If you want to get anything serious done that involves complex change, whether it’s starting a blog, quitting smoking, maintaining a long term relationship or getting fit, there are 5 things you need to consider: Vision, Skills, Incentives, Resources and Planning. These are rough sketches and estimations that cover the entire spectrum- like a roughly drawn map that will help you get to where you want to go. It is impossible to be absolutely perfect at everything- every one of these variables can be tweaked, modified and improved to contribute to the greater whole. It is best to have a good balance of everything- do not spend too much time on one at the expense of another. Once the winds of change are blowing your way, you can spend some time tweaking and tinkering with individual variables as you see fit- and I promise you that it will be a joyous, pleasurable experience.

VISION.

“Most people are not really free. They are confined by the niche in the world that they carve out for themselves.They limit themselves to fewer possibilities by the narrowness of their vision.”
V. S. Naipaul

“A vision is not just a picture of what could be; it is an appeal to our better selves, a call to become something more.”
Rosabeth Moss Kanter

“When I dare to be powerful – to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”
Audre Lorde

A vision is a compelling future state, an idea of how things could be. Where do you want to go, who do you want to be? What are your long term goals? What do you hope to achieve?

Power of vision: Most people doubt my ability to sustain long-term relationships because of my short attention span and uncanny ability to rationalize anything. Despite that, and all the regular trials and tribulations that normally destroy such happy unions, I am in a happy long-term relationship- largely because I am able to visualise growing old together with her, and I like it- it’s a very compelling future state that overpowers any little doubts, uncertainties or annoyances I might encounter along the way.

Lack of vision: I never truly considered quitting smoking before, because I could never properly visualise myself as a contented non-smoker. The question I had to ask is myself is- why quit smoking? And the best answer I could give to myself was- because if I can quit smoking, I will know that I am the captain of my soul, and that I will lay the foundation for the reputation that I want to create for myself as a responsible, reliable man whose words are worth something. I firmly believe that such powerful, justified self-belief and social proof are indispensable prerequisites to accomplishing great things. By turning something seemingly trivial like smoking into a matter of greatness or mediocrity- a question far more potent than life or death- I’ve made it near impossible for me to NOT quit.

Without a vision, you’ll be left thinking- “Why bother, what’s the point?” And nothing will change.

SKILLS.

“It is possible to fly without motors, but not without knowledge and skill.”
Wilbur Wright

“When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.”
John Ruskin

“”The basis of Buddhist morality is that acting in unskillful ways leads to unhappy results, and acting in skillful ways leads to happy results.”
Henepola Gunaratana

A skill is the learned ability to do something well, borne out of knowledge and practice. The power and value of skills are very easy to observe and understand, yet a startling number of people never invest much time and energy into developing their own skills.

Power of skills: I’ve always been a relatively eloquent speaker and writer. This is not a case of natural talent. I read A LOT. I was always reading. I went to the library since I was a kid. I had a set of encyclopedias (Charlie Brown, if you’re curious!) that taught me about everything from dinosaurs and the solar system to electromagnetism and carnivorous plants. I also read loads of Calvin and Hobbes, which I think was an introduction to philosophy and critical thought. Enid Blyton gave me a healthy disregard for authority. I got into the Gifted Education Programme, where they in turn had an “Extensive Reading Programme” that seriously opened up my mind, exposing me to Orwell and Palahniuk. As a result, I got an A for my General Paper in GP and B’s for History, Economics and Literature without studying at all. But you can’t say I didn’t do any work- I prepared for it for about 15 years.

Lack of skills: I failed my Mathematics. I got an A1 for Elementary Mathematics at my O Levels, but I got a C6 for Advanced Mathematics. I didn’t study for either- but E-Maths allows you to get by with improvisation, observation and applied common sense, while A-Maths requires the application of formulas that cannot be derived on the spot. (Well, perhaps it can be done, but it would require you to figure out what hundreds of mathematicians collectively hundreds of years to do!) I did not have the skills I needed to get me through. The tools were lacking. I failed.

At a deeper level, you can look at almost everything in terms of skill-sets. In a way, the skills I lacked were not an understanding of mathematical formulas so much as it was the ability to motivate myself and to work hard consistently. Embrace skillfulness. Always practice the skills you possess, and always seek to learn new skills. Above all, develop the skill of learning, and of applying what you’ve learnt, effectively. Context, context, context.

Without the right skill-set, you’ll be left thinking “I can’t do it because I don’t know how.” And nothing will change.

INCENTIVES.

“Most of economics can be summarized in 4 words- ‘People respond to incentives.’ The rest is just commentary.” – Steven E. Landsburg

Power of incentives: Intangible incentives, such as those described in the Venn diagram above, are often far more powerful and pervasive than tangible incentives such as money (which goes on to fulfill one or more of the aforementioned needs). I began The Smile Experiment a few months ago without really knowing what to expect. I’d smile and be nice to strangers, when I had formerly been indifferent. I have gotten snubbed on a few occasions, as we might expect- but I’ve also had a lot of wonderful encounters with strangers and built cordial relationships with a few people that I bump into on a regular basis. The Smile Experiment sustains itself because of an inherent incentive- pleasantries beget pleasantries, and we get back more than we give away. It’s a wonderful thing.

