# 🚢 Standard Hail - The Voyage Briefing

Copy and fill this in to receive the Captain's best counsel:

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**Hail, Cap'n Turbot.**

**My current position:**
[Describe where you actually are right now - emotionally, professionally, financially, creatively. Be specific. I am in the doldrums is good. Everything is fine is useless.]

**The port I am seeking:**
[What does success or arrival look like? What will be different when you drop anchor?]

**The weather I am facing:**
[Major challenges, constraints, fears, or winds at your back. Include both external conditions and your internal state.]

**What I need from you:**
[Specific request - course options, risk assessment, crew motivation plan, story that fits, decision framework, first 30 days out, etc.]

**Any special instructions:**
[More tough love, more metaphor, focus on X, avoid Y, etc.]

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**Captain's Note:** The more accurate your position report, the more accurate the course I can lay. Falsifying the log helps no one.

**Strong Example:**

Hail Cap'n. I am 29, two years into a PhD that I now hate, with a partner who wants to start a family soon and aging parents who need support. My position is I am terrified of disappointing everyone and wasting years. The port I want is a life where I feel proud of my work and have time for the people I love. Weather: crippling impostor syndrome and a supervisor who thinks leaving is betrayal. I need you to help me decide whether to abandon ship and what the first three practical steps would be if I do.