A Goal of Your Own.

Collected by Shahzad Ali · 104 illustrated cards

Jump to a cardUse ← → or swipe

A central compass remains bright while six points around its outer circle fade, asking what still matters without approval. — A compass keeps its direction when the surrounding audience fades.

Edited reading note

An audience of one

Imagine being alone on earth. Consider which choices would still matter to you when nobody was there to approve of them.

Collected note

Original handwriting Card 003

Original handwritten card 3: An audience of one

Open the original page ↗

Free to read and download. Original source credits stay with every card.

Download the handwriting edition ↓Free downloads →

All the cards

Each note is available below. Page-turn controls work when JavaScript is enabled.

A blue route repeats a loop and continues along a well-worn track; a dotted branch leaves it towards another way.

Familiar patterns

Familiar patterns can become easier to rely on as we grow older. Notice when memory is deciding the response for you.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Knowing your limits

Recognise the limits of what you know. Keep room for learning.

Collected note; original Socrates attribution unverified

Original handwriting ↗

Two inputs, Reason and Making, join one line that branches into a ruler, a lever-like joint and a constructed solid.

Reason and hands

Aquinas describes reason and hands as tools through which people can make many other tools, suited to many purposes.

After Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae I.76.5

Original handwriting ↗

A mosaic with six missing tiles points to an incomplete triangular structure, linking limited evidence with an uncertain conclusion.

Limited data

Your conclusions depend on the information available to you. Limited information leaves room for error.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Five incoming signals converge into a wave and then a diamond, labelled Senses, Feeling and Examination.

A sketch of experience

A sketch of experience: the senses feed the mind; the mind feels; the intellect reasons and examines thoughts.

Collected note

A philosophical sketch of experience.

Original handwriting ↗

Mind and intellect

In this philosophical model, the mind is attracted and craves. The intellect examines and judges. Subtle enquiry asks what lies beyond the surface.

Collected note

Terms used within a philosophical model.

Original handwriting ↗

A question circle leads to an answer square and a second question circle, with an open return loop beneath them.

The next question

The mind can keep asking for another answer.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Attached to a view

A person can become so attached to their own logic that every other view looks mistaken. The mind asks, answers and asks again.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Being wrong

Before discovering that you were wrong, you believed you were right.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

A thought sits inside a smaller frame while a larger path surrounds and looks back into it.

Thinking about thinking

Think about what makes you think.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Three open books send lines towards a distinctive connected structure, linking reading with a network of ideas.

Books and the reader

When someone has an unusual intellect, find out what they read.

After Ralph Waldo Emerson, Quotation and Originality

Original handwriting ↗

A diagonal route aims at a target, but a solid path bends away towards three approval circles.

Seeking validation

Your search for validation can divert you from discerning what is uniquely yours.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

A central open eye-like set of circles branches into three equally weighted nodes labelled Being, Knowing and Living.

Philosophy

The rational investigation of truths and principles of being, knowledge and conduct.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

An angular dog outline is connected by a loose curved lead to a reflection frame with a considered-action mark.

Train the dog

I have a “Rottweiler dog” in my mind. Before it can play, it will assess you and pick up the smallest discrepancy. I also have an “inspector” who inspects and corrects the dog. Dog = mind. Inspector = intellect, the dog trainer.

Collected note

The dog and trainer are a metaphor for reactions and reflection.

Original handwriting ↗

Entertain a thought

Examine a thought while keeping your judgement open. Treat what you read as something to consider and test.

Collected note; original Aristotle attribution unverified

Original handwriting ↗

An uneven wave enters a three-bar frame labelled Intellect and leaves as a gentle wave labelled Peace.

Mind and intellect

My level of peace depends on how much my mind is controlled by my intellect.

Collected note

A philosophical view of mind and intellect.

Original handwriting ↗

Three distinct volumes are labelled Theology, Philosophy and Epistemology, each containing a different abstract enquiry symbol.

Names for fields of knowledge

Theology studies God and religious belief. Philosophy examines fundamental questions about knowledge, reality and how to live. Epistemology studies knowledge. The Greek word sophia means wisdom.

Collected note

The Greek word sophia means wisdom. The edited reading corrects the handwritten gloss.

Original handwriting ↗

Connected circles above a ground line represent living cultures; two artefact shapes lie within layered ground below it.

Anthropology and archaeology

Anthropology studies human beings, societies and cultures. Archaeology studies the human past through material remains.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

An open circle at the foot of ascending steps faces a distant bright circle of wisdom.

