← The Imaginal Act, thirty days

Week 2 · Bridge · Day 11 of 30

The obstacle and the if-then

Today's intent (planned)

Name the obstacle inside you that tends to stop the rep, and decide now what you will do when it shows up.

The practice

  1. Set today's look-for in reality/log/<today>.md.
  2. Read your scene. Then ask: what in me tends to get in the way? Not the economy, not other people: the habit, the feeling, the moment. "I open messages first and the morning is gone."
  3. Name its gap class: knowledge, capability, resource, coordination, technology, permission, process, evidence or time.
  4. Write an if-then: "If I reach for my phone before the paragraph, then I put it in the drawer and write one sentence."
  5. In reality/aims/<slug>.md, add a ## Obstacle and plan (planned) heading with two lines: - Obstacle: I open messages first · Gap class: process and - If I reach for my phone before the paragraph, then I put it in the drawer and write one sentence. (Studio: Bridges).
  6. Picture the moment once, and see yourself doing the then.

Why it works

Meaning

Naming the obstacle is not pessimism. It lets the scene meet your real life, with its habits and tired evenings, and you choose it anyway. There is a quiet dignity in planning for your own weak moment instead of pretending it will not come.

Mechanism

In experiments, picturing the wanted outcome and then the obstacle, combined with an if-then plan, improved follow-through compared with positive fantasy alone. A meta-analysis of 94 tests found a medium-to-large effect of if-then plans on reaching goals, over and above the goal itself. They help you start and stay on track. They do not create motivation for a goal you do not hold.

Tonight (reported)

Did the obstacle show up? If it did and you used the then, add an entry headed ### <today> <time> · win. If it did and you did not, · lesson. If it stayed away, log the day's rep as · rep. Put it at the top of reality/witness.md, ending with - Bridge: <slug> · Domain: <domain> (Studio: Witness).

  • Happened (fact): What happened at the moment of the obstacle.
  • Meant (my meaning): What it showed you about yourself or the plan.
  • Did (action): Only what is done.
  • Next (planned): Keep the if-then, or one change to it.
  • Did it come? In the log: - Did it come: yes, no or not marked.