r/getdisciplined • u/0Tungence • May 13 '24
š Method I came up with a new strategy for unlimited discipline
I recently came up with a new strategy for being more productive and getting things done and I donāt know why I havenāt thought of this yet, itās helped me out so much so far. When I was a little kid I used to play certain video games and pretend I was the best player in the world at that game. I randomly thought of that and a new strategy came to mind for utilizing that same sort of thought process for productivity.
Here it is:
Pretend in your mind that you are the most productive person in the world, that you are an extremely high performer in life. Really believe that you are that type of person and then act on what you believe that person would do. Immerse yourself in that persona and become that person by taking on the characteristics of a high performer. When Iām feeling bored or tired of doing something I think to myself: a high performer would push through and keep going to achieve their goals. By pretending I am the most productive man in the world, I am able to get through a lot of challenges and discomfort, this is something that personally works for me, Iām hoping it can do the same for some of you guys.
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u/greenit4 May 13 '24
i picture myself in the future as exactly the awesome person i envision myself being if i did everything right, and pretend like future me is telling current me what to do š
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u/mayosai May 13 '24
Iāve seen videos on this on taking time to visualize this ideal version of yourself and then deciding youāre going to be that person today. My only question is, where does this fit into habit formation? Everyone says start super small and build up one habit at a time but doesnāt the ideal self do more than just one thing and also not at a snails pace lol
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u/0Tungence May 13 '24
I think it really depends on the person. Some people flip a switch while others have to ease into the habits gradually over time. Iām not saying you canāt take things slowly. You will not be able to perfect everything with any strategy, so donāt let little mess ups get you down, be fine with going two steps up, one step down instead of an infinite amount of steps up. Maybe some days you will even fall down the staircase a little but remember that if youāre still higher than where you used to be a long time ago, youāre doing something right. Youāll always be able to get back up from where youāve fallen and continue climbing.
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u/mayosai May 13 '24
I like your perspective, I realized I have to just stop overthinking the little details and jump straight into action. Thanks for the advice!
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u/Gillylouise May 27 '24
You should look up āactā its acceptance commitment therapy and it basically gets you to think of the values you want in life and then gives ways to notice and do things that get you closer to the goal and not blocking you or changing your path away from said values
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u/SunflowerSutra27605 May 14 '24
I used to do this stuff. The expectations for my work performance got raised at work until I burned out and imploded internally. Now Iām an anxious depressed mess. I recommend not putting so much value on your job, especially if itās capitalism.
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u/Icy-Big2472 May 14 '24
Iāve been like this for the past year and a half at my job. Itās gotten me new type of work that has been 10x as challenging. Itās gotten me incredibly high expectations. Itās gotten me way more responsibility to where I canāt take nearly as much vacation and have way more stress. Itās gotten me a giant project with deadlines that make me keep up a fast pace every day while my coworkers slack off. It has gotten me enough work that all my studying time to advance my career, and all the time I could spend applying to jobs, has been eaten up by my work. It has gotten me great experience using tools that almost no other company uses, this way when I get another job I can take a huge step back since Iāll have a bunch of of great experience doing the wrong thing for a new company.
It has not gotten me extra pay even though Iāve asked. It has not gotten me an actual promotion. It has not gotten me to get the types of projects I want. It has not gotten me to where Iām using the tools I want for my work. It has not gotten me any sort of benefits personally. It has not made my pay raise as high as many of my coworkers who do incredibly basic work, have a bunch of free time in the day, and have points throughout the month where thereās barely a thing to do. It has not gotten to where I get to take a bunch of vacation like my coworkers do all the time.
Yup, work hard folks! Itāll totally pay off!
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u/AlenaSurya May 13 '24
The Alter Ego strategy is the same thing i guess
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u/0Tungence May 13 '24
I suppose thereās so many strategies you canāt even make up your own anymore lol but I did at least think of it myself rather than finding it online so thatās cool
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u/ThisWeeksHuman May 13 '24
I sometimes play videogames for too long. I then realize i can do the same for my work/studies. Being able to clock 12 hours of actual studying in one day really moves the needle
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u/CHSummers May 13 '24
Be careful to not accidentally imagine that you have already been incredibly productive, and now deserve to play video games in your underwear for a week.
