A companion exercise to The Grievance Economy
The Grievance Ledger
A worksheet for telling a real, solvable injury apart from a grievance that's currently paying you in attention, sympathy, or moral high ground.
The audit
See the transaction clearly. Then decide what to do with it.
Five prompts
A ledger for what the story costs—and pays.
Pick one grievance you're carrying, retelling, or feeling defined by. The worksheet helps you examine the incentive without making the injury imaginary.
- 01
Name it
State what happened in one plain sentence—before the story, interpretation, or audience enters.
- 02
Price it
Name the actual payout: sympathy, an excuse, belonging, moral high ground, or something else.
- 03
Define resolution
Make the condition that would end the case concrete: an apology, a repair, a changed behavior, or a decision.
- 04
Check the audience
Notice whether you are speaking to someone who can resolve it or only to people who can return sympathy.
- 05
Set a redemption date
Choose a date to act directly—or to stop retelling the story and close the account.
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