you know, out to the road as you're driving. As you got better and better, not only did your moves become smoother, you actually started looking not only at the road, but the scenery and everything around it. ([Time 0:05:25](https://share.snipd.com/snip/f656b51d-3fd0-4fdf-971f-dd29a24ae413)) - **Capture Ideas To Free Your Mind** - Write down ideas during horizon exercises to free your mind for new thinking. - Ana Maria instructs participants to capture thoughts so the mind can be creative on what comes next. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez So sometimes if we lose perspective or we don't have perspective, it makes it very difficult or challenging for us to make decisions on a day-to basis. So there is value or there's the value in understanding why are we going to move into exploring or looking at these higher horizons? What effect do they have or not have in our day-to basis? So one of the things I want you to do as we do this activity is that I want you to be writing down the thoughts and the ideas that come to mind. You want to write them down because if you don't, your mind is going to keep on wanting to hang on to them. And as your mind wants to keep on hanging on to them, then it won't have the room to have the whatever next idea. ([Time 0:06:59](https://share.snipd.com/snip/3b5525bf-a2e8-4b8f-8de0-eae89c27eb8a)) - **Use Simple Prompts To Define Purpose** - Explore Horizon 5 by asking what gets you up in the morning and what standards you won't compromise. - Use lists, mind maps, ideal scenes, or affirmations to draft your purpose and principles. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez And we're going to be working on this idea of you being more aware of the core elements, the essence of who you are, what you are about. See, the longer your horizon, the longer, you know, the greater clarity you have about your higher horizon, in this case, horizon five, that it's going to be something that will be affecting Everything else, i.e. Horizon four, horizon three, horizon two, horizon one, and ground level. So basically we want to look at horizon five and understand, you know, what is that it's contributing to your authentic self. You know, who is that authentic self that will then be contributing to your authentic life? So we're going to be looking at that so you can be lined up and everything is in synchronicity and you don't feel kind of disjointed or off purpose. Has anyone felt off purpose before? I have. So this is one of the greatest values when we do this kind of exercise to help us kind of know when or what it is to be on purpose. One way to actually know what's our purpose is to actually think about, you know, what gets you up and out of bed in the morning? You know, what's really what moves you, what makes you want to go and, you know, seize your day? Or the negative also helps us understand and identify what our purpose is as I was saying before you know have you ever felt off purpose and if so what is it that causes you to feel off purpose? You know to me for example one of the qualities of my purpose is joy one of the qualities of my purpose is actually to you know I'm kind of I'm quite light hearted about life so whenever I Find myself not experiencing that and not experiencing joy and fun and laughter and lighthearted, I know I'm of purpose. And that really helps me see and reconsider and recalibrate whatever activities I've been choosing into or engaging with. So that has been something very important for me to be clear about. You know, another way to think about this is what is most meaningful to you? And by the way, if you want to be doing this exercise, not only in regards to you, but in regards to your organization or in regards to your team, you can do the same. You know, you can be asking these kinds of questions as in, you know, what are the core values of your company? What are the core values of our team? So feel free to explore this, not only for yourself, but potentially also for your organization or teams. Some other questions that are very helpful are, you know, what, if you're doing or expressing it, makes you feel like you're being who you really are, know at your best which by the way Was probably the best question for me when it came to identifying my my purpose I basically just did a list that that started it with I am at my best when and that was the easiest way for me To come up with my purpose honestly because I did struggle I was like, you know, I don't have a purpose like other people, like, you know, save the planet or something like that. So to me was I am at my best when I'm joyful. I am at my best when I'm loving. I am at my best when I'm, you know, having fun. I am at my best when I'm laughing. So that was very, very helpful to me. ([Time 0:08:46](https://share.snipd.com/snip/aec4e1cf-6d0f-432e-b16d-62f7437cdf01)) - **Let Vision Breathe Before Projecting Goals** - Let vision sit without forcing immediate projects; allow it to inspire and influence goals naturally. - Draft visions as mind maps, scenes, or headlines and revisit them later for motivation or goals. