Học cùng Zuri

 --------------------Week 2------------------------ Day 13: On What You Want Now and What You Want Most   Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most.  —Unknown  If you’re on a diet and decide to eat a piece of chocolate, you’re deciding that the instant fleeting pleasure is worth it more than your long-term goals.  Obviously, one piece of chocolate doesn’t immediately translate to gaining weight, but it sets a precedent that (over the long term) does change your body in such a way that it reflects your preference for “what you want now,” not “what you want most.”  Each time you make a choice that favors instant gratification, your behavior signals that you have weak motivators. If your “reasons why” were strong enough, you’d be less likely to go with what you want now .  Imagine a straight line. On one end, there’s the satisfaction you get from what you want now , and on the other end, there’s the satisfaction you’ll get...

 ----------------Week 2-------------- Day 12: On clamness of mind Clamness of mine is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and paitent  effort in  self-control. Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge of the law and operations of thought. —James Allen 12  If I asked you to show me a symbol of self-discipline, you might think of a Buddhist monk, capable of sitting still for hours on end with an empty mind and only a hint of a smile on his face, content simply to be .  Such self-control feels like a superpower in today’s busy and fast-moving world, in which distractions lurk at every corner and buzz in every pocket. A person who’s capable of maintaining calmness of mind is a rare individual — but fortunately you can also become one, if you’re only willing to put in some effort.  Implementing some kind of a meditative practice in your weekly schedule will not only help you increas...

 -------------------Week 2----------------------- Day 11: On self-discipline and Talent Self-discipline without talent can often achieve astounding results, whereas talent without self-discipline inevitably dooms itself to failure.  —Sydney J. Harris 11  When you look at some of the most successful high-performers, it might be tempting to say that they were born this way. They’re talented, end of story. In fact, talent — while undeniably makes life easier — is but one part of the equation .  I used to be a shy and fearful person. If you compared me, the awkward outsider, with the most successful guys at school, you could say they were born talented to be popular, liked and as alpha male as you could get, while I didn’t have such luck.  However, my apparent misfortune turned out to be a source of strength because it provided a spark to introduce big changes in my life. By continuously pushing my comfort zone, I not only overcame social shyness and improved m...

 ---------------Week---------------- Day 10: On buiding your story Words create sentences; sentences create paragraphs; sometimes paragraphs quicken and begin to breathe.  —Stephen King 10  Writing a novel is a daunting task if you’ve never written one before. It’s hard to write even a single paragraph, let alone write two or three hundred pages that will capture the attention of the reader and keep them reading until the last page. What’s worse, after all this effort, you’ll probably realize that your novel, when compared to a widely-acclaimed bestselling novel, is only good for kindling.  What you fail to see is that the author of that bestselling novel most likely has spent a decade or more mastering their craft. They started with words, which then became sentences, paragraphs, and eventually stories. Their first attempts — like those of everybody else — were unsuccessful. It took them hundreds of thousands of words’ worth of practice to finally write a masterpi...

 ----------------Week 2------------------ Day 9: On your future self In four studies, participants interacted with realistic computer renderings of their future selves using immersive virtual reality hardware and interactive decision aids. In all cases, those who interacted with virtual future selves exhibited an increased tendency to accept later monetary rewards over immediate ones.  —Hal E. Hershfield 9  Studies suggest that people who are aided with technology to imagine their future selves are more likely to delay gratification. In the case of the cited study, they’re more likely to save money for retirement.  This shows that your self-discipline is largely affected by your ability to feel empathy toward your future self. If the vision of you ten, twenty, or thirty years from now isn’t particularly vivid , you’ll have a hard time denying yourself pleasure today so that the stranger in the future can benefit.  For this reason, consider occasionally meditati...

----------------------Week 2-------------------------------------- Day 8: On Unessential Necessities Epicurus wanted to examine the things he thought he needed so he could determine which of them he could in fact live without. He realized that in many cases, we work hard to obtain something because we are convinced that we would be miserable without it. The problem is that we can live perfectly well without some of these things, but we won’t know which they are if we don’t try living without them.  —William B. Irvine 8  Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus would have his hands full in modern times if he wanted to spread his philosophy. We live in the world in which you feel you deserve to have luxuries. In fact, they’re no longer considered luxuries but necessities because most people mistakenly think they can’t live without them.  The problem with mistaking luxuries for necessities is that it’s impossible to develop powerful self-discipline if you need a lot just to funct...

 ------------Week 1--------------- Day 7: On poverty and Self Discipline A second line of research has shown that economic stress robs us of cognitive bandwidth. Worrying about bills, food or other problems, leaves less capacity to think ahead or to exert self-discipline. So, poverty imposes a mental tax.  —Nicholas Kristof 7  Financial stress (or for that matter, all kinds of stress) diminishes your ability to delay gratification. Consequently, poor people find it harder to resist temptations. In the end, they get stuck in a vicious cycle — they can’t escape poverty because it imposes constant mental stress on them, which then leads them to making bad decisions — not only the financial ones, but also those relating to their health, relationships, and general future.  Does it mean that if you’re struggling financially, you’re destined to have a bad life? Not necessarily. Taking personal responsibility and becoming conscious of the source of the problem can help you ...

 ------------------Week1--------------- Day 6: On Superhumans Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.   —Steve Jobs 6  Despite an enormous selection of movies about superhumans, they don’t really exist. I know, it’s shocking news, right?  Nobody — including the world’s biggest geniuses — was, is, or ever will be a superhuman, infinitely better in all aspects than the average mortal.  It’s easy to forget this fact when you look at the accomplishments of the people who are changing the world around you. After all, they appear to be so perfect — extremely productive, intelligent, beautiful, creative, persistent , strong… and the list goes on.  Behind the scenes, everyone struggles in some areas of their lives.  I’m an author of several books...

 -------------------Week 1-------------------- Day 5: On Enslavement to Self Before complaining that you are a slave to another, be sure that you are not a slave to self. Look within; you will find there, perchance, slavish thoughts, slavish desires, and in your daily life and conduct slavish habits. Conquer these; cease to be a slave to self, and no man will have the power to enslave you.  —James Allen 5  It’s easy to delegate the responsibility for our lives and choices to other people.  It’s not your fault that you can’t stick to a diet — it’s because your friends constantly tempt you to grab something to eat with them.  It’s not your fault that you can’t control your finances — it’s those evil corporations that spend millions on advertising and leave you powerless to change.  It’s not that you lack willpower to exercise — people always want something from you and you never have the time to develop this healthy habit.  In reality, nothing could b...

 ----------------Week 1--------------- Day 4: One creating system I value self-discipline, but creating systems that make it next to impossible to misbehave is more reliable than self-control.  —Tim Ferriss 4  A lot of people think that being self-disciplined means that you can sit in front of a delicious piece of cake and stare at it for hours without eating it. They think of resisting temptations as being like a knight defending his kingdom against the invader .  If you go to seedy bars every week, your chances of getting punched in the face are higher than those of a person spending their evenings at home with a book. Likewise, the best way to protect yourself against temptations is to avoid them — and for that, plain old preparation is more valuable than self-control.  Your chances of cheating on a diet are higher if you have forbidden foods at home. Removing them from your house — a simple act that requires little willpower, as long as you’re satiated wh...