← The Imaginal Act, thirty days

Week 2 · Bridge · Day 08 of 30

One aim, one done-when

Today's intent (planned)

Turn one priority domain into one aim, with a result someone else could check and a date.

The practice

  1. Set today's look-for in reality/log/<today>.md.
  2. From your priority domains, choose one aim for the coming weeks. One. The others wait.
  3. Write a done-when that is verifiable: "ten pages sent to my editor," not "progress on the book." Could a friend check it without asking how you feel?
  4. Choose a date, far enough to be possible and near enough to matter. If you are unsure, treat it as a guess you will review on day 14.
  5. Create reality/aims/<slug>.md, where the slug is a short name such as ten-pages (Studio: Bridges). Front matter: aim: Send ten pages to my editor, domain: craft, by: <date>, status: active. Then the title # Send ten pages to my editor, the line Done when (verifiable): ten pages sent to my editor., a ## The scene (desired) heading with your scene, and a ## True now (reported) heading with one sentence.
  6. The domain is one short id: body, mind, heart, character, spirit, love, lineage, circle, wealth, craft, sanctuary or golden-age. Optional: add the aim as one line under ## Aims in reality.md, which is yours to edit.

Why it works

Meaning

An aim is a promise to yourself at a size you can keep. Choosing it also means setting others down for now, which can feel like a loss. Let it be a choice made with care, not a verdict on what matters in your life.

Mechanism

Specific, difficult goals outperform vague ones across a large body of research. A verifiable done-when lets you tell later whether the aim was met without arguing with yourself, and a date makes pace computable. None of this promises the result. It makes the work visible, so you can adjust the plan instead of guessing.

Tonight (reported)

Add an entry at the top of reality/witness.md with the truest kind: often win (you chose) or lesson (choosing was hard). Head it ### <today> <time> · win or · lesson, and end it with - Bridge: <slug> · Domain: <domain> (Studio: Witness).

  • Happened (fact): The aim and its date, in one line.
  • Meant (my meaning): What it means to you to choose this one.
  • Did (action): Only what is done.
  • Next (planned): Tomorrow: the smallest rep.
  • Did it come? In the log: - Did it come: yes, no or not marked.