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez And the understanding that your purpose and principles will influence, actually, your vision. And, you know, funny enough, sometimes vision what's easily easier to come up with first. So many times we actually have a vision about something. And that's very true to often in companies or with entrepreneurs. So they have a fire in their gut and they have a vision about something, about creating something, doing something, starting something without having clarified or identified or, You know, explore the purpose. So it really doesn't matter. You can start at any level, go up or go down because they're intersecting in up and down, down and up. As you may know, just by having an activity identifier, an extraction, which sits at the ground level, that you can trace all the way up or back to purpose. So it really doesn't matter at the end of the day, where you start, because this is a holistic model. But for today's purpose, we're gonna keep on moving in this direction of going on to the next horizon. And as we look at vision, we actually want to understand and see that vision then contributes to your purpose and principles. So as much as purpose and principles influence your vision, your vision contributes to your purpose and principles. So obviously, the clearer you are on your purpose and principles, most likely, the more naturally or easy would it be to come up with that vision to manifest your authentic life to manifest Your authentic self. So some questions that are, can be useful as we move to horizon four are to think about, you know, if you were widely successful, fulfilling your purpose, living your principles, then What's true? You know, what ideas come to mind? Another way to, another helpful way to think about this will be what might be true for you several years from now, three, four, five, you know, however far you can see, or however near You need to see in order to more easily or naturally come up with your vision. What might you be doing? What might you have? What experiences might you be having? And then if you think about contexts in terms of your career or in terms of your lifestyle or in terms of your energy, your health, your finances, your relationships. So all of these are the different contexts where you can be exploring vision again, as you understand how your purpose and principles are contributing to it. And then, as I said, your time horizons can be three, four, five years. Or if you can see further into the future, 10 years from now, 20 years from now, or even more. When I did this exercise, it was so fun for me to write it up 20 years from now, because it was a real stretch. And, you know, there was a part of me that was like yeah right but I played along and I still look at that vision it's like yes you know that would be really something where it's certainly Contributing to my purpose and my principles so have fun with this don't don't be too serious about it again if you want to think of it beyond yourself, also in terms of your organization, In terms of your team, you can do that. You can think of it in a very fun way. You know, what if there was an article in the New York Times that's written about this, you know, success case about this person or this team or this organization. In other words, just playing along with your imagination. You know, if you were wildly successful to make it to the front page of the New York Times, what would be true in terms of yourself, your business, your project, you know, whatever you See yourself experiencing. So same here, we're going to have John copy and paste this, um, different ways to think about when it comes to vision. And I'll give you, um, again, another five minutes looks like that work before, and I will check with you if you need more time. So take the time now to draft out as a mind map, as an ideal scene, as an affirmation, as a paragraph, as a list, as whatever it's easy for you, what your vision is and however far you want To see it in terms of time horizons. ([Time 0:16:28](https://share.snipd.com/snip/ad2fa919-488a-45fa-885e-851bf4220577)) - **Vision Can Be Motivational Without Immediate Projects** - Vision and goals need not be immediately operational; vision can function as an internal motivator. - Ana Maria warns against self-imposed pressure to convert every vision into a project at once. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez Because I think it's natural for us, as soon as we have a vision, then we have to have a goal or a project about it. No, we don't have to. We can just simply let this thing be an affirmational process. That, you know, we let it cook, we let it mature, we let it grow inside of ourselves. And then we come back and revisit. Get re-inspired by it. And what's interesting about this is that you may find yourself being motivated to do these things toward those pictures that you've captured for yourself, that vision that you've Created for yourself. And yes, of course, you may also have goals and projects about it. There's nothing wrong with that. But just know that they don't necessarily have to tie one-to together, even though you can certainly have something like that be the case. ([Time 0:22:21](https://share.snipd.com/snip/0a97891a-90da-411d-af47-2edcbab76bd1)) - **Set 12–24 Month Goals From Vision** - Frame Horizon 3 as goals for the next 12–24 months to connect vision with actionable outcomes. - Ask what needs to be true within that timeframe and translate answers into goals or projects. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez So it would be the kind of thing that you will look at and say, okay, by the end of next year, I want to make sure I have done X, Y, or Z. So that kind of thinking is what we're going to be moving towards now. And of course, you can use your vision description to come up with your goals. Because as much as, again, as the vision influences your goals your goals contribute to your vision so what are some of the things you may want to experience of half or half true in that Kind of time frame you know like as in by the next of the next year or by the next by the end of the next of the. Again, personally, organizationally, or professionally. And truth is that many of you already may have goals and objectives at an organizational level. So during this next exercise, you can actually look at those, revisit them, see if you need to make any edits, any adjustments based on the exercise you just completed, i.e. Vision, purpose, and principles. So maybe you just need to recalibrate those and, you know, have them be alive and well. That could also be part of what you do now. Or you can just come up with new ones that