Finally, a Framework That Makes De-Pressing Productive–An Intro to Major Z™

I've experienced depression. Multiple times.

I'm not a psychologist, and Major Z isn't a mental-health treatment. I'm writing about this from the perspective of someone who has experienced depression and has paid attention to some of the circumstances that tend to put me there.

This is my Major Z framework, derived from my own experiences and more than a decade spent studying and practicing leadership. I hold a PhD in Leadership Studies, and much of what I write about reflects what I have spent years studying: leadership, how we lead ourselves and others, and what that looks like when applied to actual life. Major Z grew from that scholarship, my professional leadership experience, and my own need for a way to lead myself through the life happening in front of me.

For me, one of the things that can lead me toward depression is losing direction.

For me, one of them is losing direction.

Sometimes I don't know where the hell to start. Sometimes I know where I'm trying to go, but I get so caught up in what is immediately in front of me that I forget to look back up and check my direction. I'll focus intensely on one task without stopping to ask how it relates to literally everything else. I'll follow a mental thread so far that I forget to find my way back to center.

Or I'll have hopes and plans for myself while B through Y is happening all around me.

And everything happens in B–Y.

You're reading this in B–Y.

You can have a vision for your life. You can fight and climb toward it. You can know exactly where you want to go. None of that stops life from happening between where you are and where you're trying to be.

Some of what happens there you can control.

Some of it you can't.

For me, when enough things accumulate at once, it can begin to feel like a control panel with dozens of buttons pressed into the ON position.

One button is money.

Another is the house.

Another is work.

Another is something I said I wanted six months ago.

Another is something that happened yesterday.

Another is something I can't control at all.

Another is something I could address, but I don't know where to start.

Another is something I keep trying to switch off, and for whatever reason, the damn thing won't turn off.

Eventually, there are so many buttons illuminated that I don't even know which one I'm supposed to touch first.

Which ones actually require my attention?

Which ones can wait?

Which ones shouldn't be on at all?

Which ones am I capable of doing something about?

Which ones am I going to have to learn to live alongside?

How did all of these get pressed in the first place?

That mental overwhelm can become physical. And sometimes I don't realize how dark it's gotten until I'm already standing there blinking, trying to figure out where the light went.

This is one of the places where Major Z has helped me.

Imagine one of those buttons being de-pressed.

Then another.

Not ignored. Not magically fixed. Not covered up with a positive affirmation.

Addressed.

Major Z gives me somewhere to start.

Point A

Where am I actually standing?

What is happening in my life right now?

What do I want?

What did I used to want that I haven't thought about in a while?

What matters to me?

What doesn't anymore?

Point A brings things back into view—including the destination I may have stopped looking toward.

Major Z

Where am I trying to go?

Major Z brings the destination back to the forefront.

There have been times when I've had goals and hopes for myself but become so consumed by everything happening around them that I almost forgot they were there.

Major Z makes me look up again.

Minor Zs

What actually deserves enough importance to become something I intentionally work toward?

Not every thought, problem, possibility, or desire deserves that status.

Part of the work is deciding what does.

Micro Zs

Okay.

Now what can I actually do?

The enormous thing in my head becomes something concrete enough to act on.

And then I have to live.

That's the B–Y zone.

This is where Major Z becomes more than goal setting for me, because I don't get to disappear into a vacuum while I pursue something I want.

I still have a life to lead.

There are things that need to be worked on, completed, paused, revisited, sequenced differently, or discontinued altogether. Circumstances change. Priorities change. I change.

And alongside all of that are my Macro Zs—the things I have determined require continued watering.

I don't want to become so consumed with reaching my Major Z that I eventually look around and discover a dying garden surrounding me.

There are things I want to flourish with me.

So I water them.

And through all of it, leadership is the engine.

Not leadership as a title.

Self-leadership.

Leading myself through B–Y.

That means continually deciding where my attention belongs, what deserves action, what needs maintenance, what needs to wait, what needs to change, what needs to be released, and when I need to look back up and remember where I'm going.

Major Z has helped me get moving when I've felt stuck.

It has helped me find my way out of ruts.

It has helped me repeatedly return to what I have already determined matters to me.

And, for me, it has sometimes helped keep me from returning to darker places.

The more light we have, the easier it is to see what's in front of us.

But we also need something to hold onto when it gets dark.

That's part of what Major Z has become for me.

It is personal. Your Major Z is yours. Your Point A is yours. Your B–Y is yours. Your Macro Zs are yours. Your circumstances, values, resources, responsibilities, limitations, schedule, and vision are yours.

The framework itself is simple:

Point A → B–Y → Major Z.

Within it, Macro Zs are being watered. Minor Zs and Micro Zs are being worked, completed, paused, revisited, resequenced, or discontinued depending on what you're working toward and the season you're in.

Leadership keeps it moving.

And sometimes moving forward starts by figuring out which button needs to be de-pressed first.

Finally, a framework that makes de-pressing productive.

If you’d like to learn more, check out the Major Z Field Guide, available for purchase on Amazon.