About our Guests
John Reese is a weird fiction novelist, podcaster, and former SRE at Google and Robinhood. You can find John on LinkedIn and Medium.
Main Takeaways from this Episode
Gamification as a powerful mind tool
Gamification refers to the use of game design tactics and strategies in non-game environments to motivate and engage us. It takes advantage of our evolved desire for achievement, competition, and recognition to make everyday or less enjoyable tasks more enjoyable. Here's how you could apply gamification to your next home improvement project:
Points, Levels, and Leaderboards: Turn your project into a game with points! Award yourself points for completing tasks, like gathering contractor bids or installing GFCI outlets. Keep a leaderboard to track your progress and see how you stack up against your family (or even your past self!).
Badges: Celebrate milestones with badges. Snaked the drain? You've earned the "Plumbing Pro" badge! Give yourself a gold star, a funny sticker, or even create a digital badge.
Challenges or Quests: Inject some friendly competition with challenges. For example, launch a "Bargain Finder Challenge" to see who can find the best deal on a designer light fixture.
Progress Bars: Visualize your progress with a progress bar. As you check items off your to-do list, watch your progress bar fill up and motivate you to keep going.
Rewards: Set up a reward system for completing tasks or reaching milestones. Finished the kitchen counter? Treat yourself to a new espresso machine!
Building a Relationship with Your Past and Future Selves
A cornerstone of the Hindsight Retros approach is blamelessness—including forgiving ourselves when things don’t go as planned. Instead of dwelling on shortcomings or past mistakes, we can choose to express deep gratitude to our past selves for the effort and decisions that brought us to where we are today.
This mindset not only fosters self-compassion but also inspires us to invest in our present selves. By recognizing the value of the work we do today, we can set up our future selves for success and bring our hopes and dreams closer to reality.
Activation energy and getting your momentum going
Newton’s First Law of Motion states that an object at rest will remain at rest unless acted upon by an external force. This principle often applies to our bodies and minds as well—getting off the couch, whether literally or figuratively, can feel like an insurmountable task. However, once you’re in motion, it’s much easier to stay in motion.
The key is to find simple, low-effort ways to spark that initial movement and engage your brain. Even if the immediate outcome isn’t perfect—what you create might land in the "garbage hole"—the true victory lies in getting started and building momentum towards the next milestone.
Books like Atomic Habits or Make Your Bed or The War of Art offer valuable strategies to overcome resistance and take that first step toward tackling big challenges. The secret? Start small and let momentum do the rest.
Helpful Links
https://hindsightretros.substack.com/p/jtrs-2024-national-novel-editing
https://nanowrimo.org/
https://jjttrr.medium.com/i-finished-the-first-draft-of-my-novel-f65f92721832
https://obsidian.md/
Books about writing and creativity:
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