Screw motivation, what you need is discipline
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Screw motivation, what you need is discipline
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Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline
#2This 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 goal in the cross hairs even when the going gets tough has 'discipline' written all over it.
And over time that translates into success. (For sure people will think of it as achieved 'overnight' but don't let that bother you.)
Motivation is something that gets mistaken by many for discipline, but in fact motivation is what makes you go downhill faster, discipline is what gets you uphill and most of the times you'll be going uphill.
Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline
#3Thanks for this, I needed to read something like this. I seriously burn out on ideas halfway through execution because I rely too much on motivation, but lack the required discipline.
Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline
#4Motivation is the goal. Discipline is the means.
Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline
#5and what about inspiration?
Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline
#6Be sure to read to the end and notice that habits are what you need. Those unconscious self perpetuating mechanisms that actually drives most things.
Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline
#7This 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…
I dunno - I think that it makes some good overall points, but paints too black & white a picture that, if you follow it literally, will eventually lead to a breakdown where you can't accomplish anything.
I think a better perspective is to think of yourself as having a "discipline budget". (This is actually born out by a lot of fMRI studies, which show that when you will yourself to do something unpleasant or difficult, your brain expends a lot of glucose, and when glucose levels drop below a certain level, you simply can't exert any willpower at all, and often end up making questionable judgment calls without any awareness that you're doing something stupid.) And then your conscious job is to figure out how to spend that discipline budget in the way that will give the greatest returns to you - recognizing, of course, that no matter what you try to achieve there will always be parts that are unpleasant and that you just need to power through. But then, this also recognizes that you are not superman, and sometimes you have to drop the difficult stuff and re-charge just as your natural self.
When you think like this, you pick your projects and profession carefully. You understand that you better pick something that you mostly enjoy, because most of the time, you're going to be running on cruise control and it's a lot easier to do that when you're going downhill than uphill. But you also understand that even if you do that, there are going to be some things that you have to do that are just work, they're not going to be fun, and you might as well get them done with without fussing or stressing about them.
Isn't that what being your authentic self is about, anyway? Understanding who you are and what you're good at and then choosing a place within the world where that naturally fits, but also understanding that the world is not automatically going to mold itself to your preferences and that no matter where you choose to go, you're going to have to do some shaping of yourself as well.
Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline
#8Ah, but what is discipline?
Shifting the vocabulary burden around doesn't accomplish much.
Discipline easily translates to will power
(to do even in the face of adverse circumstances).
But haven't we learned recently to consider will power a finite resource? Something that cannot be switched on at will arbitrarily[0]?
The author himself escapes this accusation only by the skin of his teeth in the next-to-last paragraph:
How do you cultivate discipline?
By building habits – [...]
Whenever my thoughts stray to punishing myself for lack of discipline, I try to remember to leave that martial outlook towards life to the Spartans[2] and reflect peacefully on my habits instead.
[0] Except, tongue-in-cheek, if you add sugar.
[1] Lest I leave an opening: It already is in Covey's seminal 1989 'Seven Habits', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Seven_Habits_of_Highly_Eff...
[2] In this way, trying to force discipline may easily lead to results that are as devastating as those that the author foresees for motivational strategies.
Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline
#9This 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…
I dunno - I think that it makes some good overall points, but paints too black & white a picture that, if you follow it literally, will eventually lead to a breakdown where you can't accomplish anything. I think a better perspective is to think of yourself as having a "discipline budget". (This is actually born out by a lot of fMRI studies, which show that when you will yourself to do something unpleasant or difficul…
Running any company, of any size usually has more 'uphill' bits in it than 'downhill' bits. I used to think otherwise but over the decades this one factor kept staring me in the face: it was so much fun in the beginning, where did that go? And then I realized that it was fun in the beginning because it was the beginning! Everything was fresh and new, nothing had entered maintenance, no technical debt, all sales and hardly any support and then little by little normality crept in and what was effortless became a serious effort indeed.
I think it takes about 3 years to establish an actual business and by the time you're there most of your 'motivational energy' will have burned out or dissipated and you'll be going on discipline exclusively for the majority of the time.
There's nothing wrong with that, that's where the money is made.
Re: Screw motivation, what you need is discipline
#10Very good article. I'd like to add that motivational posters and nice one-liners from famous people are nice for a nice fuzzy feeling but ultimately doesn't do that much for me.