The philosopher and the sage

In Plato's Symposium, Diotima presents the philosopher as someone who recognises a lack of wisdom and therefore seeks it.

After Plato, Symposium 204a-b; Diotima through Socrates

Original handwriting ↗

What the philosopher seeks

The philosopher seeks wisdom. In the card's contrast, the sage already possesses it.

After Plato, Symposium 204a-b

Original handwriting ↗

A three-dimensional solid sits beside a branching tree of word blocks, linking being with one study and word origins with another.

Being and the origins of words

Ontology studies being and existence. Etymology studies word origins and how their meanings develop.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Six equal branches radiate from a central Wisdom circle, representing the range of subjects within philosophy.

Philosophy and its subjects

Philosophy means love of wisdom. Its subjects include aesthetics, knowledge, logic, metaphysics, social theory and political philosophy.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Emotion and intellect

When emotion is strong, give your judgement time to work. Encourage doubt. Invite discussion.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Mixed shapes approach a three-gate firewall; two clear lines pass through and another turns back for review.

Intellect as a firewall

The intellect can unpack, validate, test and analyse incoming information. The card compares it to a computer firewall, and old patterns to code that can be examined and revised.

Collected note

The computing language is an analogy. The source scan clips part of the handwriting at the left edge.

Original handwriting ↗

Matching waveforms appear in circles labelled Mind and Experience; an Intellect frame connects from above.

As the mind, so the individual

The card links the condition of the mind to the person's experience. It uses the Vedantic terms buddhi for intellect and manas for mind.

Collected note

A Vedantic model used in the notes.

Original handwriting ↗

A clouded circular lens points towards a clear lens through which one continuous line can be seen.

Clean your lens

“Clean your lens.”

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Three panels show an angular form being corrected; a return arc links the latest version to the next revision.

Self-revision

The process of self-revision and self-correction is so common that we don’t even notice.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

Separate information bars lead to an integrated solid and then to a small built structure, labelled Knowing, Understanding and Living.

Information and wisdom

Information becomes useful when you understand it and carry it into how you live. The card calls this the move from knowing to owning.

Collected note

The source of the information-and-wisdom saying remains unconfirmed. The knowing-and-owning diagram is preserved as a notebook reflection.

Original handwriting ↗

A large dotted silhouette of a triangle surrounds a smaller solid triangle, with a magnifying circle inspecting their difference.

Illusions about myself

Examine the illusions you may hold about yourself.

After Epictetus, Discourses 2.21.9

Original handwriting ↗

Four stacked levels narrow upwards from a wide base labelled Understanding towards An opinion.

Capacity before opinion

Develop the capacity to understand a subject before settling on an opinion.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

A starting circle climbs three marked steps towards a larger completed circle, labelled Choose, Take the steps and Become.

Becoming what you want to be

Why can't you decide what you want to be and take the steps to do what you have to do, to become that which you want to become?

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Aim, act and learn

Choose an aim. Find the courage to act. Learn from what happens, then adjust the aim.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Three open practice loops rise and widen across the image, moving from Begin to Return to Confidence.

Confidence through action

Confidence can develop through this loop: aim, find courage, act, learn and aim again. Allow room for the awkwardness of beginning.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

A path of four steps curves towards a bright target while a faded earlier target moves towards its new position.

Move towards the target

Move towards the target. Be willing to move the target as you learn. Keep an ideal in view.

Collected note

The final handwritten fragment is unfinished. The edited reading draws on the three complete prompts.

Original handwriting ↗

Employ yourself

Employ yourself. Employ Shahzad to deliver. Self-employed!

Personal reminder; exact source unconfirmed

Original handwriting ↗

What matters

An awareness of limited time can change what seems important. The card imagines having one year to live and looking again at your priorities.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

The same six square pieces move from a rigid rectangle into an open asymmetric arrangement.

Reinvent yourself

Don’t be shy to reinvent yourself.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

A single arch moves from one platform to another across open space, with Yes at the highest point.

A leap of faith

Saying yes can involve a leap of faith. The card connects that choice with moving forward.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

A straight dotted route to a work block is replaced by a long looping blue detour.

Procrastination

Putting something off can be one way resistance appears.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

Two wide platforms face each other across a gap filled with three narrow resistance bars.

The unlived life

Pressfield describes a gap between the life we live and the life we imagine living. Resistance stands in that gap.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

A resistance block grows from a branching root labelled Fear; a dotted intervention line passes through the roots.

