added by Supritha S · updated 2y ago
Where Personal Breakthroughs Really Come From
- These abandoned trials leave us feeling guilty and powerless, and convinced that the high road is the harder one.
from Where Personal Breakthroughs Really Come From by David Cain
Supritha S added 2y ago
- Exercising willpower is painful, and we can’t rely on having enough of it to sustain us for the months it takes for the new standard to become easy to meet. From the start, we can’t wait to be done with our campaign of self-restriction, so we fall (or dive) off the wagon, and maybe try again in a few months.
from Where Personal Breakthroughs Really Come From by David Cain
Supritha S added 2y ago
- It sounds radical: let yourself do what you want as long as you track it.
from Where Personal Breakthroughs Really Come From by David Cain
Supritha S added 2y ago
- You can always quit tracking, of course. But after doing it for even a short time, you can’t quit without knowing you’re choosing to live in the dark. It really feels like a conscious decision to be less happy. But in a few months, when you’re fed up with being less happy—again—you know what to do.
from Where Personal Breakthroughs Really Come From by David Cain
Supritha S added 2y ago
- Keeping aware of dollars actually spent, hours actually worked, miles actually run—changes what you want to do. You can easily spot the places where it’s easy to make progress, and where it’s too difficult to force things right now. The high cost of certain habits becomes too obvious for them to remain very tempting.
from Where Personal Breakthroughs Really Come From by David Cain
Supritha S added 2y ago
- Just recording the numbers—without striving to change anything about what you’re tracking—almost always creates a sustainable, healthy transition to a better way of doing things.
from Where Personal Breakthroughs Really Come From by David Cain
Supritha S added 2y ago
- Tracking without striving allows us this vital freedom to overindulge sometimes, to give ourselves a break—to be human, in other words. But as long as you’re tracking the reality of your behavior, there’s no way you’ll do it every day.
from Where Personal Breakthroughs Really Come From by David Cain
Supritha S added 2y ago
- Breakthroughs come from awareness, not from willpower or “grit”, or any other forceful qualities we never have enough of. They come from understanding our behavior, not from policing it.
from Where Personal Breakthroughs Really Come From by David Cain
Supritha S added 2y ago
- the things that tempt you towards trouble become considerably less tempting, and that’s the vital point here—tracking your behavior, without striving to change it, gently reduces the amount of willpower and self-scolding required to do the right thing.
from Where Personal Breakthroughs Really Come From by David Cain
Supritha S added 2y ago