A while ago, something happened while I was preparing a talk for the WyeWorks Summit.
The script was ready. Days were passing. The date was approaching. And I couldn’t get myself to sit down and practice. My body wouldn’t respond to commands.
When I get stuck like this, there’s usually something underneath that needs attention. And this time, what came disguised as procrastination was actually something else.
Fear.
Saying I’m procrastinating is easier than admitting I’m afraid to do something.
I was afraid to practice. Afraid I wouldn’t learn the talk in time. The script appeared before me like a three-headed dragon: immense and paralyzing.
Then I remembered something from Jordan Peterson:
“You scale back the dragon until you find one that’s conquerable, that moves you forward. And it’ll give you a little bit of gold, commensurate with the struggle. As little progress as it may look like, the plus side is that it aggregates exponentially. Once you start the ball rolling, it can get zipping along pretty well.”
Scott Adams calls it “the pinky technique.” When you’re stuck on the couch and your body won’t obey, all you have to do is move one finger. Seems ridiculous. But when you move one, you move another. And another. And suddenly, you’re standing.
It happens with the blank document. When you need to write a strategy memo or a difficult email, the empty page paralyzes you. But if you write just one sentence—even a bad one—a second follows. And a third. And before you realize it, the draft is done.
I did the same with the script. I grabbed a pen and drew horizontal lines to divide it into fragments of no more than five sentences. Suddenly, “I have to practice the whole talk” became “I have to practice five sentences.” That task no longer intimidated me.
I’d tamed the dragon.
“But five sentences is nothing… I have to learn the entire script!”
True…
But starting with something small lights a spark. The desire to move returns.
And when that fire burns, you practice your five sentences, then another five, and you keep going.
And before you know it, you’ve learned the entire script.
— Rodrigo
Insight Strategist at WyeWorks.
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This article was first published in The Clarity Journal, our WyeWorks newsletter on leadership, uncertainty, and the craft of self-management. If you’d like to receive new editions as they come out, you can subscribe below.