Resistance and fear

Resistance needs fear to survive. Master the fear, conquer resistance.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

The daily battle

The battle against resistance must be fought every day.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

A jagged mark inside a circle sends lines towards three outside circumstance blocks.

Where resistance appears

Pressfield describes resistance as arising within us. We can project it onto circumstances and relationships. In his account, work that matters deeply can stir a strong urge to avoid it.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

A circle and a mission target lie on the same line, divided by a tall blue resistance barrier.

Between me and the mission

Resistance stands between me and my mission.

Personal diagram using Steven Pressfield’s Resistance framework

Original handwriting ↗

A blue route diverges from a dotted line towards the work as several opposing arrows press across it.

The invisible force

Resistance is Pressfield's name for the inner opposition that distracts us from doing work we care about.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

One junction leads to a nearby reward circle while another climbs three steps towards growth.

Immediate gratification

Long-term growth, health and integrity can require giving up an immediate pleasure. Pressfield places resistance in that moment of choice.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

Procrastinating about procrastination

Even thinking about procrastination can become another way of putting off the work.

After Robert McKee, foreword to The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

A flat line enclosed in a box sits beside an open, uneven route made of uncertain next steps.

Confidence and uncertainty

Pressfield contrasts the certainty of the counterfeit innovator with the fear experienced by someone attempting new work.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

The handwritten Dunning–Kruger association is a personal annotation. The edited reading concerns Pressfield’s description of creative uncertainty.

Original handwriting ↗

An open doorway leads into a tightening rectangular maze with no visible exit.

A new trap

Every new trap appears as freedom.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

An ascending staircase is interrupted midway by a vertical resistance bar below the highest goal.

Resistance and higher goals

Resistance obstructs higher goals.

Collected note related to Steven Pressfield’s Resistance framework; exact source unconfirmed

Original handwriting ↗

A small identity frame points into a larger open frame containing an expanded version of its central circle.

Fear of success

Pressfield suggests that success can feel frightening because it asks us to revise our idea of who we are.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Pressfield’s interpretation of resistance.

Original handwriting ↗

Sovereignty over the moment

Criticism can give inner resistance more material. Keep your attention on the work in front of you.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

Two arrows labelled Avoid and Act push towards a jagged line inside one enclosing circle.

The inner battle

Resistance is the enemy, and the battle is inside our heads.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

Explanation and Belief boxes form a closed feedback loop with a dotted opening for examination.

Rationalisation

Notice when you have begun to believe your own rationalisations.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

A fear triangle feeds a megaphone that sends three explanation rays outwards.

Fear and rationalisation

Resistance = fear. Rationalisation is its PR person!

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

Near the finish line

Resistance is most powerful near the finish line.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

A creative-work heuristic within Pressfield’s Resistance framework.

Original handwriting ↗

A bright uneven line passes between three obstructions and keeps moving forward beyond them.

The difficult part

Creative work can bring rejection, self-doubt and humiliation. The card uses the image of a battle to describe continuing through that difficulty.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

Work and results

Put your attention into the work that can contribute to the result you want.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Five parallel rays enter a tall blue lens and converge on a single bright point labelled One idea.

A lens of attention

Concentrated attention gathers the mind around one idea. Sertillanges describes it as a lens bringing rays of attention together.

After A. G. Sertillanges, The Intellectual Life; Mary Ryan translation

Original handwriting ↗

Begin

Begin. Action gives an idea a chance to become something you can learn from. The card applies this to starting a business.

After Patricia Ryan Madson, Improv Wisdom

Original handwriting ↗

A level beam supports the work above a jagged ground line, keeping its balance over changing conditions.

Handle yourself steadily

Handle yourself steadily through the work and its setbacks.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

A care symbol leads to a completed service task and then a double-ring symbol of value.

What is success in business?

What do you care about enough to take care of? The card connects care, service and business success.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Identification with the cause

Identification with the cause A soldier must identify with the cause and standpoint of his side.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Three input arrows converge on a bright Today panel with a completed action; the next panel is faint.

Honest action today

Put all energy into doing honest action today, and tomorrow will take care of itself.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

An open book leads to a working frame and then a rising set of built steps.

Self-made success

Roosevelt describes a life open to an ordinary person who develops the abilities they have. The card adds a practical intention: study people's actions and apply what you learn.

After Theodore Roosevelt, An Autobiography, chapter II

Original handwriting ↗

Showing up

Bring the habits of working life to your chosen work: show up, keep perspective and retain a sense of humour.

Collected note; exact source unconfirmed

Original handwriting ↗

Repaired blocks support a path that settles into a level line after an uneven beginning.

