I recently found this card just laying around at work and it immediately caught my attention. It was just four simple words with a diagram, but I was instantly drawn to it. "Think from the End," it read. What an amazingly deep, yet simple statement! I read it again and couldn't help but think: could there be a more apt statement for what designers and writers do than this? So simple, yet how often do I actually do it?It was then, that I picked up the card and turned it over to read what was on the back. The brief explanation that follows only compounded my curiosity even more. The image is a little hard to read, but here is what it says:
"Highly realized people learn to think from the end—that is, they experience what they wish to intend before it shows up in material form. You can do the same by synchronizing with the power of intention."This statement really made me wonder: what is this "power of intention" and where can I attain it? Is is something you can learn or are you have to be born with it?
This got me thinking even more.
I am definitely guilty of sitting down at the computer and just playing around to see what develops. Sometimes, it's just easier for me to visualize something if I'm working hands-on. But, when I do take the time to "think from the end," I sometimes find that the finished product falls short of what I had envisioned in my head. In the past, it has made me wonder if others have this same problem or if it's just me. Am I just not that good or a designer? Am I so deluded that I can't recognize the limitations of my own abilities?
In retrospect, I really can't believe that I am the only one to feel this way. In fact, I think that it's the curse of being a creative individual; that nagging doubt that lingers on the edge of our minds. I think that the real power of intention is already within us all and that only a select few ever answers its call...
Nice post Brandon. I instantly thought of sports when I read your blog. Athletes are trained to think from the end. If you don't know what a good golf swing even looks like, how can you reproduce it with any real consistency? The experienced golfer can visualize every finite detail of his or her swing. Studies have shown repeated visualizations help improve an athlete's performance. With regards to you thinking even more, may I suggest an alternate way of framing things? (It's a comment, so you can't say no!) Perhaps and individual finished product isn't all you hoped for, but maybe that isn't really the finish line. Perhaps it is mearly a stepping stone for something bigger. A circle has no ends. The process of learning design need not either. Thanks for the great post.
ReplyDeleteVery cool, Brandon. I kinda forgot that you work at a fitness club until April mentioned the sports thing. The card makes much more sense in this context. At first, I thought it might be some kind of cryptic clue left in just the right spot for you to find and decipher a mystery! I guess I got a little carried away...
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