## What Is the Aligned Action Framework? The Aligned Action Framework is MakeTimeFlow's holistic approach to connecting your daily actions with your long-term vision. It's the "why" behind how everything in MakeTimeFlow works together. **Core Idea:** People who clearly define their longer-term vision make better daily decisions, experience less distraction, and achieve more meaningful progress toward flourishing. Think of it as a GPS for your life and work - it helps you know where you're going (your vision) and guides your daily choices to get there (your actions). --- ## Why This Matters: The Science The Aligned Action Framework is built on decades of psychological research showing that alignment between vision and action leads to: ### Improved Decision Making When you have a clear five-year vision, you can evaluate opportunities against that future direction. This helps you: - Say "yes" to what truly matters - Say "no" to distractions without guilt - Make faster decisions with more confidence - Avoid short-term urgencies that don't align with long-term goals ### Greater Life Satisfaction Research shows that people who feel connected to their future selves: - Experience greater well-being and life satisfaction - Make better long-term decisions - Have improved physical and mental health - Report higher levels of meaning and purpose ### Better Goal Achievement The framework combines proven strategies: - **Temporal Self-Continuity** (Hershfield, 2011): Feeling connected to your future self improves decision-making - **Goal-Setting Theory** (Locke & Latham): Specific goals lead to higher performance - **The 12-Week Year** (Brian Moran): Shorter execution cycles create productive urgency - **Mental Contrasting** (Oettingen): Visualizing success plus planning for obstacles dramatically improves achievement - **Flourishing Research** (Seligman, PERMA): Well-being comes from balanced attention across life domains --- ## How It Works: The Three Time Horizons The framework operates across three interconnected time horizons. Each serves a different purpose, but they all work together. ### 1. Five-Year Vision (Your North Star) **Purpose:** Provides long-term direction without micro-managing the path **What it is:** Your Future Success Story - a vivid narrative description of your life five years from now, written in present tense as if already achieved. Organized across four life domains: - **Self**: Personal growth, health, wellbeing - **Work**: Career and professional achievements - **Family**: Family relationships and home life - **Community/Legacy**: Community involvement and impact **Why five years?** - Far enough to be aspirational and transformative - Close enough to feel real and achievable - Perfect for major life transitions and capability development **When to create:** - During your first week with MakeTimeFlow - Annually for major updates - When facing significant life decisions > [!tip] Use Your AI Coach > Creating your five-year vision is easier with help. Ask your AI coach: "Help me create my five-year vision" or navigate to Goals and click "Create my 5-year vision" ### 2. Quarterly Success Story (Your 12-Week Focus) **Purpose:** Translates five-year vision into specific, achievable 12-week outcomes **What it is:** Your Quarterly Success Story - a focused narrative of what success looks like at the end of this quarter. Based on the "12-Week Year" approach, treating each quarter as a complete execution cycle. **Why quarterly (not yearly)?** - Creates productive urgency from day one - Prevents "I'll do it later in the year" procrastination - Allows more frequent learning and adjustment - Improves focus on what truly matters (3-5 key objectives) - Builds visible progress that creates momentum **When to create:** - At the start of each quarter - Monthly "refresh" to maintain alignment - When priorities shift significantly > [!tip] Monthly Reviews > Update your quarterly vision monthly to incorporate new insights and maintain motivation. Don't wait until quarter-end! ### 3. Weekly Success Story (Your Immediate Actions) **Purpose:** Connects quarterly focus to daily task planning **What it is:** Your Weekly Success Story - a specific narrative of what makes this week successful. Directly informs your daily task selection and time allocation. **Why weekly?