A course on

The Language of Objectives Part of The Change Anything KitBe an ace at dealing with complex situations

A 10-week course on a mental reprogramming technique called have-done lists so you can focus on your life’s bigger priorities. It’ll be like learning a new (meta) language. You’re in for some breakthroughs.

Be notified when the course is next offered or check below for more details…

Hi. My name is Pascal and I’m offering a course about a trick I’ve learned: how to write objectives in a way I call have-done lists. Instead of writing to-do’s, you’re writing stuff you will have done.

Here’s what have-done lists look like:

Before the end of the morning, I’ll have:

Made sure everyone in the family started their day feeling good
Written the next example for the course
- Made a first draft of the evolution of the example’s have-done list
- Written the narrative surrounding the example’s have-done list
Done the 7-minute workout

Before the end of the meeting:

I’ll have:
- Obtained a change in the way we work
  - Communicated my concern with the way it’s working right now
  - Shared another alternative
He’ll have:
- Obtained an authentic and frank discussion
- Obtained a key player on the delivery of the new project

Before the end of the month, I’ll have:

Had a breakthrough talking to my brother
Advanced in preparing my next career move
- Published something scary and important
  - Reduced my ideas down to something I can ship before the end of the year
Prepared for the holidays

From Catch-up to Catch-all

Maybe you’re going through something like this right now:

There’s just too many things to do these days.
You have to catch-up in too many areas of your life, and now it’s gotten to be a little too much.
It’s gotten to a point where you realize that your old habits are no longer working. Your to-do system is no longer working, your decision system is no longer working, and the big picture needs fixing.

From This-isn’t-working to This-will-work

Or maybe your situation needs to change in deeper ways.

You’re faced with a complex problem and you need a way to advance on it
You believe that there’s a way to improve something, when others aren’t so sure, or don’t have the patience or energy to try.
You want to reform an environment, starting with your own contribution to it.

I’ve found that have-done lists let me…

Start from scratch, by default: Unlike to-do systems, have-done lists force me to treat today as the start of something new, not the continuation of yesterday’s plan. That’s freeing to me. I can peek into my past lists, but today’s a new day, encouraging me to…
Picture "perfection": I like imagining the best way something can become, and have-done lists encourage me to do that, while letting me…
Prioritize ruthlessly to find the smallest possible, most impactful thing I can do first, which allow me to…
Have quick successes that help me get to fun stuff later on, which help me…
Get away from the always-urgent and closer to the important, less-urgent goals, which freed up my attention and energy to…
Tackle the most complex situations and turn them around, in my family, in my work, with my friendships, where it matters, which, in the end, let me…
Care more about pretty much everything I usually care about, but especially about what is bigger, more important.

I turn to have-done lists…

…instead of giving too much attention to urgent to-dos. Have-done lists require you to start with the end in mind, forcing you to remove yourself from the urgency.
…instead of letting guilt accumulate about things I’m not giving my attention to. Every day you can start fresh with a new list and make hard decisions about what’s in and what’s out. Beat the guilt!
…instead of writing to-do lists, because not everything that matters is a to-do. Sometimes what matters is to adopt a posture, or to listen, or to receive, or to connect. Have-done lists allow for those, no problem.
…instead of using different techniques for different time scales. Have-done lists work on tiny time scales (before my meeting with my boss, I’ll have…) as well as huge time scales (before my kids leave for university, I’ll have…)
…instead of compromising on my vision, since there is a way to get the concrete stuff done while, at the same time, match my vision/ideals of how things should be…

Structure of the course

The course will run over 10 weeks.

Every week, you’ll receive an email with an example situation (we’ll pretend you’re the person in the situation). We’ll use have-done lists to help write some objectives to get progress on that example situation. Here’s an example article which resembles how an example will be delivered in your email.

Week after week, example by example, you’ll unlearn what leads to the same results you used to have, and you’ll learn new ways to write objectives that get you what you really want. It’ll be like learning a new language.

Also, with each email, I’ll encourage you to share your objectives with me so I can give you feedback. Just reply back to share your own list, and I’ll help you by giving you quick ideas and suggestions to improve the way your objectives are written.

Your have-done lists for the course

By the end of your first few weeks in the course, by putting in the effort, you will have:

Started developing your own new language for describing what you envision as a success
Obtained a surprising result in one area of your life
Realized, on a few occasions, how you used to tackle your problems, and how to improve your approach next times

By the end of the course, after sticking with it, you will have:

Noticed you had developed some new instincts when planning your next steps, that habits had formed
Obtained a couple surprising results in unexpected areas of your life (personal, professional, family, friends)
Felt satisfaction, on a few occasions, at having been able to picture “perfection” and having advanced a little toward it
Developed a better appreciation of your natural tendencies and your default ways of tackling problems
Been exposed to a variety of different ways to write objectives: time boxing, how to iterate on a list, new verbs to use at the beginning of each objective, how to group objectives, what questions to ask yourself to get unstuck, applying the technique on different time scales

Testimonial

“No need for any shiny new app, a perfect reference system or that new faster device to save some time – all you need is your brain and heart in order to getting done what needs to be done and what you want to be done. But your mind needs to be rewired in order for that to work properly, and this course helps one to set sail on this journey of finding one’s true objectives, life goals, desires and needs in relationships and the best way to prioritize handle all those mundane daily tasks as well. After those ten weeks you won’t be perfect and much work will still be needed - but you will be ready and armed with wisdom, advice and a better self-understanding in order to embark on your life’s journey with a renewed perspective and ambition.”

Be notified when the course if next offered

A personal note

I’ve relied on this way of writing objectives for much of the breakthroughs I’ve had in the last long while. By visualizing a better situation, and focusing on the smallest thing I could do to improve the situation, I found some surprising ways to make things work out with less effort. I’ve managed some important small things, and I’ve navigated through some complex bigger things with these too. Put in the effort to re-write your options with these objectives lists, and you’ll likely be surprised too.

If you’ve got some questions, look below for my email address.

Get to those bigger priorities!

– Pascal Laliberté
language-of-objectives@pascallaliberte.me