Real failures

Experience of failure can help you develop the steadiness of a professional.

Collected note; exact source unconfirmed

Original handwriting ↗

A route rises over a tall threshold on the way to an empty chair, desk and open page.

Sitting down to write

Beginning a writing session can be the hardest part. Pressfield calls the force that keeps us from sitting down resistance.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

A firmly rooted branching plant bears three fruit circles surrounded by open dotted arcs instead of an enclosing grip.

Labour and its fruit

Bhagavad Gita 2.47 directs attention to action while loosening the claim on its fruits. The card applies this to work and the anxiety attached to outcomes.

After Bhagavad Gita 2.47

Original handwriting ↗

An outlined field contains parallel cultivated lines and one returning path moving through them.

Territory

The card names a person's field of work as their territory: Stevie Wonder at the piano, Bill Gates at Microsoft.

Collected note related to Steven Pressfield’s territory concept

The final handwritten prompt remains unclear.

Original handwriting ↗

A single blue heart sits centrally within a large open work frame.

Love of the art

Let love of the work have a central place in why you do it.

Collected reading note; probable source: Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

A bright path enters a broken oval boundary and moves towards two obstacles inside it.

In the arena

Take part in the work and encounter its difficulties. The card uses the image of entering the arena and paying your dues.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

Two different outcome circles send return arrows towards the same central work frame.

Success and failure

Keep success and failure from becoming your whole identity. Return to the work.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

The final handwritten word is blurred. This edited reading draws on Pressfield’s verified discussion of taking success and failure personally.

Original handwriting ↗

A mountain drawn inside a book sits beside a larger mountain crossed by a winding experiential route.

Living the warrior’s life

Studying a challenge and living through it give different kinds of understanding.

After Steven Pressfield, through fictional Telamon of Arcadia

Telamon of Arcadia is a fictional character used by Steven Pressfield. The edited reading preserves the contrast between studying and experiencing a challenge.

Original handwriting ↗

Full-time commitment

Give the work a committed place in your life. Put time and energy behind what you want to do.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

An unresolved knot sits beside a desk where three fresh lines have been written on the page.

Sit down and work

Sit down and do the work, even while resistance is present.

After Steven Pressfield, discussing Somerset Maugham

Original handwriting ↗

Beating resistance

The existence of completed work shows that resistance can be overcome.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

Three incoming arrows meet a central circle that extends downwards into a widening root structure.

Respect and humility

Let the respect shown to you become a reason for humility.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

A conduct check sits inside a central circle with four outside opinion points connected by dotted lines.

Judging yourself

Examine your own conduct when judging approval, disapproval and responsibility. Giving other people complete authority over that judgement gives them power over you.

After Daily Stoic, Blame Yourself or No One

Original handwriting ↗

A full speech shape feeds a listening circle before a smaller response shape, forming a deliberate conversation sequence.

Listen to understand

Listen to understand. Give attention to what is happening in the conversation. Let the present moment guide your response.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Be true to yourself

Be true to yourself.

William Shakespeare, Hamlet 1.3; spoken by Polonius

Original handwriting ↗

Opposing arrows meet at a circle; a new path turns from the encounter towards an open book of practice.

The enemy as teacher

An enemy can become a teacher, giving you an opportunity to practise patience and compassion.

The 14th Dalai Lama, on compassion

Original handwriting ↗

A stack of coins and an experience triangle exchange sides through two broad arrows, with smaller swapped symbols beneath.

Money man

When a man of money meets a man of experience, the man with experience ends up with the money and the man of money ends up with experience.

Collected note

An unattributed aphorism from the collection.

Original handwriting ↗

An energy circle points towards an open book inside a finite span ending at a closing boundary.

Seek wisdom while you have strength

“Seek wisdom whilst you have strength, or you may lose the strength without gaining wisdom.”

Collected note

An unattributed quotation from the collection.

Original handwriting ↗

A steering wheel connects to a forward path that changes direction deliberately.

Govern yourself

Self-mastery gives you more freedom to direct your own life. Govern yourself.

Collected reading note; precise source unconfirmed

Original handwriting ↗

A work page occupies the centre of a continuous infinity-shaped loop.

Work for the work

Work for the sake of the work. The card describes us as servants of mystery and agents of the infinite, with each breath and heartbeat coming from God.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

A spiritual perspective in the reading notes.

Original handwriting ↗

A setting semicircle sends strong rays above the horizon while its reflection fades below.

