Mike Williams, in conversation

[sjdavis113]

Powerful Stuff

Wow, thanks Mike. I'm going to print this out so I can "ponder" on this some more (btw, we do lot's of pondering in Arkansas, too...we, just call it "wunderin'".) Looking at how you blend together your physical, spiritual intellectual and emotional worlds reminds me of a book I've read and reread many times over the years -- Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald. He starts each chapter with "Memo to the Disorganized" - here are a few of my favorite quotes:
"If my private world is in order, it will be because I am conviced that the inner world of the spiritual must govern the outer world of activity."
"If my private world is in order, it will be because I make a daily choice to monitor its state of orderliness."

He says the following about symptoms of disorganization:
"When I am slipping into disorganization, I know it because my desk takes on a cluttered appearance. The same thing happens to the top of my bedroom dresser. In fact almost every horizontal surface in the path of my daily travel becomes littered with papers, memos to which I have not responded, and pieces of tasks that are unfinished."

"...symptoms of disorganization tend to show themselves in the condition of my car. It becomes dirty inside and out..."

"When disorganization takes over, I become aware of a diminution in my self-esteem..."

"I know I'm disorganzed when there are a series of forgotten appointments, telephone messages to which I have failed to respond, and deadlines which I have begun to miss..."

"If I am disorganized, I tend to invest my energies in unproductive tasks."

"If I am in a state of disorganziation, the quality of my personal relationships usually reveals it."

Cheers,
Stacey

 

[GTDmw]

Great quotes... thank you for your thoughts

Stacey,

Thank you for your post. The book sounds very interesting. The quotes really resonated with me. It brings me back to the goal of "mind like water." When I taste a bit of this state I want to get back to it.

David used the analogy of throwing a rock into a pond. The pond absorbs the rock with the perfect amount of energy. While I love that analogy, I also like to imagine the flow of water running down a mountain stream. It flows over and around obstacles without complaining. It may need to stop, pause, build into a pool before it can flow again but it always flows somewhere.

I ran across a quote or an idea some time ago that states "the system is perfectly designed to produce this outcome." This motivates me to control my "controlables" and to understand that I am part of a larger system. I can not control the system but I can influence it.

I am always surprised with the choices we have day in and day out to influence the energy of a situation - either positive or negative. Have you ever watched words float out of your mouth and wish you could take them back? I have. Many times.

To the point of your post, many of these words start as thoughts in our minds. What we think many times becomes what we say. This is where the idea of visioning and affirmations becomes very powerful. This is part of the "controlables" that we can put into a system. The more positive our daily rituals of infusing our minds with positive words, visions, etc. The more likely we are to have a positive impact within our context.

Thank you again for your post. It made me remember some very important elements to bring into my life.

I really love the value of these forums and the quaility of the contributions! It is a very postivie "system."

 

[Zenistar]

Hi Mike, I just wanted to thank you for the excellent content during the conversation with David, my GTD has been given a shakeup and I have a few more things to mull over

As with one of the previous posters it would be really great to be able to view your mindmap in MindManager, is there any chance of you posting this or do you use a different system?

Cheers

Adrian

 

[2percent]

weekly review mindmap checklist

I followed Mike's model and created a mindmap of my weekly review as a checklist.

Embedded in it are the personal and professional trigger lists that someone posted on the forum as a mindmap, which I modified slightly - mostly to more closely follow the original list in the GTD templates. Also included is a reference to my weekly plan. I've posted an earlier version of that document elsewhere on the forum. I apologize, I couldn't figure out how to link to these forum posts.

I include rough time estimates. Although I started with the times Meg [that's my daughter's name, too, incidentally] suggested in the weekly review teleseminar, I adjusted the times to more accurately reflect my practice.

What I plan to do is save this mindmap at each weekly review (e.g. 070825weeklyreview.mmap), and mark things off and make notes as needed. If I need to edit elements to improve my process or other change is warranted based on these weekly versions, I'll make those changes in the master version.

