Very long ago, I wrote a blog on discipline and focus. At the time, my approach to focusing on a task involved reminding myself that the first 15 minutes are always the most challenging, and I encouraged myself not to give up during that time. However, I have since modified my method and now instead motivate myself by committing to working on the task for just 5 intense minutes, ensuring that I apply all my energy and focus to the task rather than approaching it lazily. This approach has been quite effective because after 5 minutes, I naturally become more engaged in the task at hand. However, this is focusing, not discipline. What about discipline? How should one approach it?

Maintaining a consistent wake-up time (or waking up immediately upon alarm rings at an inconsistent time) and sticking to a routine demands discipline, especially for those working in flexible, work from home positions where it’s easy to fall into bad habits. While some people can convert pain into motivation (like many gymbros do), I’m the sort of guy that can’t do that. I can convert pain into drinking whiskey bottles maybe, hah. Pain doesn’t bother me one bit, to be honest. Lucky me, I suppose. Anyway, my current method is to gaslight myself into believing that I can do it and that, everything is fine, even if the world may be burning to the ground, I keep repeatedly lying to myself that “I can do it just like I have done it in the past”.

Let’s see how this month goes, considering this is perhaps one of the most important months of my life.