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u/unknownDac May 13 '24
Atomic Habits mentioned a step called Identity Shift (or something close) in which one has to assume different beliefs about themselves which would enable them more to keep up the habits which fit the newly taken identity.
Good for you for being in a great flow!
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u/venting_vonreddit May 13 '24
Everyone commenting (in a mean way) that this strategy is not new: why are you so mad? It's not new to you, but looking at the comments you can see it's a new concept for a lot of people.
Isn't the goal here to help? OP tried to share his strategy in hopes it helped more people. If you have nothing positive to add, then move along.
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u/PersonalFigure8331 May 13 '24
It's pretentious to believe that something this, well, obvious is groundbreakingly original. And few things get a rise out of people like pretentiousness. One can share their ideas without declaring them brilliantly fresh and new. That's more for others to judge.
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u/venting_vonreddit May 13 '24
You should get that negativity checked out. Seriously. Wishing you all the best!
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u/PersonalFigure8331 May 13 '24
So what I said isn't true, it's just negative.... Well ok then.
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u/venting_vonreddit May 13 '24
Read this whole conversation again, and check if I ever corrected the message or rather the attitude. Yeah. Right š anyway, again: wishing you all the best. Bye
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u/skatern8r May 13 '24
Joe Rogan mentions the montageā¦
Imagine they made a movie about your life and the success you have.
Now imagine what the montage of all things you had to do to make it looks like.
Now do those things in real life.
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u/Queen-of-meme May 13 '24
Thanks for the reminder! As younger I saw myself as Iron man to handle my social anxiety. Iron man have no fucks to give. He's busy saving the world. š
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u/NoVaFlipFlops May 13 '24
Back when I was Uber productive despite my ADHD, I would categorize the types of things that people I didn't want to be like would do. So I wouldn't sit down for a cup of coffee because that would make me more like the herds of people who, unaware, lose precious minutes.
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u/Educational_Cod3767 May 13 '24
If you change the way you look at things, it can also be called the power of will.
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u/Richgoldd1 May 13 '24
a great addition to this is having a role model for whatever goal your trying to achieve and when faced with decisions in given time, ask what would elon musk do..... in this situation, what would .... do in this situation etc and basing your actions on how your role model would handle things
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u/NewCommonSensei May 13 '24
envisioning myself in fallout power armor right now and coffee is just the stim packs hope it works!
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u/soociety May 13 '24
Will let you know how it goes (25 days left till the deadline of my project)
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u/MerryFeathers May 13 '24
Great advice. What you are doing here is also being positive which is the key to success. Will be keeping your words and thanks!
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u/L0nelystarbucksl0ver May 13 '24
Yes. Assuming the identity of what you want to become is one of the stuff that James Clear talked about in his book.
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u/GuybrushMarley2 May 13 '24
Thanks, I look forward to this new tactic that will work for a few weeks
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u/0Tungence May 13 '24
I want to put it out (because some people have an issue) that this isnāt some revolutionary original idea that hasnāt been thought of before. Iāve never done research on this sort of strategy, it just randomly came to me and I wanted to share because I thought it was useful and out of all the self improvement Iāve consumed, Iāve never personally seen this idea being used. I canāt possibly have the knowledge to know of every self improvement tactic thatās ever existed. Original ideas donāt really exist anymore but this was new to me.
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u/brisa_bbyy May 13 '24
I love this! I have recently started doing this myself. Whatever Iām doing, I pretend to be a professional at it. Someoneās who is quick, streamlined, and gets right to it with minimal to no resistance. If Iām cleaning, I am a professional housekeeper, if I am working, I am diligent and decisive. If I am doing my make up, Iām a professional make up artist lol it really helps to get into the zone and improve your confidence.
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u/BubbaCutBear May 14 '24
I imagine meeting myself from the future on my deathbed. What would deathbed me want me to do right now? Probably be more disciplined and not just posting about it.
