Deliberate discomfort
Choosing the thing you do not want to do, daily, as its own training
Picking a task you actively do not want to do, and doing it anyway, every day, precisely because you do not want to. Cold water, an early run, a page of study, a hard conversation. The claim, made by Goggins and given a neuroscience gloss by Andrew Huberman in their conversation, is that willpower grows only through work you resist and shrinks when you stop. Once you start enjoying the thing, by this logic, it no longer counts.
People on record
Sorted by strength of stance
Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- Zac EfronDoes it
Actor · the Baywatch body and what it cost him
Take the thing you least want to do and turn it into a routine: that is how he sums up his own philosophy for Men's Health, with the ice bath as the example. The magazine reads his approach to fitness as a deliberate embrace of misery.
Source: Men's Health: Zac Efron Interview on His Career, His Health, and His Next Movie“That’s the simplest philosophy: Anything you don’t want to do, make it a habit.”
Men's Health: Zac Efron Interview on His Career, His Health, and His Next Movie (opens in a new tab) · 7 Sep 2022 - David GogginsRecommends
Retired Navy SEAL · Can't Hurt Me
Asked how willpower grows, he says there is no hack: do the thing you do not want to do, then do it again, and expect it to suck. He agrees with Huberman that a hard thing you have learned to enjoy no longer counts.
Source: Huberman Lab: David Goggins: How to Build Immense Inner Strength - Dwayne JohnsonRecommends
Actor and former WWE champion · The Rock
Sums up the Project Rock ethos as the daily challenge of doing hard things, however small, and the inner peace of knowing that through hard work you are a little better today than yesterday. He says the aim is to help everyone, athletes and everyday people alike, get better through training. That is a founder describing his own brand.
Source: Sports Illustrated: Dwayne Johnson on Project Rock's Future After Leaving Under Armour
Aimed at the same thing
Other entries filed under stress or productivity.
- HabitFREE, no cost
Journaling
Writing to unload the mind, usually first thing or last thing
On record from 14 of 62 tracked people: 13 do it, 1 recommends it - HabitFREE, no cost
A high savings rate
Bank a large share of income by spending well below what the income allows
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - HabitFREE, no cost
Accountability mirror
Telling yourself the blunt truth in the mirror every day, then fixing it
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does 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
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does it - HabitFREE, no cost
Asking for help
Four words, can you help me, used on purpose rather than as a last resort
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 recommends it - HabitFREE, no cost
Extended sabbatical
A month or more entirely off work, announced well in advance
On record from 1 of 62 tracked people: 1 does 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.