Discipline

Everyone wants to start reading a book. Start working out. Start writing. Start meditating. Start working on something that matters.

It seems like one of the key ingredients between the haves and the have-nots is having the discipline to start and maintain over some short-ish time horizon until it becomes a habit.

Why are we so bad at this? I don’t think it’s a motivation issue. If I had to guess one main driving force, it would probably have to be our obsession with instant gratification. There’s always an easier, quicker, more short-term rewarding option — a slice of Domino’s for some, the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy for others.

And sadly for us, it seems most of the stuff that’s really worth doing requires a longer-term perspective. I’ve found two “hacks” that work for me:

1. Commit to forcing functions that create opt-outs rather than opt-ins. These things force you to do seemingly unpleasant tasks that build up to something you actually care about. Examples: personal trainers, paying for an educational class, deleting social media from your phone, a Vipassana retreat.
2. Break these bigger long-term goals into bite-sized and gratifying short-term stepping stones. Example: I want to exercise more so I’ll start out by playing soccer (something I enjoy) 1x/week. Over time I’ll increase the frequency and variety into other exercises that I wasn’t willing to start out with.