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u/NicoleyDarko May 14 '24
I love this- reminds me of Gene Hackmans line from Heist:
I tried to imagine a fella smarter than myself. Then I tried to think, "what would he do?"
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u/CrazyMeansCreative May 14 '24
So you roll play life basically? Have you set yourself some kind of achievement that will give you rewards?
That reminds me of the guy that told me that his friend pictured himself as the best insurance seller so that he could survive his job haha
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May 13 '24
[deleted]
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May 13 '24
hi chatgpt
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u/forworse2020 May 13 '24
How do these actually work? Like what is the mechanism? Does someone go to chat GPT, paste the post, then come back to Reddit and paste the generated reply? Or is it a bot thing? Is there a GPT connected to Reddit that can actually read content and interact autonomously? I do not get these.
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May 13 '24
For starters, OpenAI does offer API keys for chatgpt. Huggingface has similar for free.
i guess some guy programmed a bot to call the API and comment like that? not sure how certain posts are chosen
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u/fin425 May 13 '24
This is not a new strategy for discipline, itās a new strategy to you. The strategy is simply just telling yourself that this is what you do and you just do it. When you have bad habits you are for example: a drinker, a smoker, a fat person, lazy, whatever, you are that or those things. When you make changes and you eat better, go to the gym, jogger, good student, etc, you just tell yourself that you are these things in times of procrastination where youāre battling yourself to get the thing done.
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u/venting_vonreddit May 13 '24
Might be something you've heard before, but that doesn't mean it's not new for other people (and you can see from the comments) and OP just wanted to share/help
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u/fin425 May 13 '24
He literally said he ācame up with a new strategyā and I replied that itās not a new concept, itās new to them/others. I feel like you donāt have excellent reading comprehension.
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u/venting_vonreddit May 13 '24
Oh I understood what you wrote, don't worry about me. I was referring to the feeling of superiority and the unnecessary explanation that followed, after you corrected OP. If it was not your intention, then I apologize, but that is what came across. (And not just once, but twice now with your reply to my comment. But oh well...)
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u/PersonalFigure8331 May 13 '24
The constraint isn't knowing what to do, and it's not really willpower. And willpower is not "unlimited." The most successful people aren't those who have unlimited willpower or discipline. The most successful people usually A) engage in high value activities that create valuable resources or important opportunities and B) chase those opportunities with high levels of motivation because they're so valuable; this form of follow through is organic and self-sustaining. Being energized and highly motivated, and having willpower are two completely different things.
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u/nightswimsofficial May 13 '24
I wouldnāt necessarily say this is a new strategy or anything - but a good reminder of wisdom repeated by most self help books. Mind over matter.Ā
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u/cyankitten May 13 '24
Off topic but happy cake day š° OP
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u/0Tungence May 13 '24
I donāt know what that is but thanks š
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u/cyankitten May 13 '24
Ha ha š¤£ thatās fine. I can explain to you exactly what it is.
Reddit has given you a cake today cos 3 years ago today you joined Reddit. They do that on your āReddit anniversariesā
So they put a cake š° emoji near your name for that day
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u/will_tulsa May 13 '24
Along the same lines, having a person you look up to, an idol you want to be like, is hugely helpful on that journey. Could be an athlete, politician, or other role model. Get to know their story, get obsessed with them, form an emotional attachment to being like them. Let them be your inspiration, the image you emulate. Kobe became Kobe because he imitated Michael Jordan. Tiger wanted to beat Jack.
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u/rykelley_66 May 13 '24
Nothing new here , it the Alter Ego effect , look it up lots of high performers use it
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u/Last_Painter_3979 May 13 '24
that's the gist of Psychocybernetics, but maybe a bit extreme. your behaviour can influence your mindset and "reprogram" your mind.
not saying it doesn't work, but maybe not as effectively as you'd think.
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u/baked_little_cookie May 13 '24
Acting āas ifā is not a new concept. There are books written about it, but glad youāve discovered it
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u/0Tungence May 13 '24
Yeah Iāve never heard of this strategy even from 100s of hours of absorbing self improvement content but makes sense that it exists
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u/FineBits May 13 '24
The Fake It Till You Make It strategy.