The Best and Worst Interpretation Reframe
Choose the most useful reading of any problem, past or present
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 77%
Drawn from The Gap and the Gain, George Mack's reframe forces you to pick the most useful reading of a problem. First, detach by going back to a more severe past problem — a breakup, a firing — and, with hindsight, write out its worst interpretation ('I'm a loser, I'll binge and post angry statuses') and the actions that follow, then its best interpretation ('I'll book a trainer for three months, take the trip I'd deferred') and its actions. In the cold light of day you see which one you'd wish you'd chosen; it's obvious. Then you run the identical exercise on your current problem: what's the current worst interpretation, what's the current best, and which do you want to act from. The final move is to refuse to get up until you've convinced yourself the best interpretation is true.
Origin
A line from Benjamin Hardy's 'The Gap and the Gain' that stuck with George Mack, developed into a two-step past-then-present exercise.
Core principles
- 01Every problem admits a worst and a best interpretation
- 02Hindsight makes the right choice obvious; use that now
- 03You get to choose which story you act from
- 04The best reading is usually the more useful one
How to run it
- 1
Detach via a past problem
Pick a more severe problem from your past so you can analyse it without present emotion.
Pro tip Distance is what lets you see the interpretations clearly.
- 2
Write the worst interpretation
Spell out the most damaging reading of that past event and the self-destructive actions it produces.
- 3
Write the best interpretation
Spell out the most constructive reading and the actions that flow from it, e.g. booking the trainer, taking the deferred trip.
- 4
See which you'd choose
In hindsight it's obvious which interpretation you wish you'd acted from.
Pro tip This makes the pattern undeniable before you apply it live.
- 5
Run it on the current problem
Ask the current worst and best interpretations, decide which to choose, and don't get up until you've hypnotised yourself it's the best thing to happen to you.
Pro tip Pair with 'what would tomorrow-you want present-you to do?'
Watch out Don't use this to deny real practical steps a situation demands.
In the wild
After a partner cheats, the worst interpretation is 'I'm a loser,' leading to binge-eating and angry Facebook statuses. The best interpretation leads to booking a personal trainer for three months and taking the trip you'd deferred. Viewed later in the cold light of day, which one you wish you'd chosen is obvious.
→ A repeatable habit of choosing the constructive reading of adversity in real time.
Common mistakes
Skipping the past-problem detachment
Starting on the raw current problem keeps you too emotionally involved to see the interpretations clearly.
Reframing instead of acting
Sometimes the best interpretation still requires a concrete action; don't hide from it behind a nicer story.
Is it for you?
Best for
Anyone stuck ruminating on a current problem or setback.
Not ideal for
Situations requiring immediate practical action rather than reframing.
From the transcript
“with the benefit of hindsight now, what would have been the worst interpretation of that problem... And you go, okay, well, what was the best…”
“literally do that exercise and just refuse to get up until you've hypnotized yourself that it's the best thing to ever happen to you”
From the episode
Christmas Special - Life Hacks, Biggest Lessons & Best Resolutions - #881