![]() The Theme System, to me, is a way to outline the ways in which I want to be a better version of myself and then choose a word which captures the way that I plan to get there. "You should be trying to build a life you want to live, and themes are a fuzzy, high level, longer term way to navigate your brain at a broad area of change." Your theme should be resonant it's the idea of a word that "sticks out to you" and "sticks with you." Whether it is order, less, health, novelty, or another word not listed, there is a word that captures the positive outcome that you want for the year that word is your theme.I have already seen the powerful effect of my theme in the past few days on my thinking across the various outlets in my life. " Thinking about your thinking changes your thinking, which changes who you are." This is a bit "meta" but it is surprising how effective this realization is when applied to your life through a theme." A good theme can't fail." In fact, the theme system changes the way you think about failure entirely by seeing theme effectiveness as how it impacts your "trend line" (up-and-up or simply slowing the downward curve is a sign that the theme works).As Grey puts it, a theme allows you to " be a little different in little moments." For example, a resolution to lose weight may only feel applicable when you're in the gym or the kitchen, while a theme of healthy living can apply anywhere. It is often easy to compartmentalize a new year's resolution goal to a small area of your life. The objective for a theme is to inform your decisions, big and small, across the period for which it is set.I would caveat that there is a place for SMART goals, but without sufficient systems to enact them they can be challenging to apply to very big goals (for example, resolutions).* In my case, and perhaps for many readers, the SMART goal model has been beaten into me as the only effective goal-setting system. " All that matters is the trend line." In this statement, there is an inherent acceptance that setting a theme is not like setting a SMART goal - one which is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant to you, and time-bound. ![]() Setting "New Year's Resolutions" is actually setting a goal for human behavior change unfortunately, " human behavior change is really hard.".I would like to highlight a few of my own personal takeaways from the video below: At this point, I would recommend that you watch CGP Grey's video explanation of the Theme System in the video Your Theme. They describe the system in greater detail on a dedicated webpage for The Theme System. ![]() In short, the men describe a theme as "a guiding principle for our work and/or personal lives for that period." In a few words, the theme is a core foundation on which all systems and targets for the period - often a season or a year - are both rooted in and built upon. At the end of the calendar year, each of the hosts sets a theme for the upcoming year. One recurring area of discussion on Cortex is that of their yearly themes. However, this article is not about my favorite YouTube channel or podcast personalities instead, I want to introduce an idea which Grey and Myke have championed on their platforms. I have found this "two guys talking" podcast to be very fascinating, as both creators have a clear motivation to publish quality products that help their viewers and listeners to better understand the world and to learn about fascinating topics within the "forest of all knowledge," as Grey often puts it. Along with Relay FM Co-Founder Myke Hurley, the two men discuss updates on their professional work and how this work relates to their personal, intrinsic drive to create quality content for the world. In addition to his video content on YouTube, Grey is also a co-host of the podcast Cortex. I highly suggest watching this video if you are looking to reestablish boundaries for the start of 2021. Much like the essential tasks necessary to keep a spaceship running, accomplishing these tasks is essential to power your human "core" of both physical and mental health. At the beginning of the Coronavirus Pandemic in 2020, he released a fantastic video called Lockdown Productivity: Spaceship You in which he described the process to create boundaries between sleep, exercise, leisure, and work. ![]() You may recognize his work from his early publications such as How to Become Pope or The Difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and England Explained. I have followed the popular YouTube content creator CGP Grey for many years. ![]()
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