So, once you have developed the MOTIVATION or desire to go forward, or the urge to move away from some result or condition the next thing is to check is:
“What KNOWLEDGE and materials do I need to make my desired results happen?”
This isn’t a shopping list we’re talking about – but the internal search (and then external search) to identify and then activate the needed resources so that they can be applied.
The name KNOWLEDGE on the Resource Triangle identifies the ability to swiftly and efficiently sort through and select appropriate life lessons, skills, knowledge of specific data, and other needful information under many different conditions.
Being “resourceful” cannot mean “… only under certain, controlled circumstances.”
The reason we must practice a variety of strategies for refining our resourcing abilities is that every single part of one’s life can be eventually unlocked to become a beneficial and useful resource that can be used and profited from – even experiences that were “bad” or “useless” can be used.
It’s not therapy, or journaling, or old age and nostalgia that makes this happen, but training your brain to search and find more efficiently, compare and contrast for usefulness, and then make available at the right time and place, in the right form.
We don’t process the content of experiences; we work to change how we use the mechanisms of memory, problem-solving and decision making to act ON the contents of memory.
We become skilled in making use of experience, rather making new stories about it.
So, we are both learning an immediately practical skill to use now, and at the same time, we teach our brains to respond and act in certain ways, with greater speed, accuracy, and utility over time.
For our purposes, we have internal resources, and then external resources.
Internal resources include:
- skills and skills sets we have developed
- knowledge of process – the “how-tos”
- The experience of many things
- experiences of emotional states
- physical capabilities
- etc.
External resources would include:
- other people
- other people’s knowledge
- external references (books, the internet, media)
- permissions
- physical materials, and spaces
- time
- money
- etc.
Once you know WHAT results you want to see and experience; and have clarified its motivating importance; then you can consider:
“What needs to happen (what processes must occur) in for my chosen results to appear?”
So we have a little sequence here:
- Final results in detail
- Motivating significance
- A more or less well-specified idea of the process
Why do we need to know about the process?
Well, at the top, what is one thing processes require and need or they won’t work?
Time.
And time is one of the resources we are accounting for in the Knowledge section of the Resource Triangle so that means we MUST at least begin to think through what sort of doings will need to occur for our results to happen.
With those in hand our sequence becomes:
- Final results with enough detail to establish…
- Motivating significance, which we put into action through…
- A more or less well-specified idea of the process so that we can consider…
- What knowledge and material resources do I need to acquire, gather or create to perform the process (3.) fulfilling my desires (2.) so that (1.) Appears?
It might seem like a lot, but it’s simpler than you imagine.
You don’t have to do it all at once or only once (at first), and with practice, it happens quickly because you will have trained your brain to run through the process to the point that your conscious mind isn’t required to assist in the process.
When you learned to ride a bike as a child, or drive a car, or play a musical instrument, or even use chopsticks efficiently, or any other complex physical skill – this is much, much easier to acquire as a habit.
And much more profitable in so many ways.
Do this:
Take some part of a project you are working on and:
- Refine the outcome or goal statement – if it isn’t already written down, do so now. Add the detail that puts it into a context that is motivating. You will know you are done with this step if you feel like getting going on the actions needed to reach your goal.
- Think through and outline your preliminary thoughts about the stages of this subproject – what is the general sequence of activities? Write it down or map it out. Writing down and externalizing is part of the process of getting your brain functioning using the strategy. It needs to be written.
- Start thinking through the specific needs and resource requirements for each stage of the process. Include both internal and external KNOWLEDGE resources areas.
Remember Mark’s statement from last time? A profound uplifting internal state that carried him through the task was generated by connecting his task to the bigger picture.
It created a working condition (his mental and emotional state) that facilitated accomplishing what he needed to do swiftly and efficiently.
We’re not blowing smoke rings here.
The right internal resources brought into play makes ALL the difference to how well things are done, with what quality and how swiftly they are accomplished, etc.
Write down what you consider.
If you find yourself getting juiced up about the tasks… good.
If you find yourself getting uptight about all the unknowns and must find outs… that’s good too.
It’s information about your readiness to take action, and also about the strength of your motivation.
If it’s inadequate – refine your results statement until you find the context where going through the process is worthwhile.
This is about learning to make the best use of what you’ve got, and making everything in your life empowering and beneficial.
This exercise is like practicing musical scales, and finger independence on the piano.
A pain at first, but once mastered; it becomes the firm bedrock of ALL other techniques.
Use this well.
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