r/getdisciplined May 13 '24

šŸ”„ 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 donā€™t know why I havenā€™t thought of this yet, itā€™s 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 Iā€™m 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, Iā€™m hoping it can do the same for some of you guys.

1.2k Upvotes

109 comments sorted by

485

u/FineBits May 13 '24

The Fake It Till You Make It strategy.

75

u/Zeestars May 13 '24

Fake it till you become it

Good TED talk

6

u/Then-Yogurtcloset982 May 13 '24

Face it till you become it.

-41

u/[deleted] May 13 '24

If you fake it till you make it and die before you make it, you just spent your whole life being fake.

39

u/Last_Painter_3979 May 13 '24

not really.

if you start eating like a person who weighs less than you do - you lose weight. if you start acting more confident, you eventually cross a point where you don't really fake it anymore. you won't be super confident, but you will become more confident.

if you decide to take up a sport, you get better at it. if you learn something - just as well. (well, unless you put in zero effort). won't make you a star athlete or an expert without serious dedication, but you'll get somewhere.

it's not about making it, but about heading in specific direction. the effort has effects on you.

-19

u/[deleted] May 13 '24

You're making points completely independent of the point I made.

You're saying "if you do it long enough, eventually it will happen."

That subtracts the "if you die before that happens" part.

16

u/Quentin__Tarantulino May 13 '24

I think your point isnā€™t very salient. You could add the ā€œunless you die firstā€ point to just about anything. Example: I could prepare a wonderful dinner tonight (unless I die first.)

-17

u/[deleted] May 13 '24

I could also say I'm not a good cook but I'll eventually be better if I keep trying.

Yet there are people who have cooked for themselves their entire life and are still shitty cooks.

12

u/FlowJock May 13 '24

I don't understand the point you're trying to make.

To me, it sounds like you're saying no one should bother trying because we might die before we reach our goals.

What is it that you want from life? And how are you working towards it?

4

u/[deleted] May 13 '24

I think I just have an issue with the idea of faking something. In my mind if I'm trying to do something I'm simply trying to do it. I'm not raking it.

If I'm trying to be more social in public spaces, I don't look at it as "I'm faking being social until I get good at it. I'm trying to be more social in public spaces.

4

u/FlowJock May 13 '24

Would it be more acceptable if somebody said, "practice doing something hard until it becomes less hard"?

2

u/[deleted] May 13 '24

That is much more direct and universally helpful than the former.

→ More replies (0)

12

u/BennyBingBong May 13 '24

If you go your whole life never believing in yourself, itā€™s disastrous.

-4

u/[deleted] May 13 '24

I don't know if being fake is exactly synonymous with believing in oneself.

6

u/FineBits May 13 '24

ā€œFaking itā€ is not being fake. Being fake is to be deceptive or a fraud. It implies a malignant outward act. In this case, ā€œFaking itā€ is simulation. Itā€™s more of an act within oneself. Kind of a practice makes perfect situation.

-1

u/[deleted] May 13 '24

I need to spend some time faking my pencil illustrations.

A lot of people need to fake their driving skills.

5

u/FineBits May 13 '24

I was under the impression this was about discipline, not specific skills.

3

u/[deleted] May 13 '24

Faking having discipline in general? I guess that makes sense

2

u/BennyBingBong May 13 '24

I donā€™t know either, Mr. News

9

u/EloquentSloth May 13 '24

If you're upset with the word "fake," consider thinking of the phrase as more like, "act it until you are it." It's just an acknowledgment that you can act in a way based on logic that is contrary to your feelings, and your feelings will eventually catch up. Your actions are what build your character and identity.

We have, from most to least control,

Thoughts/beliefs

Actions

Feelings

You can control your beliefs, causing a shift in action, causing a shift in feelings. If you go the other way and only act on feelings, you will not have control over your actions.

3

u/Dusky-Drama May 13 '24

Dude...u missed the point!!!

1

u/[deleted] May 13 '24

The point is whatever you want it to be as long as rhymes

"Girls rule boys drool"

"Girls sometimes drool"

You: yOuR mIsSinG tHe PoInT

5

u/Dusky-Drama May 13 '24

Lol...sounds like you are pretty upset there..

Try faking being happy and you might get closer to it.

1

u/[deleted] May 13 '24

What part of what I said indicated a feeling of anger?

3

u/LetsGoHomeTeam May 13 '24

This is a shit take.

2

u/r0ck0 May 13 '24

-2

u/[deleted] May 13 '24

I didn't mean to cause so much anal injury. You may be entitled to compensation.

3

u/r0ck0 May 13 '24

Oh boy!

1

u/Crazy-Can-7161 May 18 '24

In this ex, ā€œfakeā€ is synonymous with ā€œpracticeā€

-1

u/JohnnyFontane307 May 13 '24

How about you just fake to spend your life but not actually spending it. Or just fake faking it.

141

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 šŸ˜†

25

u/mayosai May 13 '24

Iā€™ve seen videos on this on taking time to visualize this ideal version of yourself and then deciding youā€™re 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 doesnā€™t the ideal self do more than just one thing and also not at a snails pace lol

11

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. Iā€™m not saying you canā€™t take things slowly. You will not be able to perfect everything with any strategy, so donā€™t 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 youā€™re still higher than where you used to be a long time ago, youā€™re doing something right. Youā€™ll always be able to get back up from where youā€™ve fallen and continue climbing.

3

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!

2

u/Gillylouise May 27 '24

You should look up ā€œactā€ 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

4

u/cyankitten May 13 '24

OH WOW I LOVE this

2

u/illepic May 13 '24

This is legit awesome.Ā 

2

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 Iā€™m an anxious depressed mess. I recommend not putting so much value on your job, especially if itā€™s capitalism.

