Motivation Vs. Discipline
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The document discusses the difference between motivation and discipline. It argues that motivation is relying on feelings to get things done, while discipline separates actions from moods. Motivation comes in bursts and needs constant refreshing, while discipline is self-perpetuating and leads to consistent long-term results. The document recommends cultivating discipline over motivation by building small, consistent habits that reinforce each other over time.
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Motivation Vs. Discipline
- 1. Excerpts from a blog post by Zbyněk Dráb Blog URL: http://www.wisdomination.com/
- 2. If you want to get anything done, there are two basic ways to get yourself to do it. 1. The first is to try to motivate yourself. This is more popular option. And, it is devastatingly wrong. 2. The second — somewhat unpopular and entirely correct — choice is to cultivate discipline. What’s the difference between the two?
- 3. Motivation Motivation, broadly speaking, operates on the assumption that a particular mental or emotional state is necessary to complete a task. Action is conditional on feelings. You wait for the right mood to start doing stuff, it’s an invitation to the dreaded procrastination loops we all know about. Motivation is waiting until you’re in Olympic form to start training. Discipline Discipline, by contrast, separates outwards functioning from moods and feelings and thereby ironically circumvents the problem by consistently improving them. Successful completion of tasks brings about the positive state of mind that chronic procrastinators think they need to initiate tasks in the first place. Discipline is training to get into an Olympic form.
- 4. Motivation At its core, motivation is insistence that we should only be doing things we feel like doing. “How do I get myself to feel like doing what I have rationally decided to do?”. There are psychological problems with relying on motivation. Trying to drum up enthusiasm time and again is literally a form of deliberate psychological self-harm. Motivation usually comes on short, periodic bursts. It has a tiny shelf life, and needs constant refreshing. Discipline Discipline aims to cut the link between feelings and actions, and do it anyway. “How do I make my feelings inconsequential and do the things I consciously want to do?”. Discipline makes you feel good and buzzed and energetic and eager afterwards. Discipline is usually self- perpetuating and constant.
- 5. Motivation Motivation is like winding up a crank to deliver a burst of force. At best, it stores and converts energy to a particular purpose. There are situations where it is the correct attitude, one-off situations where spring-loading a lot of energy upfront is the best course of action. Motivation is analogous to goals. Motivation is trying to feel like doing stuff. Discipline By contrast, discipline is like an engine that, once kick-started, continuously supplies energy to the system. Discipline is the basis for regular day-to-day functioning, and consistent long-term results. Discipline, in short, is a system. Discipline is doing it even if you don’t feel like it.
- 6. Productivity has no requisite mental states. For consistent, long-term results, discipline trumps motivation. How do you cultivate discipline? By building habits. Start as small as you can manage, even microscopic, and keep gathering momentum. Re-invest it in progressively bigger changes to your routine, and build a positive feedback loop. Forget motivation… What we really need is discipline.