The Most Difficult Quality to Have
It’s clear that I’ve been a failure at this. And here’s what I mean by that.
This idea of “consistency,” of “discipline,” of “true hard work”—it’s all more than just pure human will and raw determination. But more annoyingly, these things have been romanticized and for a good reason! It’s truly annoying when something is totally within your reach, and yet you are too lazy or forgetful to actually do it, even if it would greatly benefit you! And I say that as someone who, at least as I see it, is very strong-willed.
What I could do in this article is just go deep into the science and psychology behind why humans, at least in the modern age, just can’t and won’t break out of this cycle of depression caused solely by unproductiveness and laziness. As much as I love science, I think there’s a better, more understandable way that I’d rather use to appeal to a greater audience—perhaps including those who are not well-versed in psychology.
How about we start with me. I’m a lucky guy. I live in an affluent suburb and go to one of the best schools in the great state of Texas, and that’s a huge blessing. But here’s the hard part about being disciplined. Discipline in and of itself is not something you’re born with, it’s not something you’re given, and it’s not something your environment can bestow upon you. What it is, is something that you must earn on your own without help from anyone and anything.
And I think a lot of people don’t understand that.
Take the classic, cliche example of someone improving themselves after a breakup. Whoever gets the worse end of the sword, the person who gets dumped, starts this “arc” of self-improvement and desperately tries to metamorphosize themselves into something extrinsically, and in some cases intrinsically, different. But this motivation burns off very quickly, depending on the severity of the breakup. Of course, the more horrible the breakup the more drastic the change will be, but, even after the most horrific of breakups, great change is achieved not through the extrinsic motivation of getting the other person jealous, but rather through the intrinsic motivation of improving oneself as a person.
I’ll expand on what I mean by this tomorrow. And yes, I promise it’ll be tomorrow.
Signing off to do Calculus homework,
Daniel
