Begin WITHOUT the End in Mind

“I cannot plan my day, because I don’t know what I want to do with my life.”

Yeah, I’m embarrassed to admit that I once believed that.

Maybe you do too.

For me, I think I picked it up after reading 7 Habits. It’s a great book, with some deeply true principles.

The second habit is “Begin with the end in mind.” After you read the chapter extolling the virtues of starting with a long term plan, it’s easy to get trapped into a belief that if you act without an “end in mind” then it will be wasted.

That is not true.

Let’s go through all the reasons that beginning with the end in mind is a lie.

Changing direction with momentum is easier than choosing a direction without momentum

The fact is, changing direction makes you lose momentum. This is a basic principle of physics, and it applies in the psychological realm as well.

But a deeper truth weighs heavier on the soul: choosing a direction when you have no momentum is almost impossible.

I see it in my family on a daily basis.

My wife wants to make the yard beautiful, but year after year the summer is half gone before anything happens because she needs to decide on the overarching plan before doing anything.

My son flits from interest to interest without settling on one, because the first steps are always clumsy and wrong. If he were focused more on building momentum than choosing a direction, it would help him to push through the awkward stage.

My father is a project management consultant. In his practice, he teaches that everyone goes through an awkward stage when learning a new skill. That awkward stage is where it’s really hard to build momentum. If you’ve “chosen” a direction, without that momentum already in place, the awkward stage will quickly have you rethinking it. In the awkward stage you feel like a failure, like you can’t learn anything.

You will inevitably choose the wrong direction at first

You don’t know enough to choose the right direction at first. You will fall into one or more of three common traps.

You will dream too big.
This is super common. We all know someone who always has grand plans for how his life will turn out, but never seems to make them happen.

You will dream too small.
Another fairly common problem, though it looks quite different. The small dreamer is scared of failure, dreams small, and then achieves his or her goals. And then becomes listless and bored for a time. Whatever momentum they had sputters out.

You will dream someone else’s dream.
Very few people make it through life without doing this for a time. This is perfectly reasonable. It’s actually a good way to do the next step (exploring), as long as you’re focused more on building momentum than on sticking to a specific direction. But if you get attached to a dream that doesn’t speak to your core, you will be a walking contradiction. And that will always limit your momentum.

The lesson here is to stop worrying about the direction, stop beginning with the end in mind.

Begin with building momentum.

As you do, then it becomes valuable to think about your direction.

You don’t know where you want to go, without exploring a bit first

I’m a Minecraft hobbyist. I love the creative aspects of the game, and enjoy the challenge of building something beautiful under the constraints imposed.

One thing that the game has taught me is to start by doing some exploration. For that, you need momentum. When I kick off a new project in Minecraft, I don’t know exactly how it will turn out. Or even what it will be. First, I explore. I build some momentum by taking care of my immediate needs: food, shelter, resources, protection.

Only then can I explore. Once I do that, the ideas for what to build naturally flow.

Without the exploration, the choice is overwhelming. With the exploration, the constraints of the world I’m in naturally reveal a direction that fits my mood, my current ability, and my interests.

But exploring requires some momentum, in real life too. You need to know you can learn a skill, build a habit, try something new and get past the awkward stage. That’s momentum.

Once you have it, you can use it to explore some different options. As you do, some will resonate.

In my latest Minecraft project, I roamed the world quite a bit before finding a perfect little lake where I could build a small village. Once I had settled on that, my direction crystalized into a really exciting plan that has driven my Minecraft hobby for months now.

The same is true in life.

You can’t clarify or correct your direction without momentum

Once you’ve got the momentum, you will choose a direction much more easily.

But it will be wrong.

And that’s fine. You have momentum. Which means that you’ll get feedback as you mvoe forward.

You will learn things about the landscape that require you to adjust your direction.

You will learn things about yourself that will show you more rewarding paths forward.

But if you’re not moving forward, you’ll never learn those things.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

So, if you set direction aside for a bit, and build your momentum, you’ll be in a much better place to move forward.

As you do, you’ll discover a direction that speaks to you. Then you double down and use your momentum to work towards that.

And that will inevitably show you that you need to tweak and correct your direction.

As your direction, or your vision, becomes clearer, it will become a driving passion that will strengthen your momentum.

Now your momentum can take you to a new level.

Which will let you explore, choose, and refine your direction again.

Begin Without the End in Mind

Seriously, just start.

Build some momentum.

When you do, your possible paths forward will paradoxically widen and narrow at the same time.

You’ll see that you can choose any number of interesting paths forward.

You’ll also see which ones make the most sense to pursue. Which ones will preserve your momentum while also fulfilling your passion.

7 Habits Redeemed

Of course, if you’ve actually read 7 Habits, you know that the first habit is “Be Proactive”.

In other words, build some momentum.

Move forward.

Once you do, then it makes a lot of sense to visualize the end you want, and refine that vision as you go.

Rather than “Begin With the End in Mind”, just change the title of that habit to “Move Forward With the End in Mind”.

And if you don’t have an end in mind, here’s a free one for you:

Build Momentum.