The Car Honk Method for getting more done and staying in flow 🚗 📣
Wanting to get something done…
And then NOT getting it done…
Is one of the most frustrating experiences imaginable.
When one part of you wants to get something done, but another part of you totally does not, it can feel like a no-win situation.
Either you force yourself to do the thing — and burn out in the process.
Or you don’t do the thing — and don’t get the results you want.
Either way, you end up frustrated at yourself.
The Car Honk Method breaks this lose-lose situation and gives you a path forward.
Here’s how it works.
I want you to imagine that you’re driving somewhere in your car… 🚗
And suddenly, you hear another car honk at you. 📣
Car honks are a pretty one-note communication device.
The person honking at you doesn’t have a whole menu of sounds they can choose from.
It’s one sound, at one volume, and the most they can do is choose how long they hold down the horn.
And yet, you are capable of receiving a lot of different messages from the same honk.
You can probably tell the difference between…
A friendly “saying hi when driving past a friend” honk
An informative “I’ve just pulled up outside” honk
A cautionary “watch out, I’m here!” honk
An angry “wtf are you doing!!!” honk
To drive safely and smoothly and get to your destination…
You don’t need to avoid car honks at all costs.
You just need to be able to interpret and deal with a variety of car honks.
A good driver isn’t someone who never gets honked at.
A good driver is someone who can hear plenty of honks and just roll with them, knowing when to make adjustments and when to ignore them and keep going.
A bad driver isn’t someone who got honked at too much.
A bad driver is someone who hears the slightest honk…and immediately drives into a ditch.
A GREAT driver might even enjoy navigating some tricky terrain with a lot of honks.
Lots going on? Tons of moving pieces? A cacophony of noises on all sides? Sounds fun! Let’s lock in and figure this out.
Now what does this have to do with getting things done?
When you sit down to work on something, it’s not just YOU working on it.
There are actually two people sitting in that chair: You…and your brain.
Your Automatic Brain is your lifelong companion, copilot, and faithful best friend.
The two of you are basically running a 3-legged race together every single day of your life.
And when you sit down to work on something…
Chances are, your brain is going to honk at you.
Now just like a car honk, your brain’s honks can seem very one-note.
It can seem like the honk is always “pause, I don’t want to do this.”
But just like how the same car honk sound can actually communicate a lot of different messages…
Your brain’s one-note “pause, I don’t want to do this” can actually communicate a lot of different messages.
It might be an insightful “wait, we need to do X before we do Y” honk.
It might be an inquisitive “hang on, what are we solving for again?” honk.
It might be a tired “it’s been a while, can we take a break?” honk.
It might be a strident “this doesn’t align with your values” honk.
It might be a panicky “I’m afraid I’m going to screw this up!!” honk.
To get things done and stay in flow…
You don’t need to avoid “brain honks” at all costs.
You just need to be able to interpret and deal with a variety of different brain honks.
A productive person isn’t someone who never hears any honks from their brain — who never feels any resistance to working.
A productive person is someone who can feel plenty of resistance and just roll with it, knowing when to make adjustments and when to ignore it and keep going.
An UN-productive person isn’t someone hears too many honks from their brain — who feels too much resistance to working.
An unproductive person is someone who feels the slightest resistance…and immediately drives into a ditch and stops working.
And the people you admire the most…
The person you one day aspire to be…
That person might even enjoy navigating some tricky terrain with a lot of honks and resistance.
Lots going on? Tons of moving pieces? A cacophony of noises on all sides? Sounds fun! Let’s lock in and figure this out.
So here’s what I want you to do next.
This is the Car Honk Method 🚗 📣
The next time you’re trying to get something done…
And your brain gives you a honk and says “pause, I don’t want to do this.”
Stop and ask: What kind of honk is this?
What is the message my brain is trying to send me?
And what do I want to do with that message?
Is it an insightful honk that I want to listen to and use to adjust by behavior?
Is it baseless noise that I want to ignore?
Is it something in between?
Is it something else entirely?
These signals from your brain are never going to turn off.
Your Automatic Brain will be sending you messages every second of every day for the rest of your life.
Being in flow doesn’t mean turning your brain off.
Being in flow means moving in sync with your brain’s signals.
It means turning that 3-legged race with you and your brain…
From a frustrating tug-of-war…
…To a focused, synchronized sprint.
And once you and your brain are in alignment…
That’s when you’re unleashed.
And if you’re not feeling very “unleashed” right now…
If you’re feeling stuck or frustrated with where you are…
It’s not because there’s something wrong with you, or because you don’t have the discipline or capabilities to get where you want to be.
All it means is that you have an internal misalignment somewhere inside of you.
And all we need to do is find it, fix it, and get you back to your full-speed sprint.
This is, fundamentally, what we do in coaching.
We spot the misalignments that are holding you back…
And we have a conversation with your brain to get things straightened out and get you back on track.
My course & coaching program lays out an exact blueprint for having effective and efficient conversations with your brain…
And finding alignment with yourself quickly and easily, again and again…
So you can stop wasting time fighting with yourself and get back to doing your best work :)
Come talk to me to learn more about how the program works.
What my clients have to say…
“I think the biggest transformation is not hating my brain.
Now, I work with it and am like, ‘Oh, right, it's doing this to protect me. Thanks, brain!’
I love that I have this relationship with my brain that's like a partnership.”
—Client | CEO, PE-backed company
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