** - Short enough for accurate planning - Creates clear daily priorities - Enables rapid learning and adjustment - Maintains connection to broader vision **When to create:** - Every week during your WRAP ritual (Weekly Reflection And Planning) - Mid-week adjustments when priorities shift - Daily review during BeginWell ritual --- ## The Complete System: How Everything Connects The Aligned Action Framework isn't just about success stories - it's how ALL the pieces of MakeTimeFlow work together: ### Success Stories: Your Narrative Goals **What they are:** Comprehensive descriptions of success at each time horizon, written in present tense **Why narrative?** Stories are more motivating and memorable than lists. Your brain responds better to vivid narratives than abstract objectives. **How to use:** Start each planning session by reviewing your relevant success story. This "primes" your mind to naturally select aligned actions. ### Smart Bets: Your Strategic Experiments **What they are:** 4-week bounded experiments to test specific approaches across the six flourishing domains: - Physical Health and Exercise - Positive Emotions - Engagement and Flow - Relationships - Meaning and Purpose - Achievement **Connection to framework:** Smart Bets help you measure whether specific strategic changes are moving you toward your success stories. They're experiments, not lifelong commitments. **Best practice:** Choose 3-5 Smart Bets that represent your most important quarterly outcomes. Track with scores (0-100) to see what's working. ### Experiments: Your Behavior Tests **What they are:** 1-2 week tests of new daily practices or habits **Connection to framework:** Experiments help you discover which specific behaviors support your Smart Bets and success stories. **Best practice:** Run 1-2 experiments at a time. After 1-2 weeks, decide: keep (maintain), modify, or abandon. ### Tasks: Your Daily Actions **What they are:** Your organized daily actions in buckets (@today, @next, @later) **Connection to framework:** Each task ideally connects back to your weekly success story, which supports your quarterly story, which moves toward your five-year vision. **Best practice:** When planning your day, ask: "Will this task help achieve my weekly success story?" --- ## Getting Started with the Framework You don't need to set everything up at once. Here's a practical path: ### Start Here (30 minutes) 1. **Create your five-year vision** (20 minutes) - Use your AI coach: "Help me create my five-year vision" - Think about each life domain (Self, Work, Family, Community) - Write as if looking back from your successful future self 2. **Draft your quarterly success story** (10 minutes) - Ask: "What would make this quarter feel successful?" - Connect it to your five-year vision - Keep it to 3-5 key objectives ### Build the Habit (2-4 weeks) 3. **Create weekly success stories** (5 minutes each week) - Every week during WRAP ritual - Break quarterly focus into weekly achievements - Connect daily tasks to weekly story 4. **Add measurement** (15 minutes) - Choose 3-5 Smart Bets for the quarter - Start 1-2 Experiments - Update weekly ### Make It Sustainable (ongoing) 5. **Daily reviews** (2-5 minutes) - Morning: Review weekly success story (BeginWell ritual) - Evening: Reflect on progress (Shutdown ritual) 6. **Weekly planning** (30 minutes) - Reflect on progress (WRAP ritual) - Update weekly success story - Plan next week's focus 7. **Monthly refresh** (45 minutes) - Update quarterly success story - Adjust Smart Bets if needed - Celebrate progress 8. **Quarterly review** (90 minutes) - Complete quarterly reflection - Draft next quarter's success story - Choose new Smart Bets --- ## Common Questions ### "Do I really need all three time horizons?" Start with what you need right now: - **Feeling overwhelmed?** Start with weekly success stories only - **Not making progress on what matters?** Add quarterly success story - **Want complete system?** Add five-year vision You can always add the other horizons later. Many users start with quarterly + weekly and add five-year vision after a month or two. ### "How detailed should my success stories be?" **Five-year vision:** Aspirational and directional - describes the feeling and outcomes, not every step **Quarterly story:** Specific enough to guide action, flexible enough to adapt - usually 2-3 paragraphs per domain **Weekly story:** Very specific - what will you accomplish this week? Usually 1-2 paragraphs total ### "What if my vision changes?" That's expected and healthy! The framework is designed for evolution: - **Weekly stories** change every week - **Quarterly stories** get monthly refreshes and complete quarterly updates - **Five-year vision** evolves annually or when major life changes occur Evolution is a sign of