Farmers vs. Hunters
- This is not really a fully scientific classification but a good model to understand how we generally work — we’re either farmers or hunters
- Farmers work in a style which rewards consistency — work on a fixed schedule and pattern to get the desired result, generally dictated by the pattern of the day or any other regular baseline
- Hunters work in an instinctive manner — they have to stay alert, be quick to act and may have to ready to work at odd hours
Goal Setting
- One way to classify goals is to use the following categories:
- Wants: the classic want, not need thingy like “I want a yacht” — but do you really? Is that the thing that’s keeping you up at night or getting you out of bed in the morning? Probably not, you think it is cool which is why you “want” it. The point is not that wants are bad per se but it may be a good idea to be aware of what is a want and what is not
- Shoulds: These are wants but things you do for others or due to external factors and not because you want them. Like, “I should be owning a house by age X” (again, not because I want this but for cultural reasons it seems like a good goal to have). So these are wants that we want for socio-cultural reasons perhaps?
- Values or Desires: Things you want to do but driven by some sense of internal motivation like “I want to get healthy”
- Responsibilities or Duties: Things you want to do but driven by some sense of duty like “I must make time for my kids as a parent”
- Broadly, it looks like there may be intrinsic motivations for the right side quadrants which might help setting better goals