Inversion Koan Workbook

Don't ask how to succeed. Ask how to fail for certain, then stop doing that. Go through the five steps in order. The koan beside each step is there to unsettle what you think you already know.

1

Turn the problem into a goal

A problem is a complaint. A goal says what "solved" looks like, with a number and a date.

2

How would you guarantee failure?

List the real habits, errors and shortcuts that would wreck the goal. One per line. Be honest about the ones you already do.

3

Now fail absurdly

The most ridiculous ways to fail you can think of: Wonderland, the Hundred Acre Wood, science fiction. Silly failures often point at a real one hiding underneath. One per line.

4

Remove the negatives

For each way to fail, write the rule that stops it. Write the real lesson behind the absurd ones too. Leave a row blank if it doesn't apply.

    5

    Work backward from the goal

    Start at the finished goal. What had to be true just before that? And before that? Keep going until you reach something you can do this week. One step per line, last step first.

    The plan, on one page

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