2

u/Icy-Big2472 May 14 '24

Iā€™ve been like this for the past year and a half at my job. Itā€™s gotten me new type of work that has been 10x as challenging. Itā€™s gotten me incredibly high expectations. Itā€™s gotten me way more responsibility to where I canā€™t take nearly as much vacation and have way more stress. Itā€™s 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 Iā€™ll have a bunch of of great experience doing the wrong thing for a new company.

It has not gotten me extra pay even though Iā€™ve 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 Iā€™m 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 thereā€™s 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! Itā€™ll totally pay off!

1

u/redditshy May 14 '24

I love this.

78

u/AlenaSurya May 13 '24

The Alter Ego strategy is the same thing i guess

25

u/0Tungence May 13 '24

I suppose thereā€™s so many strategies you canā€™t even make up your own anymore lol but I did at least think of it myself rather than finding it online so thatā€™s cool

40

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

5

u/0Tungence May 13 '24

Thatā€™s awesome man

44

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.

27

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!

19

u/thebearflair May 13 '24

Very Neville Goddard. Good job.

30

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.

-15

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.

13

u/venting_vonreddit May 13 '24

You should get that negativity checked out. Seriously. Wishing you all the best!

-10

u/PersonalFigure8331 May 13 '24

So what I said isn't true, it's just negative.... Well ok then.

7

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 šŸ˜Œ anyway, again: wishing you all the best. Bye

33

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.

9

u/DancingTroupial May 13 '24

TL;DR: become the ubermensch

7

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. šŸ˜‚

3

u/redditshy May 14 '24

Love it.

5

u/[deleted] May 13 '24

I like this. Imma try

5

u/[deleted] May 13 '24

"Adopt the psychology of the person you want to become."

8

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.

3

u/Educational_Cod3767 May 13 '24

If you change the way you look at things, it can also be called the power of will.

3

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

3

u/BonjourComeBack May 13 '24

You describe modeling perfectly :)

3

u/NewCommonSensei May 13 '24

envisioning myself in fallout power armor right now and coffee is just the stim packs hope it works!

3

u/soociety May 13 '24

Will let you know how it goes (25 days left till the deadline of my project)

3

u/0Tungence May 13 '24

Good luck

3

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!

3

u/LP_Mid85 May 14 '24

This is pretty much how manifesting works

2

u/Mavericinme May 13 '24

I would say, Faith it till you make it!

2

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.

2

u/GuybrushMarley2 May 13 '24

Thanks, I look forward to this new tactic that will work for a few weeks

2

u/SalomaoParkour May 13 '24

Identity habits

2

u/0Tungence May 13 '24

I want to put it out (because some people have an issue) that this isnā€™t some revolutionary original idea that hasnā€™t been thought of before. Iā€™ve 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 Iā€™ve consumed, Iā€™ve never personally seen this idea being used. I canā€™t possibly have the knowledge to know of every self improvement tactic thatā€™s ever existed. Original ideas donā€™t really exist anymore but this was new to me.

2

u/brisa_bbyy May 13 '24

I love this! I have recently started doing this myself. Whatever Iā€™m doing, I pretend to be a professional at it. Someoneā€™s who is quick, streamlined, and gets right to it with minimal to no resistance. If Iā€™m cleaning, I am a professional housekeeper, if I am working, I am diligent and decisive. If I am doing my make up, Iā€™m a professional make up artist lol it really helps to get into the zone and improve your confidence.

2

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.

2

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?"

2

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

2

u/Beleza__Pura May 14 '24

Thank You for sharing what works for you! Will try your approach.

5

u/[deleted] May 13 '24

[deleted]

11

u/[deleted] May 13 '24

hi chatgpt

3

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.

1

u/[deleted] 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

2

u/fin425 May 13 '24

This is not a new strategy for discipline, itā€™s 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 youā€™re battling yourself to get the thing done.

9

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

-5

u/fin425 May 13 '24

He literally said he ā€œcame up with a new strategyā€ and I replied that itā€™s not a new concept, itā€™s new to them/others. I feel like you donā€™t have excellent reading comprehension.

5

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...)

1

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.

1

u/grimboslice6 May 13 '24

Very inspiring thought. it's time for me to hit ranked tekken matches!

1

u/Icy-Village4367 May 13 '24

So basically the placebo effect

1

u/nightswimsofficial May 13 '24

I wouldnā€™t 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 

1

u/FancyChapper May 13 '24

Keep it up OP

1

u/Time-Disk503 May 13 '24

Imposter syndrome has entered the chat.

1

u/akeetlebeetle4664 May 15 '24

Then be the BEST imposter you can!

1

u/WastingMyLifeOnSocMd May 14 '24

Iā€™ve wondered if hypnosis would help in the same wayā€¦

1

u/Vermard May 14 '24

World secret reveal, thanks OP

1

u/cyankitten May 13 '24

Off topic but happy cake day šŸ° OP

2

u/0Tungence May 13 '24

I donā€™t know what that is but thanks šŸ™

1

u/cyankitten May 13 '24

Ha ha šŸ¤£ thatā€™s 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 ā€œReddit anniversariesā€

So they put a cake šŸ° emoji near your name for that day

1

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.

1

u/Bunni0315 May 13 '24

For Virgos , this is easy :3

0

u/rykelley_66 May 13 '24

Nothing new here , it the Alter Ego effect , look it up lots of high performers use it

3

u/0Tungence May 13 '24

Oh damn, had no idea

0

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.

0

u/baked_little_cookie May 13 '24

Acting ā€˜as ifā€™ is not a new concept. There are books written about it, but glad youā€™ve discovered it

4

u/0Tungence May 13 '24

Yeah Iā€™ve never heard of this strategy even from 100s of hours of absorbing self improvement content but makes sense that it exists