2005-02-08

Steve Pavlina's missing part

I have followed the writings of Steve Pavlina, and his blog entries is always inspiring. But one entry has got me thinking, and I have to disagree with Steve P. The name of the blog is "The Essential Missing Half of Getting Things Done":

At that level I have a one-sentence statement of my life’s purpose plus a longer mission statement.
...
The next level down is goals. All of my goals are either need-based or purpose-based.
...
To put it very simply… standard GTD will teach you how to do things right. It’s extremely effective at that. But before you concern yourself with doing things right, you must first figure out what the right thing to do is.

The missing part is not at all missing, David Allen's is very clear on this point, you must organize all your day-to-day "stuff" before you can do more high-level planning.

Be careful. That's a very popular notion these days: If you focus on your values, then you'll improve the "balance" between your business and personal lives. Give me a break. Focusing on your values may provide you with meaning, but it won't simplify things. You'll just discover even more stuff that's important to you.
(Fast Company)

Get all those little things out of your head first, otherwise thinking about Mission Statements and Life Goals will only add to all the stuff you already have on your mind.

So, in my opinion Steve Pavlina is basicly right. We should all lift up our eyes take a bearing on were we intend to go in the long-term. But first make sure that you have your low-level stuff in order before doing this exercise.

Update (Feb 15 2005): Merlin Mann of 43Folders had a nice analogy: "Good read and an interesting perspective--but it seems a bit like spanking your lawn mower for its lax landscaping skills."

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