Are you interested? Are you paying attention.
Of course. Why?
Because the word MIGHT is mighty. It automatically awakens you, perks up your little brain for… opportunity… threat… novelty. I’ve written more about Mighty Language and a clarifying tool, here.
Today, I’m looking at another power of the word: MIGHT. Contingent thinking. If things are hypothetical or contingent, then your resistance to that thought is lowered. If something might happen, you’re interested and not threatened. Less resistance.
Now, I can’t speak for you, but one of the places my craven brain mounts resistance is when I’m looking at my To-Do List. I look at my ambitious list of things to do in a given day, and I might be excited at first. As I begin to parse the tasks and dig in, my excitement can shrink. Before long, I can have a negative – resistant – track in my head.
Let your To-Do List become a Might-Do List.
One way to prevent and sidestep that backlash from your brain, is to make your to-do list hypothetical.
Because what are To-Do lists? They are catch-alls for things that need doing. By their very nature they are expansive, bec their purpose is to free your mind from having to remember things that need doing. As it is expansive, it is then, by nature, likely more than can be achieved in a day. MIGHT-DO is helpful to ease your mind into the work, and A MIGHT-DO List is a very simple way to do that.
Think of the power your To-Do List has over you and your mood. I have had days spent in beautiful productivity that end with a sense of pride and accomplishment, only to have that satisfaction evaporate when I look at my To-Do List and focus on the things I hadn’t done.
To-Do List’s are divergent. Divergent thinking is by its nature “additional.” It is a way of thinking where you permit yourself to continually expand and add ideas and layers and tasks into the list. You can read more about Divergent thinking and how it factors into creativity, here.
Your simple reframing of the list as a MIGHT-DO list gives you permission to converge. Convergent thinking is by its nature “subtractive.” As a way of thinking, it is judicious and selective. So, as you look at each task with a “MIGHT” hovering in your mind, it permits you to ignore any one or more tasks. You can read more about Convergent thinking and how it factors into creativity, here.
MIGHTY is the pen that permits you to retain your sense of accomplishment and progress and live to work another day.