Greetings and salutations!
A quick note: I have created short courses for eight different people on “learning how to learn.” I believe that deeply understanding how to learn is the most important part of life, helping you gain agency and wisdom in every part of life. To access the short courses, visit The Learning Engine’s website!
Let’s get into the stories, lessons, and questions for next steps on “begin with the end in mind!”
Stories
“Begin with the end in mind” is a powerful idea, having application in many different contexts.
One area where I’ve used this idea is in planning courses. As a high school physics teacher, I’ve designed several courses for a specific situation — the most interesting challenge was a course called “Accelerated Physics.” This was a first-year physics course for 10th and 11th graders; the course combined the knowledge and skills in the Advanced Placement (AP) Physics 1 course and the physics standards from the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Both of these sets of knowledge and skills are physics-related, but the knowledge and skills overlapped by about 75%. The other 25% for each course also needed to be in the course, which created a time crunch for the overall “Accelerated Physics” course. I used the idea of “begin with the end in mind” to find the most important sets of knowledge and skills for students to master, then worked on filling the rest of the course with the less-important knowledge and skills. This strategy worked for students, helping them deeply learn the knowledge and skills and succeed on their physics exam.
As with the physics courses, the courses I design on learning use the same “begin with the end in mind” principle. I think deeply about the knowledge and skills that each person needs, then create the workbook and videos to illuminate the knowledge and skills. I will use the same process to create more courses — helping you more deeply understand the learning process.
In a different context, “beginning with the end in mind” is useful for a golf swing. There are many moving parts to the golf swing — which makes the game very hard! — but focusing on the correct ending to the swing (club around your body, weight shifted to your front foot, and on-balance) can actually help the rest of the swing. This is counterintuitive when first thinking about this, but starts to make sense later: There are many, many different ways to swing a golf club, so your body and mind need a goal for the swing. By giving your body and mind a focus on the correct ending to the swing, you naturally eliminate the swings that would make you fall over or miss the ball — helping you make solid contact with the ball!
Lessons
There are a few important lessons that come from “begin with the end in mind.”
“Begin with the end in mind” forces you to imagine the end state in vivid detail, which creates specific outcomes. Working backwards from outcomes then forces you to consider the intermediate actions, continuing until you connect the end state, intermediate states, and current state. This planning process may uncover giant gaps in between states, helping you understand what else you need to do before you can get to the end state.
“Begin with the end in mind” creates constraints, making you focus on the most important parts. There are many different pathways to get to the end state, but the pathway you follow will be constrained by your current state, resources, and opportunities. However, the important parts will still be the same for each pathway — so focusing on the important parts increase the likelihood that you will reach the end state.
“Begin with the end in mind” makes you consider the ideal end state. Sometimes we choose end states that we think are good — “everybody” on social media is doing this! — but these end states will actually leave us empty. We must take the time and effort to deeply interrogate our desires, then compare the idealized version of our desires to actual examples. By doing this comparison, we can question the end state and get ourselves on pathways that lead to wisdom and flourishing!
Questions for the Next Steps
- What is an “end state” that you are working towards?
- How can you use “begin with the end in mind” to deeply understand the details of the end state?
- Is the end state something you should actually do?
- If you should get to the end state, how can you use the process of “begin with the end in mind” to work out the intermediate states?
- What are the most important parts for the end state?
- What are the constraints for the intermediate states and end state?
- Are the intermediate states achievable, or are there major gaps in the intermediate states?
- How can you create a pathway from your current state through the intermediate states to the end state?
I’ve created a Model for Learning, which explains and predicts parts of the learning process. Work yourself through the model, remembering specifics for each part and the connections in the model; what are your questions or comments?. For a much deeper explanation on the process of learning, check out this essay: That’s How Learning Works?!?! A Comprehensive Model for Understanding the Learning Process.
Learning happens when we share what we are thinking, so I would love to hear your stories about “beginning with the end in mind” and answers to the questions. Also, you can use these questions as conversations starters with friends and family — hearing their answers and having a conversation will help you deepen your relationships and gain more understanding!
If this newsletter resonated with you, please share on the socials and with someone who you think would also benefit; I would greatly appreciate any help in spreading these ideas!
Thanks for reading this newsletter — and all the best!
Nathan