The dying of the light

Dylan Thomas urges the reader to meet the end of life with fierce vitality. The card preserves the opening stanza of his poem.

Dylan Thomas, Do not go gentle into that good night

The source scan clips part of the handwriting at the right edge. The edited reading summarises the poem.

Original handwriting ↗

Bring me giants

Cyrano imagines meeting enormous challenges with enormous energy. The card keeps his cry for giants as an image of ambition.

After Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac; Brian Hooker translation

Original handwriting ↗

A starting frame connects through a rising path to an open doorway.

Belief and change

Coelho describes belief as changing how a person meets life: expecting possibility, love and change can shape the experience of moving towards them.

Paulo Coelho, Believing without fear

Coelho’s spiritual perspective on belief.

Original handwriting ↗

A wave becomes gradually smaller and fainter until its line is open, above a broad horizon arc.

Pain and death

Pain is temporary and death is an illusion.

Collected note

A metaphysical assertion preserved from the card.

Original handwriting ↗

A small enjoyment circle sits inside an open ring, with a clear path leading freely through its gap.

Enjoyment and freedom

Enjoyment and freedom can coexist. A warrior can enjoy pleasures and still be able to walk away from them. Self-denial alone can become another source of pride.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

Three named paths meet and enter a set of still concentric circles.

Paths towards meditation

The card links action, devotion and enquiry with contemplation. It gives two reminders: work with less attachment to the result, and love with less attachment.

Collected note

The source names karma yoga, bhakti yoga and jnana yoga.

Original handwriting ↗

A sprout, leafy tree and bare branch form a circular sequence labelled Birth, Growth and Death.

Attachment and the experience of life

Attachment to outcomes can dull the experience of life. The card places this beside a simple cycle: birth, growth and death, like the seasons.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

A descending funnel, ascending mountain and concentric celestial circles form three successive realms.

Dante’s Divine Comedy

Dante's Divine Comedy moves through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. The Empyrean belongs within Paradise. The card also lists seven sins: gluttony, lust, greed, sloth, pride, wrath and envy. Alongside them sit four virtues: prudence, temperance, courage and justice.

Reading notes on Dante, Divine Comedy

Original handwriting ↗

A continuous working route passes beneath three unattached outcome circles with open dotted connections.

Action and renunciation

Act throughout life. Undertake the effort while loosening attachment to its fruits.

Collected note

Original handwriting ↗

A blue marker on one scale is tied by a curved line to a higher marker on another scale.

Comparison

Notice when your happiness depends on comparison with other people.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

The claim about Van Gogh’s lifetime sales in the handwritten card is inaccurate. The edited reading focuses on comparison.

Original handwriting ↗

A vertical ranking ladder sits beside a flat working field containing a returning practice loop.

Hierarchy and territory

A hierarchy asks where you rank among other people. A territory centres on the work you return to and the field you develop.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

A cloud-like origin circle sends a trail of blue points into a new circle that retains the same blue centre.

Trailing clouds of glory

Wordsworth imagines birth as arriving from a spiritual home. The soul carries something of that origin into earthly life.

William Wordsworth, Ode: Intimations of Immortality, stanza V

Original handwriting ↗

Moon, idea, stillness and prayer-like forms occupy four corners and connect to a central Self circle.

Accessing the self

The card places dreams, ideas, meditation and prayer within a spiritual search for the self.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

A spiritual interpretation of creativity and the self. The handwritten list records practices and substances within that framework.

Original handwriting ↗

Three panels hold a thought diamond, a speech shape and an action mark, joined by one broad supporting arc.

Thoughts, words and deeds

Xenophon opens his advice to a cavalry commander with a prayer for thoughts, words and deeds that will serve the gods, friends and city well.

Xenophon, Cavalry Commander 1.1; E. C. Marchant translation

From an ancient Greek text on military command.

Original handwriting ↗

Exactly nine circles surround Art and learning, holding a book, music notes, drama mark, movement ribbon, verse triangle, lyre, theatre arch, quill and astronomical cross.

The nine Muses

In Greek mythology, the nine Muses are daughters of Zeus. They are associated with fields of art and learning: Clio, Erato, Thalia, Terpsichore, Calliope, Polyhymnia, Euterpe, Melpomene and Urania.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Figures from Greek mythology.

Original handwriting ↗

Indifference

Indifference means that emotional investment has gone. The card places this beside love and hate.

Reading note after Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Original handwriting ↗

A choice

The note presents becoming a warrior as a decisive commitment.

Collected note; original Castaneda attribution unverified

Original handwriting ↗