The Purpose Handbook by Eloise Skinner

Author:Eloise Skinner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Practical Inspiration Publishing
Published: 2021-11-14T16:00:00+00:00

Milestone mapping

Writing time: 15 minutes to map out

Preparation: your choice of calendar or diary

Recommended practice: one initial session to map out your milestones, and then designing a way to recognize your achievement when you reach them

This is a simple exercise that focuses on the power of celebration. We often forget, as we race towards bigger and bigger goals, that there’s an immense psychological power in taking a moment to appreciate where we are right now. We’ve all heard about the power of the gratitude journal, and perhaps you’ve experienced it too – the positive impact that can result from something as simple as noting the things you’re grateful for. ‘Milestone mapping’ is a similar psychological strategy: it encourages you to reach a goal, and then take a second to pause and appreciate it.

It’s been reported that focusing on a positive experience takes a consistent amount of focus and intention, while focusing on negative experiences is much more instinctive.10 So, with this in mind, the milestone mapping exercise is based on the following steps:

1. Choose your milestone. It’s up to you whether you want to make this is a big goal (a macro-style goal, if you’re using the goal-setting exercise above – see pp. 96–102) or a smaller, more achievable goal. It might even make sense to have smaller markers for your mini-milestones and a bigger marker for your main, macro goal.

2. Mark your milestone in your planner of choice – perhaps the calendar app on your phone, a paper diary or other tracking method. It might be, for example, the day of a final exam or the day of launch of a project. You can choose whether to mark the milestone on that particular day (which might work in the exam example) or the day/week after (which might be more appropriate for a new project, since the immediate aftermath of the launch might still involve a large amount of work).

3. Decide what your celebration or marker will look like. You can get a little creative here: it might be something low-intensity (like having a few days off to do your favourite things or catch up on Netflix), or something more significant (taking a vacation or having a gathering of friends and family). You can even craft something personalized to the particular milestone – for example, finishing an exam might mean you have a celebratory evening with your classmates, or getting a promotion might mean spending on something meaningful for yourself. Whatever it is, make sure it’s designed in some detail: this will not only serve as your milestone (i.e. your memory of achievement), but as an incentive to reach the milestone.

One important part of this practice is to create a record of the event in some way. So, for example, if it’s a post-exam gathering, take photos and keep them. If you decide to invest in a product or item, make it something that lasts. You want to keep associating the positive experience of the milestone with the achievement of the event itself.

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