I hope that's useful.
-Jenni

Attached files image_174.mmap (42.6 KB) 

 

[djohns]

Great Mind Map, Thanks

I followed Mike's model and created a mindmap of my weekly review as a checklist.

Embedded in it are the personal and professional trigger lists that someone posted on the forum as a mindmap, which I modified slightly - mostly to more closely follow the original list in the GTD templates. Also included is a reference to my weekly plan. I've posted an earlier version of that document elsewhere on the forum. I apologize, I couldn't figure out how to link to these forum posts.

I include rough time estimates. Although I started with the times Meg [that's my daughter's name, too, incidentally] suggested in the weekly review teleseminar, I adjusted the times to more accurately reflect my practice.

What I plan to do is save this mindmap at each weekly review (e.g. 070825weeklyreview.mmap), and mark things off and make notes as needed. If I need to edit elements to improve my process or other change is warranted based on these weekly versions, I'll make those changes in the master version.

I hope that's useful.
-Jenni

Awesome Thanks, I was really wanting to do this. This helps so much. Would it be possible for you to post the linked files also such as: Weekly Plan.doc, vision, GTD Belt assessment, needs strengs enthusiasm possible roles.doc?

 

[2percent]

weekly review mindmap checklist

Would it be possible for you to post the linked files also such as: Weekly Plan.doc, vision, GTD Belt assessment, needs strengs enthusiasm possible roles.doc?

As I mentioned, I've already posted the weekly plan. I don't know how to link to it, but you can search for it.

The GTD belt assessment spreadsheet was posted by someone else on the forum, you can also search for that.

The vision and needs/strengths documents probably wouldn't be useful as they are personal to me - the vision document is my thinking about "higher altitudes" for myself, and the needs/strengths one is my thinking about finding my calling.

 

[djohns]

Thanks

As I mentioned, I've already posted the weekly plan. I don't know how to link to it, but you can search for it.

The GTD belt assessment spreadsheet was posted by someone else on the forum, you can also search for that.

The vision and needs/strengths documents probably wouldn't be useful as they are personal to me - the vision document is my thinking about "higher altitudes" for myself, and the needs/strengths one is my thinking about finding my calling.

That helped alot, it did the search and found most of the forms in this post

 

[GTDmw]

Resolve versus Finalize

So one more question, can you help me with understanding what is meant by resolve? I was thinking of resolve more as you've defined finalize.

Big thanks,
Tara

Tara,

Thank you for your question. I use "Resolve" in situations that have higher emotional energy around them. I tend to use "Finalize" in more straight forward decisions.

The use of "Resolve" triggers me to...

- put myself in their shoes
- think win-win or agree to disagree, this involves...
- the need to really listen to the other person. In Covey terms, "seek to understand then seek to be understood."

It is a subtle mental trigger that allows me to prepare so I can keep an open mind so I can be a force for positive change even in difficult conversations.

This also triggers me to select optimal times to have these types of conversations. For example, I will typically schedule meetings in the morning, when people generally have more energy, versus the end of the day, when people tend to be burnt out.

Best regards,

Mike

 

[Tara]

Tara,

Thank you for your question. I use "Resolve" in situations that have higher emotional energy around them. I tend to use "Finalize" in more straight forward decisions.

The use of "Resolve" triggers me to...

- put myself in their shoes
- think win-win or agree to disagree, this involves...
- the need to really listen to the other person. In Covey terms, "seek to understand then seek to be understood."

It is a subtle mental trigger that allows me to prepare so I can keep an open mind so I can be a force for positive change even in difficult conversations.

This also triggers me to select optimal times to have these types of conversations. For example, I will typically schedule meetings in the morning, when people generally have more energy, versus the end of the day, when people tend to be burnt out.

Best regards,

Mike

Wow, Mike, thanks so much! A much finer distinction than I might have made and very useful.

Peace be with you,
Tara