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Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
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Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#222No one is exempt from trials & tribulations.Yet joy comes to those that maintain. Be blessed knowing this to shall pass.
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#223Life comes with its ups & downs..It's the decision we make that assures us of a positive outcome.
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#224I recommend reading Nassim Taleb's book "AntiFragile"
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#225I realized a while ago that inspiration isn't very helpful for getting you through adversity. Inspiration gets you going, but grit and discipline ultimately help you push through. I'm going to go against the grain of most of what's being said in this thread and say that the best way to get through adversity is to discard a goal-based mentality entirely, in favor of a system-based mentality. Figure out the stuff you h…
Reading through what you said, it reminded me about how the Learning how to Learn Course [1] tackles procrastination. Basically the way I understood it (hopefully I did it right), if you focus on the product (ie. the final goal), our brain activates the pain sensors which make us look for other activities that will be more fun to do. The suggestion is to focus on the process (or system) that will eventually get you to the goal, using small periods of focused attention that can be individually rewarded (like spending some time doing relaxing and/or fun activities after focusing on the task).
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#226I realized a while ago that inspiration isn't very helpful for getting you through adversity. Inspiration gets you going, but grit and discipline ultimately help you push through. I'm going to go against the grain of most of what's being said in this thread and say that the best way to get through adversity is to discard a goal-based mentality entirely, in favor of a system-based mentality. Figure out the stuff you h…
Great comments, especially about implementing grit & discipline.
If I may ask, initially did you have any means to implement a system from scratch (i.e. no passion, and no motivation) to consistently performing and developing that into a habit? That would be the heart of discussion here (to be aware of audience diversity here). It has to start from an emotional pain, or an emotional need to get to a specific short-term goal in the first place.
E.g. working out. One starts with a short-term goal of running on treadmill with the intention to lose a few lbs, or to develop some better sleep. And then, gives up after the goal is achieved; some give up unable to follow-through. Then, you get frustrated about not following through the following year, continuing to be mediocre. And then, you develop a better momentum, better sense of following-through, and better discipline, only to give up after a little bit longer (excuses can be formidable). And then...you develop enough persistence, enough discipline, enough grit, just to make it into a habit. Once you turn that into a habit, you just don't care for goals, excuses or motivations.
But I found that incredibly hard to achieve (over the years). At least, this was my path. When I was put in a stringent disciplined system in 20s, I resisted. I always wanted to break such patterns, routines & rules because I thought they hinder creativity. Now, I am at a full-circle back to implementing such a system of grit & discipline.
Given these, if I were to start something new today e.g. Taekwondo, I would implement grit, discipline and just following-through. But I won't have goals, or I don't care for passion either.
Matt Cutt's "Try something new for 30 days" TED talk did help:
https://www.ted.com/talks/matt_cutts_try_something_new_for_3...
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#227A short collection of sayings by the stoic philosopher Epictetus called The Enchiridion. There's a free copy at http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html Sample: "Remember that you are an actor in a drama, of such a kind as the author pleases to make it. If short, of a short one; if long, of a long one. If it is his pleasure you should act a poor man, a cripple, a governor, or a private person, see that you act…
A question from someone largely ignorant of Stoicism, generated by the last clause in your quote from The Enchiridion: How does a Stoic change his/her lot in life, given that Stoicism assigns choice of that lot to an externality? Or does that question lack meaning within Stoicism?
Your lot is that you were born a human being, on planet Earth, in this time. You cannot change that. You are, however, fully in control of your thoughts and actions, and can live in the present and make your time as aware, useful and meaningful as possible. If you do that, you will be better in the future and your future self will be grateful to your present self.
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#228Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know many lazy successful people (there are a few, though!) Maybe not 'the', but 'a'? What do you think "the hallmark" is?
There's a difference between enjoying your job and not having any desires to do anything else. The former is normal and healthy, the latter is (imo) not a good strategy for working efficiently. I love my job but I don't think I'd be better at it if I poured 100+ hours/week into it. I'd probably just feel burnt out and unproductive.
For athletes, the most important part is recovery. They only spend 3-4 hours per day "working", the rest is spent traveling, preparing, eating and sleeping. The key is good recovery, to be fully energized and focused at "working" sessions, for maximum quality (and productivity).
It also helps if you have a coach, a manager and a private chef. And I think the same also applies if you want to be a successful entrepreneur: Quality over quantity. You have to love it though, because it's often hard work, and painful.
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#229I realized a while ago that inspiration isn't very helpful for getting you through adversity. Inspiration gets you going, but grit and discipline ultimately help you push through. I'm going to go against the grain of most of what's being said in this thread and say that the best way to get through adversity is to discard a goal-based mentality entirely, in favor of a system-based mentality. Figure out the stuff you h…
This is very close to Buddhist philosophy. Shorter goals means your mind is closer to living in the now. Which in reality is the only time it's possible to live in. But if your mind isn't with you in the now, then you aren't fully enjoying it. It would go futher and say that after making plans to do the dishes, the joy now comes from doing the dishes. Not in having them done, which only lasts a fraction of an instant…
Agree 100%. It is what worked for me. Get up early every day, brew and enjoy fresh coffee and HackerNews + Dilbert as the first things I read. And do the dishes immediately after every meal. Each thing is small but needs focus to be done properly, and I get great satisfaction from seeing clean dishes, clean kitchen.
I extended this by doing yoga. Apart from the well known health benefits, the total concentration, even in the painful parts, gives the mind diversion and that is as good as if not better than rest. The cumulative affect is one is refreshed.
So for me the yoga and the discipline from a few small things as helped me work through mild depression, shitty (although mostly self-created) relationship crashes, and lack of motivation.
To put it all simply: learn to enjoy the small things done well every day.
Re: Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?
#230I approach it the same way rocket engineers did: Well now I know another way not to do it And I am a big stoic fan, the only adversity I face is that I wish to control me. I choose to not let it control me and realize that I can overcome or learn what I need to. The key to things is discipline, spend a certain amount of time focusing each day, commit to it in small batches at first and continue each day. If you go of…
Is choosing not to control oneself part of Stoicism? Would like to read about that...