Screw motivation, what you need is discipline • Hacker News Board

Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline

#21

Post by reinhardt » Sat, Jan 31, 2015, 12:31 PM UTC

As someone struggling with motivation even more than the average first world person, this hit right at home. Lacking the motivation to cook, do the dishes or the laundry is one thing. Lacking the will power to do generally "fun" stuff like going outside, hanging out with friends, dating, creativity is another.

Hitting the gym is one of the few activities I still pursue with a relative consistency but wouldn't be there without the minimal self-discipline required to get my butt of my chair or bed and go even when I don't feel like it. In fact that's the hardest part; huffing and puffing for the next hour or so is easy in comparison.

Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline

#22

Post by aidenn0 » Sat, Jan 31, 2015, 12:32 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #2

This is probably the best post to hit HN all month. It's a thing that I notice over and over again, the ability to execute and persevere is strongly correlated with individuals that show (self)discipline. The ability to get out of bed (even when you don't want to) to work real hard (even when faced with a hundred or more distractions, or on something that you may not even like) and the ability to keep a long term goa…

Do you know of any adults who have successfully cultivated discipline? Based on those I've known since elementary school and still know today, perhaps 80% of the discipline I see in people can be explained by how much discipline they had at 10 years of age.

Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline

#23

Post by neuronic » Sat, Jan 31, 2015, 12:32 PM UTC

I don't know other people's experiences so this is all just my subjective view.

I am so sick of all the bulls* posted on social media. Places like r/getmotivated or Facebook sites with daily quotes about motivation... Imagine a head shot of a marble statue of Napoleon Bonaparte, dark background and white floating text with a nice font that reads "If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing. - Napoleon"

It does literally nothing except to incite a state of mind that is more temporary than cigarette smoke fading into the air.

Discipline (+ coffee?) is the only thing that reliably brings you anywhere. I am a grad student with multiple jobs and looking at stupid pictures or videos to do my work is not even remotely helping me. What helps me is managing my time such that I can sleep more than 4-5 hours a night. I have difficulty with that and no "motivational app/ website/ media" will truly help me with that struggle. I am not doing the jobs next to grad school because I enjoy being stressed... I don't have a choice.

Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline

#24

Post by Rainymood » Sat, Jan 31, 2015, 12:32 PM UTC

visakanv wrote: post #16

I have been thinking, reading and writing about motivation / discipline / procrastination / akrasia for years now. I'm always looking for really good material on the subject. Unfortunately for some strange reason, most of the posts I've seen that get to the front page of Hacker News are woefully oversimplistic. Even discipline is something that requires some sort of motivation to cultivate. It is something that you h…

>I have been thinking, reading and writing about motivation / discipline / procrastination / akrasia for years now.

Would you mind sharing your blog? I love to read about those kind of things. I don't write (in public) about them but I feel like it's fun and useful to think/meditate about.

>Screw motivation, screw discipline, what you need is a comprehensive, holistic solution that encompasses almost everything– that's why it's so difficult to change your life. You need to figure out your expectancy of accomplishing tasks, you need to figure out what's valuable to you, you need to engineer your environment, you need to choose the right peers, and you need to have a vested interest in doing all of that in the first place.

The one thing that compasses this all is, in my opinion, this:

1) The ability to break things down to their bare minimum 2) The ability to execute those tasks 3) Keeping the goal in sight, always.

Humans are stupid. I am stupid. We are all stupid. We forget trivial stuff. We have to constantly remind ourselves why and for what we are doing something. This is not bad per se, just a lot of people don't. A lot of things can help you in your goal. Motivated peers are, to me, a HUGE motivator. People should also critically examine what exactly makes them happy.

Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline

#25

Post by reinhardt » Sat, Jan 31, 2015, 12:38 PM UTC

jonsen wrote: post #6

Be sure to read to the end and notice that habits are what you need. Those unconscious self perpetuating mechanisms that actually drives most things.

On forming a habit, I found this insightful: http://www.bristollair.com/2008/inner-game/identity-beliefs/...

Note: It's from a PUA dude but this isn't about PU, it applies to all areas.

Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline

#26

Post by axanoeychron » Sat, Jan 31, 2015, 12:41 PM UTC

I completely agree with this article. I would like to share a story of my own journey in this.

For a long time I had wanted to lose some weight and to remove some bad habits. It dawned on me that I could eliminate the habit altogether by scaling back to extreme levels. For example, I completely stopped eating sugary foods such as chocolate for 8 months. I stopped buying coffee from coffee shops every day. I replaced my meals with crazy simple meals such as rice, tamago kake gohan, potatos, eggs and vegetables. It is surprisingly easier to just cut something out of your life and then add things back as necessary.

It occurred to me if you can do this, you can do anything. You're replacing daily motivation - which can be depleted (ego depletion) - with a unwavering commitment everyday - to eat simple things or forego things you did not even think twice about before. You just don't do X. There is no way for you to self justify any more.

It is surprising how after a while, you do not really even miss the daily coffee or chocolate because you feel happy that you were disciplined enough to give it up. You're strong.

In my case, my journey cross fertilised another goal: to cut down on expenses. It is shocking how much money we all spend for very little benefit!

I am sure someone will reply saying 'life is for living' and all that. The question is, are they strong enough to do the same?

Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline

#27

Post by neals » Sat, Jan 31, 2015, 12:42 PM UTC

I disciplined myself by hiring an intern to come and work at my home office 3 days a week. This required me to get up early and work.

Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline

#28

Post by drawkbox » Sat, Jan 31, 2015, 12:43 PM UTC

Being a professional is knowing how to get into a high quality productive mode regularly and consistently.

It might mean doing things you don't want to currently do at that time but it is fueled by long term goals over short term goals.

That said, part of that process is knowing where to target your motivation. Creativity can take motivation and that does play a role in design and developing products.

Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline

#29

Post by iopq » Sat, Jan 31, 2015, 12:44 PM UTC

jacquesm wrote: post #15

iopq wrote: post #13

I forced myself to go to a job I hated. I lasted two months. Each day I spent more and more time reading shit on my phone in the bathroom. My breaks got longer and longer. When they started to call me out on this I just quit. Just discipline they said!

You had other options: get the job done, then quit, and get it done in record time so you can quit faster. Chances are that if you had gone that route that in the end you might not even have quit.

What? No, I did get the job done. Then I'd get more work I didn't want to do. I just decided not to do the next assignment.

Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline

#30

Post by Herodion » Sat, Jan 31, 2015, 12:49 PM UTC

Discipline is not really a conscious choice since you can enhance it through medication. So if you have the right makeup then you don't need motivation to do things while others can get roughly the same effect by taking Ritalin.