🪞 Six Perspectives
Six perspectives, six different keys.
Open inFin, enter "Note Insights," pick a range, choose a perspective, and let it do the rest.
Inner Compass — your overall state lately
Grounded in constructivist learning theory, restructuring fragmented input into a systematic cognitive map
It points out whether what you're busy doing on the surface and what you truly care about inside are the same thing.
That "inexplicable twist" is something you often can't see yourself.
When to use it: you're clearly busy, but something just feels off; your calendar is packed, but you can't say what you've actually been moving forward.
It might tell you: 80% of your notes are spent dealing with other people's needs, but the thing that really excites you — you haven't mentioned it in three weeks.
Value Mining — what you actually care about
Blending existential psychology with values clarification, to peel the real self out of messy information
It picks out what you truly want from your gratitudes, anxieties, pride, and the details you keep coming back to.
It also points out the misalignment between the principles you hold onto and the actions you actually take.
When to use it: you feel like you "want everything," or the other way around, "don't seem to want anything."
It might tell you: you keep mentioning "freedom," but almost every action you take points toward "being recognized." These two aren't in conflict, but you need to know which one you're choosing.
Thought Trail — how your thinking changed, bit by bit
Grounded in cognitive development theory and self-narrative theory, tracking the arc of how your thinking evolved and the moments you grew
Put notes from two weeks ago next to notes from this week, the change is plainly written there.
It also looks for the "turning moment" where your thinking pivoted.
When to use it: you vaguely feel your thinking has shifted lately, but can't say when, or because of what.
It might tell you: after that conversation on October 3, your wording about "should I switch jobs" changed from "let's wait and see" to "I plan to." The turning point was right there.
Energy — what charges you and what drains you
Grounded in flow theory and self-determination theory, tracking the rise and fall of intrinsic motivation and emotional depletion
Time management has been taught for years, but what a lot of people lack isn't time — it's energy.
It reads the word choice, tone, and level of detail in your notes, and lays out the things that charge you and the things that drain you.
When to use it: you always feel tired, but when you look back, nothing earth-shattering has happened.
It might tell you: when you're writing product specs, your notes are long and detailed; around review meetings, your notes suddenly get short and perfunctory. The drain isn't the workload — it's the kind of scene.
Mindset — the mental alley you keep walking into
Grounded in Beck's cognitive therapy, identifying automatic negative thoughts and cognitive distortions, and rebuilding flexible perspectives
It finds the thinking habits you keep falling into.
But it only shows them to you; it doesn't try to change you. We don't diagnose, we don't label — we just read back to you the sentence you wrote yourself.
When to use it: you find yourself drawing the same kind of conclusion from similar situations, and that conclusion usually isn't great.
It might tell you: in the past two months, you've used the phrase "definitely won't work" in 7 notes, and you ended up overturning 5 of them yourself.
Action Guide — from thinking to doing, that one small step
Grounded in implementation intentions and WOOP, turning vague intentions into concrete action triggers
It finds the "stuck point", and then gives you one very small next step.
Not making a plan, not breaking down a goal. Just: "What's the smallest action you can take tomorrow?"
When to use it: you've been thinking for a long time, you've accumulated a pile of material, but you just haven't started.
It might tell you: you have 23 notes about this thing, 4 of them mention "I need to think it through before I act." The smallest step tomorrow: send that question from the third note to someone and ask.
How to Choose Among the Six
| Perspective | Core question | Theoretical base |
|---|---|---|
| Inner Compass | Is what I'm busy with, what I care about? | Constructivist learning theory |
| Value Mining | What do I really want? | Existential psychology · Values clarification |
| Thought Trail | How has my thinking changed? | Cognitive development theory · Self-narrative theory |
| Energy | What charges me, what drains me? | Flow theory · Self-determination theory |
| Mindset | Which alley do I keep walking into? | Beck's cognitive therapy |
| Action Guide | What's the smallest step tomorrow? | Implementation intentions · WOOP |
Running the same range through different perspectives, several times, often reveals something completely different.
About the "Theory" Part
Each perspective is backed by a theory from psychology and the learning sciences.
We wrote them out, not to sound professional, but so you know: these perspectives aren't categories we made up on the fly — each one answers a question that's been studied for a long time.
But to be clear:
inFin doesn't do psychological counseling, doesn't make diagnoses, doesn't draw conclusions. These perspectives just help you see more clearly what's already in the things you've written. If you need professional help, please find a professional.
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