#358 Psycho-Cybernetics

In our last few +1s we had fun mapping out our Big 3 into a Decade View and then into the Core Habits that’ll help us create Masterpiece Days that’ll help us make that big vision a natural by-product of us being consistently awesome.

I shared my Big 3 from that morning and mentioned that I’m ALWAYS (!) Optimizing.

Let’s talk about that some more today.

Specifically, let’s talk about something called “cybernetics.”

You might’ve heard of Maxwell Maltz’s great, old-school classic Psycho-Cybernetics. It’s fantastic. Check out the Notes.

Here’s the short story on the central theme of that book.

Imagine a guided a missile. It knows its target. And, it knows whether it’s on track to hit that target or not. And then it constantly (!) readjusts its trajectory to get back on target whenever it’s off target. Repeat. Again and again. Boom! Target hit.

That’s called a “servo-mechanism” and the science behind it is called “cybernetics” (which comes from a Greek word that means “the steersman”).

Apply that to our minds/goal pursuits and we have what Maltz calls “Psycho-Cybernetics.”

Moral of the analogy? We need to have a clear target. (Remember: Rule #1 of goal setting is to have a specific, challenging yet doable goal!) Then we launch the missile by taking action. (Remember: After a certain point, we can’t THINK our way to more clarity. We need to Ready Fire Aim and get data!)

From there, the missile uses its mechanical “senses” (whether that’s radar or sonar or heat or whatever) to stay on target (they call that “positive feedback”). When it’s not on target, it gets “negative feedback” and simply adjusts its course so it’s BACK on track.

Same with us.

Today’s +1. What’s your target? You on track? What’s working? (Positive feedback!) What needs work? (Negative feedback!)

Incrementally Optimizing. All day every day. Aggregating and compounding those tiny little gains until… Boom! Target hit — whether that’s a Masterpiece Day, a big, hairy, audacious goal or just you being the next best version of you.

Happy Optimizing and high fives to you and your Steersman.