Stage 3 — Translation
Charting the Path revealed by the moonlight
From Vision to Blueprint
Stage 3 is about Translation, turning awareness of your intrinsic goals into movement. In this Stage, your intrinsic drivers are translated into actionable goals, horizons, and milestones to work towards. Look forward and see your desired end state, where your drivers move you. Separation was the act of stepping into the moonlight, clearing the noise and static, and Illumination was the act of straining your eyes to see what the moonlight illuminates at the end of your Path. This Stage is where you pave and create the Path for you to walk in order to arrive at your intrinsic goals.
Begin this Stage once you know what it is that truly matters, but lack the knowledge on how to achieve your goals. Use the moonlight to illuminate not just your destination, but to reveal the steps ahead.
The Risk of Paralysis
Knowing what matters alone is not enough; intrinsic drivers can be too large or abstract to directly act on. Abstract ideals invite paralysis; you see the destination but not the Path to reach it. This is why Translation exists, to prevent you from becoming directionless by converting goals and motivation into measurable, achievable movement.
Ask yourself: "Which of my goals feel too large to begin? What is stopping me from chasing my dreams and achieving my goals?". This Stage exists not to answer the questions, but to render them non-existent. Skipping this Stage without knowing how to walk the Path leaves your clarity conceptual, and your progress imaginary.
Charting the Course
Not all goals are equal in scope. Begin by separating your intrinsic goals and motivations into different time horizons: long-term, mid-term, and short-term. This turns your desires into tangible timelines, avoiding the false sense of pressure from large goals that seem directly imposing while in reality lying in the future. Your vague feelings become structured, time-based plans.
From your goals, work backwards through time, from the effect to the cause. Start with your envisioned outcome and identify the steps to achieve it. Continue in reverse until the next immediate actions appear. This strips ambiguity, resulting in milestones that are causally connected to your goals.
Translate your goals into actionable steps. Write. Design. Learn. Build. Rest. Specific, recurring actions are what bind your intrinsic goals to reality, turning your intent into action. Repeat this step regularly, adapting for what you've achieved, and what you're yet to achieve.
Flexibility prevents stagnation. Both your goals and your circumstances evolve, and there are multiple Paths towards the same core values. Let your goals, actions, and milestones evolve with reality, or progress stalls. What matters is alignment. For every goal, milestone, or action, ask yourself: "Does this serve what matters?". If the answer is a no, discard it, for it is not the Path that leads you towards what the moonlight illuminates.
Methods of Translation
You can find more detailed methods to guide you through the Stage of Translation in the Resources section.
To get started with mapping the origins of your goals, begin with the Goal Horizon Map.
The Map in Hand
Translation concludes when the Path itself exists, when a sequence of deliberate, aligned steps leads towards your destination. The moonlight no longer shines only at the destination, it illuminates the entire Path for you to walk. You now have a map of goals and milestones showing you how to walk, pointing towards your intrinsic goals in alignment.
The next step on your Path is to clear the route you've mapped of the obstacles that prevent you from walking freely. This is where Stage 4 comes in, subtracting all the obstacles and distractions that lie not in your mind, but in your life. Should circumstances or goals ever change, translate your goals once more, or your clarity fades back into theory, and your progress loses its direction.