Reflective Control

Consciously Getting Into That Most Elusive Excellent Mode

You’ve had those moments — the ones where you’re very aware of where you’re at in the world, and you’re mapping out your future and plans very smartly, and you’re feeling great about taking action and pushing important things forwards.

I used to find myself only reaching that place, at random, once or twice per year.

But every time I did, I would spend just a few hours sketching out plans, thinking about my priorities, discarding old things I used to do that didn’t bring much value, and pushing my limits to do new worthwhile things. I thought, “This is really valuable. I should do this more often.”

Eventually, I named that state: Reflective Control.

As often happens, by naming something it becomes easier to do it more often.

At this time, I still had a hazy poorly working feeling about what it was. So I tried to define it. After many attempts, I came to this:

> Reflective Control is when you’re firmly off autopilot, in a high-positive and high-willpower state, and are able to take action.

You’ll note there’s four discreet components to it: firmly off autopilot (reflective), high positivity, high will, and cable of and oriented towards taking action.

I also asked myself, “How to know if you’re in Reflective Control?”

My best answer of an exercise for it is,

> You set aside the impulses/distractions, and try to set a concrete Control-related goal. This is meta-work, meaning the process of defining your life and what needs to happen next. You do this calmly. By setting a concrete Control-related goal successfully and then executing on it, you know you’re in an RC state.

> Example: “I will identify all the open projects I’ve got, and the next steps for each of them.”

With that definition and that exercise in hand, I was able to do something which works almost magically when I wanted to take on big challenges: I could rate myself from 1-100 on the four key elements of the component, and then set a concrete goal to achieve, and analyze a little about which factor might be holding me back. Here is an example from my journal:

> Reflective 70/100, positive 70/100, will 65/100, action 40/100… ok, I’m feeling good once a good, just some anxiety suppressing will a little and action quite a bit, but no problem. My goal is to finish the xxx outline before I leave here.

I’ve found this incredibly useful. Summary:

*There’s a state I call “Reflective Control” where I’m off autopilot and thinking (reflective), in a positive mood, with willpower and action-oriented.

*I can put explicit numbers on this, somewhat subjectively, from 1-100. This lets me see where the link in the chain is, if any.

*By setting a concrete goal and working towards it, you can get more objective feedback and balance whichever element is lowest with some practical actions

Now, go use your newfound power for good. Get reflective, get in control, and create some good work.

Sebastian Marshall is the author of The Strategic Review, with strategy, history, and operations in long-form high-quality writing for thinking people. You can get your subscription for free athttp://www.thestrategicreview.net