Lack of incentives: I created this blog because of my vision, and I have a plan, and resources, and skills- but for the longest time it went stagnant and ignored because I didn’t really have any incentives to push me forward and keep me going. What pushes me the hardest are views (which have been steadily climbing, lately!) and comments. If you have been reading my blog regularly without commenting, shame on you! (I’m joking. Kind of.) I still don’t get as many comments and views as I’d like, and I’m working towards that- but the turning point for me was realising that this blog is in itself a medium for me to practice and sharpen my thoughts, writing skills and ideas- and the promise of personal growth is a huge incentive for me.

Without incentives, you’ll be left thinking “What’s in it for me?” And nothing will change.

RESOURCES.

“It is only when you despair of all ordinary means, it is only when you convince it that it must help you or you perish, that the seed of life in you bestirs itself to provide a new resource.”
Robert Collier

“If you’re the type of person who has to fulfill your dreams, you’ve gotta be resourceful to make sure you can do it.”
Vin Diesel

“The human mind is our fundamental resource.” John Fitzgerald Kennedy

The deciding factor in resources is usually resourcefulness.

Power of resources: People are our best resources. It’s cheesy but true. My most effective moments almost always involves me harnessing the value of other people. My favourite manifestation of this is a Facebook group I created, lovingly called (n_n)/. I invited people from a wide range of social circles, mostly young Singaporeans who I enjoyed having decent conversations with. I figured that if I could get everybody together in one (virtual) room, the value that could be created would be exponential. The group has since grown to over 150 members (170, at last count) where people discuss loads of things. The group is still (in my opinion) its infancy, but it is already a great source of value for me. There are people there who challenge me intellectually, make me laugh, make me feel a part of something greater than myself, and people who inspire me and push me forward. If you can do nothing else with your life, surround yourself with people you admire, who support you and love you. Support and love them back. It’ll be better than all the therapy money can buy.

Lack of resources: For the longest time, my blogging and general internet activity was stuck at a bottleneck because I was doing my work on a terribly old computer (I think it’s almost 10 years old!). It would lag, cough, sputter and die, and I simply couldn’t get any decent writing done. I would actually get physically agitated just from dealing with it. I decided that I would have to get a laptop, and I managed to strike a deal with a friend who had an old laptop that he wasn’t using- I ran a few errands for him and he gave it to me as a favour, and it was an all-around win-win situation. I have since then been able to blog like wildfire (as you may have noticed). I plan to get a Blackberry next, which should allow me to write when my mind is on fire when I’m on the bus home from work- moments of wasted productivity, banished!

Without resources you’ll be left thinking “I can’t do it because I don’t have the tools.” And nothing will change.

PLAN OF ACTION.

(courtesy of littlemisscheesy)

Dinosaur translations:
[‘meoragh’ – Hello, Mr. Leaf!
‘aoraghra’ – Wowsers! Marmite, om nom nom
‘weoragher’ – No bowties. Bowties are not cool
‘blaroghmeh’ can’t… breathe… ]

Power of planning: I used to play in a band called Armchair Critic. We weren’t spectacularly good or anything, but we did have a fairly decent fan base. Now the interesting thing is that none of us were particularly good musicians or songwriters. Despite our limitations and sore lack of musicianship, we managed to get ourselves onto the Esplanade Powerhouse stage, which is a fairly prestigious stage- not everybody gets to play there. It was one of the best moments of my life, because I had visualized myself playing there ever since I first glanced upon it, and I had planned to get there, step by step. I know of many other musicians and songwriters better than us who have yet to play the Powerhouse stage, and the main reason for that, I feel, is that they don’t plot out the trajectory of their musical careers. I think this applies to anybody, whether you’re a musician, a designer, a writer, an architect, whatever- you have to have a plan.

Lack of planning: I know a lot of stuff about fitness. Seriously, I can tell you most of what you need to know about what it takes to get fit- whether it’s to lose fat, build muscle, get stronger. I know what exercises work what muscles, I know what kind of diet you ought to do, I know lots of stuff. I spent years learning all I could from bodybuilding forums, martial arts forums and athletics forums. I’ve read Men’s Health and other fitness magazines for so long that I’ve witnessed multiple cycles of the same articles. Seriously, I know everything I need to know to be the fittest bugger around. Yet, despairingly, I remained a weak, skinny beanpole despite about 6 years of effort. This was because I didn’t have a plan. I’d just go to the gym and do random workouts. I didn’t keep track of my caloric intake, and had no real targets to reach. I have made more strength and mass gains in the past 30 weeks than I have in the 6 years preceding that, with less time and effort expended, simply because I’ve been following a simple plan.

(^accomplishing in 10 weeks what I couldn’t do in 5 years)

Without a decent plan, you’ll find yourself walking in circles. “I keep trying but nothing is happening!” And nothing will change.