you want to add onto this horizon. And you want to think of it this way, given what's currently in play and the thought and the thinking you've been doing, what are some of the things or things that you need to have happen, Or you would like to have true within the next 12 to 24 months. ([Time 0:23:57](https://share.snipd.com/snip/554edb83-deb5-4673-9ac5-1e069e156610)) - **Define Maintainable Areas Of Focus** - Identify 4–7 Areas of Focus and Accountability you must maintain at a standard rather than finish once. - Use these areas to determine projects and next actions needed to sustain or improve them. Transcript: Ana Maria Gonzalez I'm sure we're now going to be stepping more into familiar territory. If you've been you know GTD enthusiasts students for all these years as we step into horizon two and we look at how these areas of focus and accountability actually contribute to your Goals same way as one influences a higher horizon influences the lower one the lower one contributes to the higher one. See, your horizon two or your areas of focus and accountability are those things that you need to maintain at some standard. In other words, you don't get to cross them off like once you reach a goal or once you've manifested your vision or once you've completed a project, there is a focus and accountability Are very interesting because the focus of this are on now versus some future state. Unless of course, you know, you change jobs, let's say, or, or you, I don't know, you change some aspect of your personal life, like as in, you know, marriage and now you're no longer married So therefore uh you know husband it's not an area of focus to me anymore if i happen to get divorced so yes they can change but it has to be because of some extreme example like i'm giving You otherwise there are those um areas that you want to kind of maintain at some standard. You may have goals about some of these areas and you may also have projects and next actions about maintaining them or improving them. So that's pretty much what's going to be happening after this next exercise. But in order to really identify, you know, what projects or next actions do I need to add onto my system in order to improve or, you know, maintain any one of these areas, the first thing We want to do is explore these areas. So even though you're familiar with this, you may, you know, let's still use this time, even if it, if it means to revisit them, or perhaps this is first time you're going to be drafting This out. So it's common that when we think of areas of focus and accountability, um, at a profession, from a professional standpoint, as well as from a personal standpoint, you will easily identify Anywhere from four to seven areas that you are accountable for. Basically, the purpose of this exercise is to articulate this next level so that you can define what are the operational categories of your current reality. ([Time 0:26:29](https://share.snipd.com/snip/a00e36b5-5ff2-44b9-90cf-2a7888229b63)) - **GTD Practice Evolves; Revisit Resources** - GTD practice is cyclical: revisit resources as your needs and sophistication evolve. - John Forrester likens returning to the library/manual to discovering deeper uses over time. Transcript: John Forrester And sort of remind you that all of us with this GTD methodology and this set of practices go through cycles. You know, I still go through cycles myself. Initially, there's kind of the inspiration and there's a lot of material to ingest and to get familiar with. And so people oftentimes, when they first come on to Connect, are just potentially overwhelmed by how much information there is. In a way, it's just a huge library where we've been able to archive so much different information from so many different perspectives and people and points of view. And so understood that it's like walking into a library, go, gee, where do I start? So that's oftentimes the initial phase of this. And many people, after a year or two, probably get on some level or some plateau where they go, well, I kind of got it now. I've got my system set up and everything's fine. And I'm fine tuning. And you may find yourself at that point also finding yourself saying, gee, I'm now becoming a resource of this methodology for people around me. You know, people asking me for assistance and help in this. And we've seen in the forums a number of people now sharing ideas about how to get your teams more involved or families more involved with this information. So some of that information is in there as well. But I think you'll find yourself going through cycles of this. And you may find that much like if you've ever read a software manual. I remember when I read when I learned Microsoft Word to begin with for instance I read the manual like wow this is really cool and I started to use the tool and didn't need the manual anymore As a matter of fact a good example of that right here the manual for this camera that's taking this picture right now initially I read this got it all set up that's really cool and that's Really fine. And so pretty much everything was under cruise control. I didn't need to go back to my library to make this really work. And then of course as I started to get more sophisticated in terms of the stuff I wanted to do, got more inspired about some things I saw other people are doing, I go, ah, how do I do that? Went back to the manual, I go, oh god, I didn't realize I could do that. I didn't realize I could do that. I remember at least two or three iterations of going back to Microsoft Word back in the days when there actually was a manual for that as opposed to just all online and realizing, oh, my God, I didn't realize that. Oh, I could do that now. I could do that now. And I think that's what you might find with Connect, too, is that it's a goldmine of stuff. ([Time 0:32:30](https://share.snipd.com/snip/2defb48f-ad68-4dab-953b-941930b0c4cf))