#76 Build Discipline by Starting Small

ByLukas
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The trick to building discipline: stick to your projects more often than you quit, so your actions start overruling self-defeating thoughts.

So how make sure you stick to more of your projects and habits

Make them feasible. Start small.

Write a couple of sentences in your journal every day.

Write short articles.

Walk for 5 minutes.

Do 2 minutes of breathing exercises.

In the long run, you’ll probably have to build up volume and intensity. But first, start small. Build trust of completion. Become disciplined.

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  • #456 Slow and steady, one day at a time

    ByLukas

    All bad things happen all at once, and you keep going.

    Slow and steady, one day at a time.

    Nothing happens, and you keep going.

    Slow and steady, one day at a time.

    All good things happen all at once, and you keep going.

    Slow and steady, one day at a time.

    All the good things can’t happen if you don’t keep going when the bad things happen, and if you don’t keep going when nothing happens.

    Slow and steady.

    One day at a time.

  • |

    #213 Comfortable dissatisfaction

    ByLukas

    You’re dissatisfied with your social life, but not so much that you feel terribly lonely – so you don’t change anything.

    You’re dissatisfied with your physical fitness, but not so much that you’re in pain every day – so you put up with slow deterioration.

    You’re dissatisfied with your current job, but not so much that you’re dragging yourself to work – so you put up with unfulfilling days.

    Being satisfied with some areas of your life is good.

    Being intensely dissatisfied with some areas of your life is fine, too – because that unhappiness can be the leverage you need to make a change.

    But comfortable dissatisfaction – that’s the zone where dreams and happiness go to die. And boy, have I spent a lot of time there.

    So I hope you are satisfied with your life, my friend.

    And if not, I hope you’re at least intensely dissatisfied.

    Let that be the fuel you need to take action to change.

  • |

    #98 The Socializing-Solitude Alternation

    ByLukas

    Appreciation arises from contrast.

    How can I enjoy food without knowing what it’s like to be hungry?

    How can I appreciate the beauty of a painting without comparing it to something I’ve experienced as ugly?

    How can I appreciate social connections without being familiar with solitude? (Not loneliness. Solitude.)

    Constant connectivity (especially shallow connections through social media apps) without breaks from socializing numbs the whole bonding experience.

    Alternating socializing with solitude warms the heart.

    Inspired by Cal Newport’s excellent book Digital Minimalism.

  • |

    #180 Progressive Insight

    ByLukas

    Performance gap: the frustrating gap between how you know something should be done in an ideal world and how you currently do it. 

    One implication of the performance gap: you don’t have to master this skill today.

    Another implication, maybe even more important: your idea of how something “should be done” is probably wrong anyway.

    Because as you practice and gain mastery, you’ll also gain progressive insight: a more nuanced intellectual understanding of the skill you’re practicing.

    What I thought was a “good” yoga session six months ago, I now see as a session full of misalignment and cramped muscles.

    What I thought of as a solid piece of writing six months ago, I now see as an argument full of holes and points of improvement.

    Sometimes, progressive insight is just about more nuances.

    Sometimes, progressive insight shows that your initial intellectual understanding completely missed the mark.

    There’s only one way to find out: practice: Sculpt away, day by day. 

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    #73 Why am I rushing?

    ByLukas

    Journaling question of the day: Why am I rushing?

    Out of habit and automaticity – mindlessness caused by endless repetition?

    Out of discomfort – I want to get out of this situation as soon as possible?

    Out of impatience – I expect whatever comes next to be more interesting or riveting?

    What would happen if I don’t rush this?

    By interrupting the automaticity and slowing down, will I reopen my senses and discover new nuances?

    By not rushing away from discomfort, will I discover everything is not as bad as I feared it would be?

    By resisting impatience, can I become fascinated with whatever is happening right here, right now?

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