Working definition
Power of anticipation is pre-solving the known red zone — focus dip, excitation crash, distraction — so the light on the dashboard has a checklist.
How it works
Video-game kid vs new player; pilot checklist when a light flips. Preparation installs the protocol while energy is still high.
Example
You know the pattern: after a high-excite client win you chase “one more” until midnight, then Sunday promise dies Monday morning. When the crash hits, panic invents a lesson you already knew. Write the three-step red-zone checklist while you still want more — stop cue · water/food · close the laptop — before the light turns red. That is B3 miss — anticipation is choosing the limit while energy is still high, not inventing virtue after burnout.
Signature
If excitement precedes crash, discipline is stop while still wanting more — trained in advance.
After the scramble invents the lesson; before installs the checklist while energy is high. Your move: Your move this week.
Your move this week
Write a three-step red-zone checklist for your known crash pattern.
Scientific grounding
Cite
- Gilbert, D. T., & Wilson, T. D. (2007). Prospection: Experiencing the future. Science, 317(5843), 1351–1354.
- Zeelenberg, M. (1999). Anticipated regret, expected feedback and behavioral decision making. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 12(2), 93–106.
Anticipation is prospection — you simulate the red zone and pre-commit the checklist before regret or panic writes the lesson.
Adjacent
All Success Lies in Its Preparation · Pre-Session Checklist · recovery system · Focus (MoC)