Station 11: Pruning
Experience: Fatigue | Task: Discipline | Reward: Mastery
Simplicity boils down to two steps: Identify the essential. Eliminate the rest.
Station 11: Pruning
Before you start to think you're almost at the end, think again. A lot of hard work must still be done here, so take a deep breath and allow the time that's needed. This is where amateurs become professionals by continuing to refine and perfect the new thing until only the best remains. Like the last few laps of a marathon, this station is tiring. You may feel you're just going through the motions forever before that finish line is reached. You go as far as you can and then you keep going. And that line will be there in the end.
Application
Questions
- What needs to be cut away for the New Thing to be its best?
- What is most fatiguing to you about this process? And where do you feel like quitting?
- What is at stake? What makes you willing to do whatever it takes?
- How will you know when the New Thing is ready?
Exercise
- Everything that can be done can be done better. The Master knows s/he will always be practicing. Every creative product or business innovation must be edited, refined, improved to achieve success. The idea requires skills, techniques and methods to become real. Some of those can take years to develop.
- What needs to be improved?
Actions/Homework
- Look at every angle of this domain and list the improvements you can see today. For a business, look at systems, team, mission, processes, etc. For a personal project, look at your time, money, and mental, physical, emotional and spiritual resources. Make your lists.
Accountability
Check in with your Facebook community or your accountability partner.
Measure your Learning
What do you see from this vantage point that you could not have imagined in Station 1?