Define Your Motivations, Aspirations, and Plan (M.A.P.) to Guide and Filter Your Actions

I have a tool problem. There I said it. Every time I encounter a problem (friction), my mind immediately goes to what is the best tool I can buy to solve it. I skip right over identifying the problem or the desired outcome, and it’s cost me. Not just money, but time and energy as well. A few weeks ago I finally had enough and decided to try to change my thinking.

I’ve read a lot of personal development books, and one of the things I’ve learned from them is that sometimes you have to stop doing, start thinking, and ask better questions. The first question that popped into my head was Brian Tracy’s zero-based thinking: “Knowing what I know now, if I wasn’t already doing this, would I start it up again today?” This got the ball rolling, and it led to another question: “What am I actually trying to achieve?” Then another, “Why am I trying to achieve it?”

When I answered the first question, I didn’t accept the surface-level answers. I dug deeper. I kept asking why. After several responses, I landed on a working definition: My primary aspiration is to create original music that conveys emotion. I’d like the music I create to evoke in others the same feelings that my favorite music evokes in me. How did I arrive at this? The music that resonates with me does so because it evokes an emotional response. It might make me feel energized, inspired, or even sad. Then I arrived at the motivation behind my aspiration: “so that I can connect with others”. Because, for me, music has always been about connection. My favorite songs connect with me; hopefully my songs can connect with others. Finally, I identified the guitar as my primary tool for doing this. This aspiration and motivation gave me direction. Now all I needed was a plan.

To develop my plan, I asked myself, “How do I do this? How do I create original music that conveys emotion so that I can connect with others?” Again, just like I did for the aspiration and the motivation, I kept digging until I uncovered something meaningful. I landed on the following: I will study songs that spark emotion in me to better understand how and why they do so. This sparked a realization - I’d been doing this since I started playing guitar in 1989. A guitar riff inspired me to want to learn to play guitar. I continued to learn songs that inspired me. As a guitar teacher, I based all of my lessons around teaching students songs that inspired them. And when I started recording my own music, I subconsciously applied the same standard: does the music I’m creating inspire or evoke an emotion in me? If so, I keep it; if not, I toss it.

Not only was this process eye-opening, but I started to see I could use it as a filter for activities, purchases, and decisions. Then I started to also see it as a map. Then the acronym came: M.A.P. (motivation, aspiration, plan).

A good map does more than provide direction; it also identifies hazards along the way-obstacles that might prevent your arrival at your destination. So I started thinking about my obstacles, the things that have derailed my progress, and I named them.

I saw my curiosity as both a strength and a weakness, so I decided it should have its own designated time and not interfere with creative sessions. No more rabbit holes and lost time because I allowed my curiosity to get the better of me. I realized that open loops, unresolved questions about gear, software, workflow, and systems, were hijacking my creative time, so I decided to capture them and address them outside of my creative time. And lastly, I acknowledged that I have a tendency to over-optimize systems that are already working by trying to make them “better,” which leads to overcomplication. It’s hard to avoid obstacles you can’t see-making a M.A.P. brings them to light clearly.

Identifying my obstacles had an immediate payoff. It allowed me to see them clearly and identify them in real time. When I feel the pull of curiosity, I see it for what it is. If I have unresolved questions or start to overcomplicate things, I name them, and more importantly, I can stop the activity before getting derailed.