From globally ranked online poker player to elite performance architect Chris Sparks is that dude.

Five frameworks from Chris on the podcast

 I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with my friend Chris Sparks. Chris is a professional poker player who has broken into the top 20 online players in the world. He currently runs a boutique consultancy called “Forcing Function.”  This podcast was very difficult for me. I have entered into a new phase of life, and I am trying to break a lot of my old habits. Chris showed up like an absolute savage and was a wealth of knowledge. At one time in the podcast, he put me in the hot seat, and it was as scary as it was illuminating. I can’t recommend checking out his assessment, going through his workbook, or joining his cohort if you are serious about finding alignment.

• Murphy Jitzu and Thinking Backwards

  • Frame your decision backwards. If you make a decision, and in a year it went really well, think of some of the things that happened to make it go well. Try to create/foster an environment in which those things that need to happen happen. The same thing goes for “Murphy Jitsu.”

  • A year from now, your idea/decision was an incredible waste of time, and it didn’t pan out at all. What happened that caused this outcome? How can you avoid it?

• Mental Models

  • Having a feedback loop on your goals is paramount. Being able to essentially “check the temp” on your goals/tasks helps you achieve them quicker. He uses the thermostat as an example. Make adjustments on whether or not you are meeting the requirements of your goal/task. 

  • The Red, Yellow, and Green system works too. Green is a breakthrough, yellow is a step in the right direction, and red is you did nothing to help your goal/task. If you have two reds in a row, that is something you need to reassess. Is it a priority anymore? Most of the time, that answer is no, which helps as a destresser. 

• Explore and Exploit Model

  • There are periods of life where you explore things and get a feel for everything. You experiment, you dabble intentionally, etc. 

  • Then there are periods of life where you are able to exploit things (positively). Doing this allows you to find something that works well, which could potentially lead to profiting from it. 

• Anti-Productivity

  • Thinking of things with unequal expected values helps to create priority within your life. The best way to increase productivity is to direct your time and attention toward what you want to achieve the most. 

• The Value Litmus Test

  • This is very similar to the idea behind anti-productivity. It gives you a way of deciding what priorities you value the most. 

  • If you decide what’s most important to you in life (values), then you can use that to determine where your energy goes first. If you value family the most in life, what does that look like in terms of goals and ambitions?