Self-Discipline is Not Found in Books
It's Free and Available at All Times
Last week, I wrote about reaching fifty subscribers, what that means to me, and what I’ve learned. I mentioned, “without my weekly self-imposed deadline of Sunday, I’m not sure I’d be able to make this newsletter work.” I then wrote two full paragraphs on this idea of having a weekly deadline and how I’ve seen other Substack writers talk about this subject. I quickly realized that most of what I’d written was unrelated to my subject last week, so I copy/pasted it to a new Google Doc. A few days passed and the topic felt kind of stale to me so I thought maybe I’d re-visit it another time.
Then I saw a post online by a fellow writer looking for recommendations on “the best books/podcasts on self-discipline.”
This pretty quickly jumped out to me as being a kind of backwards way to improve self-discipline. A book can be a good kick in the ass in the right direction, but it’s not going to do the work for you, and self-discipline is something we all have access to. I gave a recommendation, but added “In general, I don’t think external sources are necessary in building self-discipline.”
Later, I sat down to work on my weekly essay and realized the couple paragraphs I’d written about my weekly deadline were really just about self-discipline. It’s something I’ve actually become pretty good at over the last decade or so; it’s a subject on which I have quite a bit to say, and I think what I have to say could be useful to some.
Here is how I think about self-discipline.
If I were to write a book on self-discipline, it seems to me I’m charging you money to read a bunch of words on how to do something that’s completely free and within reach to all humans at all times.
When it comes to building self-discipline, there is a lot of low-hanging fruit. You don’t have to lose fifty pounds in a month, or become an elite athlete, or conquer your mind and achieve inner peace. You can take baby steps. You must take baby steps, or you will fail.
If you want to get in shape, you can easily start by exercising for thirty minutes one day per week. After a month, go to two days per week, and so on. If you want to start a meditation practice, you can easily sit down for one minute, one day a week, and go from there. This is “progressive overload.” It’s a strength training technique, but it applies to all aspects of life -
The first mention of progressive overload in history is associated with Milo of Croton (late 6th century BC), an athlete of Ancient Greece. Per the legend, when Milo was an adolescent a neighbor of his had a newborn calf. Milo saw the small calf, lifted it onto his shoulders, and walked around for a while. The next day Milo returned and did the same thing. He continued this routine day after day. As the calf grew, so did Milo’s strength. His lifting each day prepared him to lift a little bit more the next day. At the end of four years, Milo was lifting a full-grown bull onto his shoulders.” (Emphasis my own).1
As I mentioned, without the weekly deadline of Sunday, I would not be able to make this publication work. If I said “I’m going to just release something when I have something to say.” That wouldn’t work for me. At least for the time being.
I find that it helps to remove the decision. For example, this month and next month, I’ve decided I’m not drinking alcohol. On any given day, I don’t have to decide if I’m going to drink. I exercise every day. It may only be ten pushups, but it’s not something I think about, I just do it. I publish my newsletter every Sunday. I don’t have to decide if or when I’ll publish it. Only - what am I going to say?
One critique of the posting every week strategy I’ve seen went something like this:
Anonymous Substack writer: I read a post that began with - “I was so busy this week I didn’t have time to write anything, so here are my unfiltered thoughts.”
The critique was that this sentence is disrespectful to the reader and that we should all wait until we have something to say. Wait until we have something good. Do not contribute to the glut of poor writing on the internet.
I agree that one should not begin an essay or article by saying they did not have time to write anything good. It’s a cop out. Like saying, “if you think this is bad, here’s why it’s bad. But if you think it’s good.. Well, never-mind.” I also agree that there is an overwhelming amount of shitty writing on the internet and everywhere else for that matter.
My view is that publishing every week on a pre-determined day is an exercise in self-discipline. Every week, when I hit publish, it brings me a small sense of pride. I won’t hit a home run every week, but I will step up to the plate. I do the best I can with the limited amount of time I have. If just one person finds something I say useful or entertaining, that’s good enough for me.
The book I recommended to someone earlier this week was “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. It’s not going to make you self-disciplined, but maybe it will give you some inspiration. As far as “self-help” books go, you won’t find many that are better.
Thank you for reading! Enjoy the rest of your day!
-Sam
I'm glad you publish every week Sam, I look forward to it! And, two thumbs up on the Atomic Habits book recommendation!
I like this view on self-discipline!
I’ve been trying to do the same for my newsletter, but haven’t been very successful at regularity yet 😅