A Pathless Remix
Tim Urban Yearnings Ranking
Adapted From The Essay “How to Pick a Career (That Actually Fits You)”
Drag each yearning onto a shelf (or tap a yearning, then tap a shelf). The shelves are small on purpose: once one is full, something has to come off before anything else goes on.
What goes in the Non-Negotiable bowl?
“The NN bowl is for yearnings so important to you that you want to essentially guarantee that they’ll happen—at the expense of all other yearnings, if necessary.”
“The bowl is small because it should be used very sparingly—if at all. … Too many things in the NN bowl cancels out its power, making that the same as having nothing in the bowl at all.”
— Tim Urban
“Your group of top shelf yearnings is mostly what will drive your career choices—but top shelf placement should also be doled out sparingly (that’s why it’s not a very large shelf).” — Tim Urban
“The middle shelf is good for those not-so-noble qualities in you that you decide to accept.” — Tim Urban
“most yearnings should be on the middle shelf, the bottom shelf, or the trash can.” — Tim Urban
“Then there’s the trash can, for the drives and fears you flat-out reject—those parts of you that fundamentally violate the person your wisest self wants to be.”
“Shelf placement is as much about de-prioritizing as it is about prioritizing...you’re choosing which parts of you to intentionally leave wanting or even directly opposed” — Tim Urban
Yearnings to place
Personal
Lifestyle
Social
Moral
Practical
All 24 placed. Keep moving them around until the shelves feel true.
Good targets
- Non-negotiable: 1-2 yearnings
- Top Shelf: 1-3 yearnings
- Middle + Bottom Shelf: 10-15 yearnings
- Trash Can: 3-7 yearnings
Where the quotes come from
Every quote on the shelves is Tim Urban's, from “How to Pick a Career (That Actually Fits You)” on Wait But Why.
Everything you place stays in this browser. “Share my shelves” makes an image sized for Instagram and LinkedIn. “Download my shelves” opens your print dialog: choose “Save as PDF”.
A Pathless Remix
Tim Urban Yearnings Ranking
Adapted From The Essay “How to Pick a Career (That Actually Fits You)”
I loved Tim Urban's essay, “How to Pick a Career (That Actually Fits You),” but I thought the most interesting thing was the yearnings template. And the most valuable thing is how he forces you to downrank certain values and trash them. It forces you to really figure out what you are actually optimizing for. For me, it helped me clearly see that freedom was such a strong North Star for me, and I was willing to compromise a lot for it.
My other values exercise pushes you to list out your top values, and it's easy to list these out. Usually, when you do have to do some trade-offs, it never forces you to rank values much lower than other ones to clearly see what you value at higher levels.
Mark one shelf for each yearning. Targets: Non-Negotiable 1-2 · Top 1-3 · Middle + Bottom 10-15 · Trash 3-7.
Personal
Lifestyle
Social
Moral
Practical
My shelves
“The NN bowl is for yearnings so important to you that you want to essentially guarantee that they’ll happen—at the expense of all other yearnings, if necessary.”
“Your group of top shelf yearnings is mostly what will drive your career choices—but top shelf placement should also be doled out sparingly (that’s why it’s not a very large shelf).”
“The middle shelf is good for those not-so-noble qualities in you that you decide to accept.”
“most yearnings should be on the middle shelf, the bottom shelf, or the trash can.”
“Then there’s the trash can, for the drives and fears you flat-out reject—those parts of you that fundamentally violate the person your wisest self wants to be.” “Shelf placement is as much about de-prioritizing as it is about prioritizing...you’re choosing which parts of you to intentionally leave wanting or even directly opposed”
Good targets
Non-negotiable: 1-2 yearnings · Top Shelf: 1-3 yearnings · Middle + Bottom Shelf: 10-15 yearnings · Trash Can: 3-7 yearnings
Quotes: Tim Urban, “How to Pick a Career (That Actually Fits You),” Wait But Why.