Inflection Point: A Practical Guide to Growth
Introducing my book, Inflection Point, which summarizes my personal approach to teaching productivity and self-improvement.
It’s incredible how much I’ve learned since I started teaching productivity. When I started one year ago, I was on a quest to discover the core principles behind what makes a person prolific: capable of outlier-levels of output and rapid progression. I believe I have managed to distill several core principles and techniques which have been successfully tested in the wild.
“Inflection Point” began as an initiative to standardize my advice to clients. I imagined starting our work together with a common vocabulary to reference — concentrating our time on problem-solving rather than explanation. I decided to create my own “instruction guide”, a compilation of my current mental models, tools, and best practices.
Despite the numbering system, do not expect another beginner’s series. This guide is meant for those who have limited time and want to level up quickly.
In addition to my own systems and practices, I have compressed and synthesized nearly one hundred books, studies, and articles across disciplines. I will use liberal hyperlinking and referencing for those who want to go deeper on a topic, and would encourage you to use this guide as a jumping off point for your own study. Feel free to ask questions in the comments as well.
In “Inflection Point”, I will give you the mental scaffolding upon which all of your future efforts can build, helping you develop the experimental mindset integral for continuous self-upgrade. You will achieve a higher level of self-awareness, rewriting your source code to replace the cached beliefs and patterns of behavior you previously took for granted.
When your blind spots have been revealed and you have internalized the techniques within, all your future actions will become obvious.
Glad to have you aboard, fellow voyager.
Table of Contents
Below you can find all the chapters published so far with a quick summary of each, as well as a preview of the chapters to come.
101: There Is No Growth Without Goals
A simple breakdown of why goals are critical to success.
102: Choosing Goals (How to Figure Out What You Want)
Prompts to help you choose which goal to pursue.
103: Framing Your Goals to Inspire Action
How to write what you want (so that you actually get it!)
104: Systems Thinking — The Essential Mental Models Needed for Growth
Understanding Bottlenecks, Leverage, and Feedback Loops.
105: Why Habits Are More Important Than We Can Imagine
The only way to become effective is to fully internalize how much your habits drive what you do.
106: Triggers — The Key to Building and Breaking Habits
A Guide to Programming in the Human Biocomputer
107: Behavior — How to Make Your Habits Easier
Eliminating Excuses Through Design
108: Don’t Forget to Treat Yo’ Self
Rewards — How to Reinforce Your Habits so They Stick
109: Maintaining Habits with Tracking and Accountability
110: Selecting Your Habits and Avoiding Common Traps
111: Case Study — My Keystone Habits and How I Built Them
112: The Four Daily Routines Critical to Success
113: Best Practices for Building a Daily Routine
114: The Mistake Most People Make with Managing Their Time
115: Focus Is Created by Building Constraints
116: Taking Control of Your Energy Levels
117: My Approach to Learning
118: My Algorithm for Overcoming Procrastination
119: Troubleshooting: A Guide to Getting Unstuck
How to get back on the horse… and prevent yourself from falling off in the first place!
Ready to excel? Download my free peak performance workbook.
I’m Chris Sparks, founder of The Forcing Function, helping entrepreneurs multiply their productivity by designing the habits and systems which maximize personal effectiveness.
Thanks for reading! If you find Inflection Point useful, hitting the 👏 button below (a bunch of times!) will help others discover these techniques.
Follow me on Medium here: Chris Sparks.
