#185 The Angel's Advocate

Michael Gelb wrote a great book called How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci. I can still remember reading it shortly after selling my first business over 15 years ago. It was life-changing for me!

Michael has a bunch of great exercises and distinctions to help us tap into our potential. Here’s one of my favorites.

We all know about the Devil’s Advocate. The Devil’s Advocate is a very important part of any creative process—when we deliberately look for the things that can go wrong. (It’s kinda like the “Obstacles” part of WOOP where we rub our dreams up against reality.)

But…

Here’s the deal: We need to START with our vision of what’s possible before we look at what might go wrong.

Enter: The Angel’s Advocate.

Your ANGEL’S Advocate is amazing. She has a magic wand. When she waves that wand, she can make all your dreams come true. But, first, you need to know what your dreams are.

So…

Let’s put our little Angel to work.

What’s the most important thing in your life right now?

…

Got it?

Fantastic.

Now, imagine that a little Angel just floated into your world and is currently hovering right in front of you. She’s smiling at you. Ready to work her magic. But, again, she needs to know what you want.

So… If everything went perfectly in this most important part of your life—you worked hard, got a little lucky and all that—what would this part of your life look like?

Take a moment to hang out with your Angel’s Advocate and capture that vision now.

My most important thing: ____________________________.

Everything going awesome: ___________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

Fantastic.

I call that “Waving the Wand.” When I’m strategizing about a creative project I’ll often grab a blank piece of paper and write “Wave the Wand” at the top then imagine everything going perfectly. Thank you, Angel’s Advocate.

Then?

Then I invite the Devil’s Advocate in to help me WOOP it!

They make a great team but let’s remember to lead with the Angel. (And, let’s not forget to let the Devil’s Advocate in to help out the cause!)

One more quick check in: Are you stronger with the Angel or the Devil?

Do you need to dream a little more or rub that vision up against reality and plan a little more?

Let’s Optimize their relationship just a little more today +1-style!

High fives to you and your Advocates! 😃