Your Values Are as Hard to Remember as Your Groceries

The human brain is very bad at remembering the things we hope to remember, when we want to remember them.  You would think we would be better at remembering what we say is most important to us. Still, we are just as bad at remembering our values without regular review as we are at remembering all of our groceries without a list.

If that were not the case, I would be out of a job. 

Each week I preach on texts written down thousands of years ago in a repeating cycle of readings. And sermons often boil down to messages we’ve heard before; things like: “Help those who are in need.” “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return (i.e., life is short!).” 

We human beings need to remind ourselves of essential things regularly. We need to have a reliable way to remind ourselves of our principles and remind ourselves of whom we aspire to become, just as we need to remind ourselves to get butter and eggs at the store (or was it oat milk and tahini…. ? Ummm, where’s the list?).

I drew some groceries.

This insight is how productivity guru David Allen built a global business based on decades of him telling people to get things out of their heads by writing them down and regularly reviewing what they wrote. 

Writing things down boosts our memories in two useful ways: when you write, you create an external reminder, and you also begin a process called “encoding.” When you write something down, you create a reliable external backup of information you want to remember (“ah, there’s my grocery list, and there are the eggs and butter”.)

Your effort in creating written material for yourself -- which requires first creating an image or concept in your mind, and then regenerating that in your own images and words — starts this encoding process. We might think of encoding as the beginning of wrangling something into memory.

However, simply writing something down is not enough. To get something into our minds solidly enough so that it becomes an active source of energy and motivation within us, means we have to review it regularly.

If you write something down, that’s like walking once through a forest. If you review and revise it on a regular basis, that’s like creating a path through the forest.

One pass does not make a path. If you want to integrate your values and principles into the way you live your life, you must write them down, and review them regularly.

A personal framework helps to remind you to become the kind of person you want to become. It’s the meta-level for how you manage your time and your tasks.  

At its most basic, a personal framework is:

— a written list of your values and principles,

— related to your various roles in life,

— which you then refer to, as you plan and carry out your schedule and to-do lists,

— and which you regularly review to make sure you’re spending your precious time and energy on what you care about

The key here is that your values and principles, your routine life practices, are written down and reviewed, like a grocery list, or a list of projects.

Write down your values and principles. 

Write down your roles in life. 

Make time to review this regularly. (I review mine on Fridays.)

This will help you stay on course to become the kind of person you hope to become.