Comments on: How Feedback Loops Maintain Self-Motivation

By: Luc

Luc — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:35:21 +0000

Thanks for clarifying, Fahad. I have to say that for feedback loops, journaling needs to be more than checking items off: it needs to involve thinking about what has happened, how we feel about it, and what we want to do differently or the same in future. About a list of daily items to check off, as a task management system this may not work well: as David Allen describes in Getting Things Done, putting task items in a calendar makes it very hard to react to changing situations and often leads to having to copy the same item over from one day to the next until the calendar's user decides it's hopeless. A much more effective approach is to maintain a to do list that can react to changing situations and save the calendar only for things that are scheduled on a particular day or that are useless unless they're done on that day.

By: Fahad

Fahad — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 20:27:02 +0000

Hi again,
Thanks for getting back to me. I meant the way I can divide a journal page with the activities I have for that specific day accordingly. I find it a tall order to write what happened with me or the things I achieved as paragraphs or essays every other day or so and assuming that this is the way a diary should be used!!
I want a practical way(timetable-for example) to get things checked on with done/ not done regularly. I tried to do it this way, but things always get off the track inaccurately and the picture I view is still unclear and vague!!
If you can show me an accurate formula I can use the diary with just perfectly, I’ll be really grateful.
thanks again

By: Luc

Luc — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 00:31:33 +0000

Hi Fahad,

Thanks for coming by, and for your comment. Yes, a journal or diary is a great way to keep a feedback loop going. I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking about dividing it, though. Could you say that another way for me?

Luc

By: Fahad

Fahad — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 11:07:29 +0000

Hi Luc:
It’s been a week since I knew your blog and I like every bit of it. You have changed a load of rambling writing I’ve always doodled on sheets of paper aimlessly – well I still am searching with hope for better solutions and alternatives. The thing that I really want to be assured with; Is a diary a practical way for feedback loops? and if it is so, can you tell me how can it be divided?

Thank you ever so much for the indispensable treasures you post!

Fahad

By: Feedback Loops In Action – 09/03/2009 « My life as a fat woman

Feedback Loops In Action – 09/03/2009 « My life as a fat woman — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:38:34 +0000

[...] upon a great motivation blog. In one post, Luc discusses & explains Feedback Loops. See it Here. Take the time to read it, as you will gain insight into why things you tried to accomplish in [...]

By: Luc

Luc — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:05:58 +0000

Veronica, thanks for this comment: I’m strongly interested to hear people’s experiences of working on self-motivation in their own lives.

For anyone who hasn’t seen it yet and is interested in fitness and weight loss, Veronica’s blog (click on her name above, or in the blogroll on the right-hand side of the page) is honest, reflective, well-written, and full of good information.

By: Veronica

Veronica — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:56:25 +0000

Luc – Finally made the time to really go over this feedback loop post. Very interesting.

I am a crisis-handler. Due to life experiences, when I am in crisis, I function at a very high level. It’s not an effective way of living because I’m not usually in crisis.

My taking on of a new prject always results in the same thing. The initial start is excellent, lots of energy & clear thinking. But then, that fades over time. I took your post & went through it, using my weight-loss blog as the example, my ‘option’.

Is it working for weight-loss? No. Why? I dunno… or maybe I do.

The blog started as a way to express & remove negative feelings about my weight & body image. That was good, but not enough. Then I got caught up in not posting on the ‘bad days’, just as you discussed here. Then a shift to ‘I will just do it better’, exactly what you described. And just as you stated, that was not effective. Now I am using it to hold myself accountable, but it’s still not working.

My Aha moment reading your post is I realized what my blog is lacking. Each day, taking the time to do the following:

How did my actions bring me closer or further from my goal. What could have been better in the last few days since I posted. Finally, what specific actions can I incorporate to bring improvement to my results.

That will be easier to do. I loved the part about ‘lost in the shuffle of busy life. I am lacking specific actions… Cool.

Thanks for an excellent post!!

By: Luc

Luc — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:41:07 +0000

Kaizan thanks for commenting. And you’re right: the example with the French student is one of the kind of situation where a feedback loop isn’t very important, at least by comparison with less naturally motivating situations. And it certainly would be convenient to have more important goals motivated that way instead of having to make so much conscious effort!

By: Kaizan

Kaizan — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 08:42:57 +0000

Very interesting. In essence, coaching and mentoring is fundamentally about feedback loops.

But is the example of the French girl about feedback loops or more about leverage?
It sounds like she gave you a powerful reason to learn French. The feedback was secondary.

By: How Feedback Loops Maintain Self-Motivation | The Willpower Engine « Improvers

Fri, 28 Aug 2009 15:52:00 +0000

[...] More here: How Feedback Loops Maintain Self-Motivation | The Willpower Engine [...]