The Science of Building Extreme Discipline
You’ll never go back…
Chances are…
You’re not content with your life right now.
Good.
Change it.
It all comes down to discipline.
For years, temporary gratification overpowered my best intentions.
I probably scrolled away years off my 20s.
But now…
I make progress towards my goals everyday —
No 3AM motivation needed.
If you’re ready to break up with your old treacherous self…
Here’s what you need to do.
HABIT # 1 | CUES
Our brains are designed for pain avoidance.
To make life easier, it plays matchmaker between emotions and situations.
This is called cue recognition, and it usually backfires.
For example:
- Roger talks to a baddie
- Gets nervous AF
- Rejection city
As a result…
Roger’s brain creates an association between women and rejection.
And his self-fulfilling prophecy begins.
The solution?
If emotions are preventing you from developing life-changing habits…
Why not recognize and ignore them?
Consider this:
Is “nervousness” blocking you from new adventures?
Then why listen to it?
The more you repeat a perceived painful action, the EASIER this becomes anyways.
So focus on following through.
HABIT # 2 | SCHEDULING
Your present situation is the payout of your habits from 3 years ago.
In other words…
The right habits are EVERYTHING.
Days spent choking the chicken are wasted.
Make sure your actions align with a vision of your future self.
Don’t know where to start?
Use this starter pack:
- Meditation
- Work
- Lift
- Digital business
- Reading
These habits produce the highest return on energy expended.
Customize and schedule your future.
HABIT # 3 | REWARDS
Often, we know exactly what to do…
But can’t get ourselves to do it.
Right?
The modern war is a fight for attention.
We’re literally surrounded by soldiers of dopamine.
The worst part?
These distractions hijack our reward system —
And snipe our efforts to actually do the hard work.
But we’re not totally screwed.
How?
Change your reward system.
This requires an extreme mindset shift, which takes about 60 days.
Here’s what it looks like:
Attach an external pleasure (food, caffeine, music) to your desired task.
For example:
Working? — Drink your favorite cup of mud.
Lifting? — You can finally load up the music.
Avoid the external pleasures outside of the scheduled activity.
That’s the challenging part.
But once the habit is formed, you’ll be able to work without stimulation.
HABIT # 4 | CONTRACTS
Just like our friend Roger from earlier…
We’re hardwired to avoid anything that causes immediate pain.
This is the reason most men are unable to stay in the gym, ask out their crush, or eat celery sticks.
But we can capitalize on this.
How?
Social contracts that artificially create pain.
Here’s a case:
Last year, I wanted to start writing on Medium.
But I chronically procrastinated — until I texted my broski this:
“If I don’t start writing by Friday, I’ll Venmo you $100.”
I wrote up a simple contact and sent it to him.
I started the same day.
Take advantage of the human tendency to avoid public consequences.
HABIT # 5 | NO FEELING
At some point…
You have to understand that “how you feel” shouldn’t prevent you from making motion.
Why?
Because you’ll actually FEEL BETTER just doing the work.
For example:
I sometimes feel “too tired” to hit the gym.
Especially when I have a case of the Mondays.
But I always go.
And ironically, I feel more energetic after the session.
The lesson here?
All you need to do is conquer 30 seconds of pain avoidance.
Don’t let it ruin your dreams.
That’s it.
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