Accountability mirror
Telling yourself the blunt truth in the mirror every day, then fixing it
Standing in front of a mirror and saying out loud, without softening, what you are failing at and what you are going to do about it. David Goggins built the practice as a teenager while shaving his head and says he still does it daily. It is meant as an antidote to the flattering feedback of friends and feeds: if you lied to someone, you say so to your own face and then you call them. Free, uncomfortable and easy to skip.
Who backs it
Sorted by strength of stance
- David GogginsDoes it
Retired Navy SEAL · Can't Hurt Me
It started at 16, while he was shaving his head, and he says it still happens every day. He names the lie or the failure out loud, then fixes it, down to phoning someone he lied to.
Source: The Tim Ferriss Show #630 transcript: Rich Roll interviews David Goggins“I had to change my thinking process, and basically the accountability mirror is what did it. I started shaving my head and my face when I was 16 years old, and I realized when I started shaving my face and my head, you have a lot of time to look at your reflection”
The Tim Ferriss Show #630 transcript: Rich Roll interviews David Goggins (opens in a new tab) · 29 Oct 2022
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under productivity or stress.
- HabitFREE, no cost
Journaling
Writing to unload the mind, usually first thing or last thing
Backed by 9 of 44 stacks: 9 do it, 0 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - HabitFREE, no cost
Deliberate discomfort
Choosing the thing you do not want to do, daily, as its own training
Backed by 3 of 44 stacks: 1 do it, 2 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - HabitFREE, no cost
Act on the thing causing stress
Make the first call or send the first email on whatever is nagging at you
Backed by 1 of 44 stacks: 1 do it, 0 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - HabitFREE, no cost
Lenten fasting
Forty days of giving something up, plus fast and meat-free days, in the Christian calendar
Backed by 1 of 44 stacks: 1 do it, 0 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - HabitFREE, no cost
Morning puttering
A slow, unscheduled first hour or two: coffee, the paper, breakfast, no meetings
Backed by 1 of 44 stacks: 1 do it, 0 recommend it, 0 have discussed it - HabitFREE, no cost
Saying I get to instead of I have to
Swap one verb in your self-talk and the daily grind reads as a privilege
Backed by 1 of 44 stacks: 1 do it, 0 recommend it, 0 have discussed it
Habit entry · notes paraphrased from cited sources, quoted excerpts copied from the transcript they link to. Not medical advice. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or reviewed by anyone listed. How this works.