growth, not failure. ### "How do I know if I'm aligned?" Ask yourself these questions: - Do your daily tasks support your weekly success story? - Does your weekly story advance your quarterly goals? - Do your quarterly goals move you toward your five-year vision? - Are you making progress across multiple life domains (not just work)? If you answer "no" to any of these, use your next planning session to adjust. ### "I feel like I'm just checking boxes. What am I missing?" This often means you need to reconnect with your "why": 1. Review your five-year vision - does it still excite you? 2. Check if your quarterly story truly matters to you (not just "should" goals) 3. Ask: "Am I trying to do too much?" (scale back to 3-5 key objectives) 4. Use your AI coach to process what's not working --- ## The Benefits of Alignment When you use the Aligned Action Framework consistently, you'll notice: ### Immediate Benefits (1-2 weeks) - Clearer daily priorities - Faster decision-making - Less guilt about saying "no" - More intentional time use ### Short-Term Benefits (1-3 months) - Visible progress toward meaningful goals - Better balance across life domains - Reduced overwhelm and stress - Increased sense of purpose ### Long-Term Benefits (3+ months) - Significant movement toward five-year vision - Sustainable productivity without burnout - Greater life satisfaction and well-being - Meaningful impact across all life areas --- ## Advanced: Creating Alignment Once you're comfortable with the basics, deepen your practice: ### Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions For each success story: 1. **Visualize** the desired outcome vividly 2. **Contrast** with current reality to identify the gap 3. **Identify obstacles** that might prevent success 4. **Create if-then plans**: "When X happens, I will do Y" This approach (from Gabriele Oettingen's research) dramatically improves goal achievement. ### Success Story Priming Before planning sessions: 1. Read your relevant success story (5-year → quarterly → weekly) 2. Sit with the vision for a moment 3. Let it guide your task selection naturally 4. Notice how different choices feel in light of your vision ### Four-Way Wins As you plan, look for "four-way wins" - actions that create positive effects across multiple life domains: - A morning exercise routine supports Self (health) and Work (energy) - Family dinners strengthen Family (relationships) and Self (wellbeing) - Volunteer work advances Community (impact) and Meaning (purpose) --- ## Integration with MakeTimeFlow Features The framework works seamlessly with all MakeTimeFlow features: ### AI Coach - Knows your success stories at all three horizons - Helps draft and refine your narratives - Reminds you of alignment during planning - Celebrates progress toward your vision ### Daily Rituals - **BeginWell**: Reviews weekly success story, sets daily focus - **Shutdown**: Reflects on daily progress toward weekly goals - **WRAP**: Updates weekly story, plans next week - All rituals maintain connection to your broader vision ### Daily Goals Email Get your success stories, Smart Bets, and Experiments delivered daily to stay connected to what matters most. ### Smart Bets & Experiments Track strategic progress and test new approaches that support your success stories across all three horizons. --- ## Related Resources - [[Getting Started with Goals]] - Complete setup guide for new users - [[Time Horizons]] - Detailed guidance on choosing timelines - [[Smart Bets]] - How to use strategic experiments effectively - [[Personal Experiments]] - Testing new habits and behaviors - [[Scientific Evidence]] - Research foundation for the framework - [[Flourishing Map]] - Understanding the six drivers of life satisfaction - [[WOOP Method]] - Mental contrasting technique for goal achievement --- ## Remember The Aligned Action Framework isn't about perfection - it's about connection. **You don't need to have everything figured out.** Start with one time horizon and add others as you're ready. **You don't need to be perfectly aligned every day.** The framework helps you notice misalignment and adjust. **You don't need complex systems.** Simple success stories + weekly reviews + AI coach support = powerful alignment. The magic happens when you maintain that thread of connection from your daily tasks all the way up to your five-year vision. Even imperfect alignment is far better than no alignment at all. **Start simple. Review regularly. Adjust as you learn.** That's the Aligned Action Framework. Now go make it work for you! 🎯