Illustrative situations, each run through the same engine you’ll use. The briefs are its real output — it works from what’s written and invents nothing.
01 / 05 What deserves the hour
What they wrote
I've got coaching on Tuesday and I've been writing things down all week because I didn't want to lose them. Now I've got six pages of notes and somehow they all feel important. One day I'm frustrated about work, the next I'm writing about my relationship, then I end up back on why I can't decide whether to leave my job. If my coach asked me what I wanted to focus on today, I honestly wouldn't know where to start.
A brief
coachingA brief
drawn from 1 entry
The case you built
six pages of notes and somehow they all feel important · one day I'm frustrated about work, the next I'm writing about my relationship · back on why I can't decide whether to leave my job · I honestly wouldn't know where to start
It holds
And that's a fair problem to bring — six pages that all feel important genuinely is hard to enter cold.
What’s missing
The notes name three things that keep pulling at you — work, the relationship, leaving the job — but nothing on the page says which one you'd actually be relieved to talk about if the other two had to wait.
Say it
The one I'd be relieved to finally say out loud is ___.
02 / 05 Which problem is real
What they wrote
I've got mentoring tomorrow and I keep changing what I think I need help with. Monday it was hiring. Yesterday it was pricing. Today I'm convinced it's actually that I can't make decisions without looking for someone else's permission first. I've got pages of notes and I don't know which version of the problem is the real one.
A brief
the mentoring sessionA brief
drawn from 1 entry
The case you built
Monday it was hiring. Yesterday it was pricing. · I can't make decisions without looking for someone else's permission first. · I've got pages of notes and I don't know which version of the problem is the real one.
It holds
Cycling through hiring and pricing before landing on the permission thing is a real pattern to notice — you're not wrong that it points somewhere.
What’s missing
You've named the pattern — changing the problem, needing permission — but not what you'd bring tomorrow if you trusted that the permission line is the real one and stopped hunting for a cleaner version.
Say it
If I let it be the permission thing, what I'd actually ask for tomorrow is ___.
03 / 05 Whose life bends
What they wrote
My partner got into a grad program across the country. She wants me to move with her. I keep saying of course I'll come, it's a great opportunity for her. But I built my whole life here — my friends, the band, the job I finally like. I haven't actually told her I'm scared to leave all of it.
A brief
the moveA brief
drawn from 1 entry
The case you built
"of course I'll come, it's a great opportunity for her" · "I built my whole life here — my friends, the band, the job I finally like" · "I haven't actually told her I'm scared to leave all of it."
It holds
The opportunity is real and yours is a real loss too — both of those things being true at once is exactly why this is hard.
What’s missing
You've named that you're scared to tell her — but not what you'd be asking of her if you did. Every line frames the move as hers to want and yours to accommodate. None of them asks whether staying, or some other shape, is even on the table.
Say it
What I actually want, before I say yes to hers, is ___.
04 / 05 Yes you already gave
What they wrote
My best friend asked me to be godmother to her baby and I said yes right away. But the christening is in a church I stopped believing in years ago, and I'd have to stand up and say vows out loud about raising her in the faith. I keep telling myself it's just symbolic, it's about my friend not the religion. It's in three weeks.
A brief
godmotherA brief
drawn from 1 entry
The case you built
"I said yes right away" · "it's just symbolic, it's about my friend not the religion" · "I'd have to stand up and say vows out loud about raising her in the faith"
It holds
And that's a real reading — the yes was for your friend, and the day is hers before it's the church's.
What’s missing
You've made the case for why it's fine to say the words. What's not on the page is what it costs you to say aloud a faith you stopped believing in years ago.
Say it
What standing up and saying those vows would actually ask of me is ___.
05 / 05 The wait that repeats
What they wrote
I have enough saved to leave my job and finally try building my own thing for a year. Everyone says do it now before you have kids and a mortgage. But every time I open the spreadsheet to actually plan it I close it again and tell myself I'll start next month. It's been six months of next month.
A brief
my own thingA brief
drawn from 1 entry
The case you built
enough saved to leave my job and finally try building my own thing · everyone says do it now before you have kids and a mortgage · open the spreadsheet to actually plan it I close it again
It holds
The money's there and the timing argument is real — none of that is wrong.
What’s missing
Every line makes the case for why you should. None of them says whether you actually want to, underneath the six months of closing the spreadsheet.
Say it
What closing the spreadsheet is protecting me from is ___.
What accumulates
One brief is accurate. The pattern only shows across weeks.
A single brief works one sitting closely. Keep writing about the same situation and something no single brief can catch begins to surface — the line you repeat, the decision that keeps moving while one thing under it never does.
