How to Be Effortlessly Disciplined. Mindset Shifts

Arshian

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Transcript

00:00I'm able to begin a task and complete it regardless of boredom or distractions.

00:04On a scale from 1 to 10, how much do you agree with that statement?

00:08Take a moment to pause and to really think about your answer to that.

00:10Now, if you rated yourself a 10 out of 10, then you probably don't need this video.

00:13But most of us could probably do with a little bit more discipline in our lives, right?

00:17Through discipline, through self-discipline, you develop like an armour for your mind.

00:21You just need to have discipline, you need to lock in,

00:23and you need to do what you feel like you're not.

00:25There is something wrong with you, and that discipline is the solution.

00:29Discipline is the ability to do hard stuff that you don't want to do.

00:33Once you're disciplined, you're like a sharpened sword, man, like a well-tempered blade.

00:38Because discipline equals freedom.

00:45Hey friends, welcome back to the channel.

00:47If you're new here, my name is Ali.

00:48I'm a doctor turned entrepreneur and the author of Feel Good Productivity,

00:52which is a book about how to do more of what matters to you

00:54in a way that's enjoyable and meaningful and sustainable.

00:57So in this video, I want to talk through five science-backed,

00:59evidence-based methods that you can use to become more effortlessly disciplined.

01:03But then if you stick around till the end of the video,

01:05we're going to talk about why actually focusing too much on discipline

01:08might actually be the wrong move.

01:09All right, so method number one is something called mental contrasting,

01:12and it's based on a really cool study by a psychologist called Gabrielle Oettingen.

01:15This is about something called fantasy realisation theory,

01:18which states that when people contrast their fantasies about a desired future

01:23with reflections on their present reality,

01:25a necessity to act is induced

01:26that leads to the activation and use of relevant expectations.

01:29That's a bit of a mouthful,

01:30but basically the way the study worked

01:32is that they split people up into three groups.

01:34Now with the first group, they asked them to imagine the positive fantasy,

01:37i.e. to focus on the goal

01:38and imagine how amazing it would be if they actually hit the goal.

01:40For the second group, they asked them to imagine a negative fantasy,

01:43i.e. to focus on their current state in the present moment and how bad it was.

01:47But then for the third group, they asked them to contrast these two things.

01:50So to look at the future, to look at the now,

01:52and like really vividly imagine the contrast

01:54between where they are right now and where they want it to be.

01:56And basically what they showed is that the people who contrasted

01:58where they are and where they want to be

02:00were way more likely to take responsibility of their own actions

02:03when it came to going towards their goals.

02:04And they wrote in 2009,

02:06we argue that mental contrasting by making reality appear

02:09as an obstacle to fantasy realisation,

02:12mobilises energy that strengthens the transition to goal commitment.

02:15So basically the key idea here is that if you mentally contrast

02:18where you are now and where you want to be,

02:20that is more likely to drive energy towards your goals.

02:23And that is one of the things that's more likely to make you feel more disciplined.

02:26And one specific way of doing this

02:28is to first imagine what that future and goal state looks like.

02:30Like for example, you've been able to run that marathon

02:33or get that six pack abs or launch that business

02:35or whatever the thing is that you're trying to mobilise discipline towards.

02:37And then you want to figure out where you are right now

02:39and imagine the obstacles that might stand in your way.

02:42Like the obstacle to me getting six pack abs

02:44is that I might eat too much crap

02:45or I might not go to the gym as often as I need to

02:47or a number of other things.

02:48And the more I can visualise those obstacles,

02:50along with the fantasy that I'm kind of aiming towards,

02:53in theory, that is mental contrasting

02:55and that should, according to the evidence,

02:56improve our levels of discipline.

02:58Now, one of my favourite tools that I use every day

03:00for tracking to improve my discipline

03:01is something called Rise

03:02and they're very kindly sponsoring this video.

03:04Rise is an amazing time tracking app

03:05that I've literally been using for the last two years.

03:08It works on Mac, it works on Windows

03:09and what it does is that it automatically figures out

03:11what programme or what like Chrome tab or whatever you're in

03:14and categorises that thing

03:15based on what you're doing on your computer.

03:17And so it's basically an automatic way of tracking your time.

03:19Now, this is super helpful

03:20because if you're struggling with discipline for something

03:22like I was when I was writing my book,

03:24it was super helpful for me to see

03:26how much time was I actually spend writing every single day.

03:28And so what Rise would do

03:29is that if I was writing in Google Docs or Scrivener or Notion,

03:32I was like, you know,

03:32the different apps that was used for writing,

03:34it would call that writing time

03:35and I'd be aiming to hit at least four hours a day.

03:38And before I used Rise, I thought,

03:39hey, I've been writing all day and stuff

03:41but like actually using Rise made me realise that,

03:43oh crap, I thought I was writing all day

03:45but actually I was screwing around most of the time

03:46and only doing like an hour and a half of writing.

03:48But as soon as I started to track it

03:49and start seeing the numbers, I was like,

03:51oh crap, I should spend more time in Google Docs

03:53and a little less time on YouTube.

03:54Rise also has a really good Pomodoro timer built in

03:56so you can set 25 minute or 45 minute study sessions

03:59or work sessions or whatever the thing is you wanna do.

04:01And it also gives you very handy notifications

04:03when it's time to take a break

04:04and also when it senses that you are getting distracted

04:06which I've gotten enormous mileage out of

04:08and genuinely it's an app

04:09that helps me be more effortlessly disciplined.

04:11In fact, I love the app so much

04:12that I reached out to the founders of the company,

04:14the super cool people

04:14and I've actually invested in Rise as a company

04:16because I have enormous faith behind what they're doing

04:18and it's a really cool team behind it as well.

04:20And it's just a genuinely fantastic way

04:21of tracking your time

04:22and staying more on track and more disciplined.

04:24So thank you so much Rise for sponsoring this video.

04:26All right, method number two

04:27is something really powerful as well

04:28and that's something I use every day in my life

04:29and that is called implementation intentions.

04:31Now here is a cool study by psychologist Angela Duckworth

04:34who actually wrote the really good book, Grit.

04:35And in the study,

04:36they got a group of high school students

04:37who were gonna take a particular exam

04:39and first they asked everyone to visualise the outcome

04:41of succeeding in that exam

04:42but then they split up the class into two different groups.

04:44Now the first group, the control group

04:46was just asked to write an essay

04:47about an influential person in their life

04:49but the second group was asked firstly

04:51to imagine the obstacles that would stand in the way

04:53of them succeeding in the exam

04:54and then also to create if-then statements

04:57that might help them overcome the obstacle.

04:58So for example, if I get distracted

05:00while doing practice tests,

05:01I will get up and do a quick walk around my room

05:04and then sit down and start again.

05:05So basically they're trying to imagine the obstacles

05:06that are gonna be in their way

05:07and then figuring out what are they gonna do

05:09if and when they encounter those obstacles.

05:11And the researchers found that the treatment group,

05:13i.e the group that was asked to do the if-then stuff,

05:16that group completed 60% more practice questions

05:18than the people in the control group.

05:20And I don't know about you,

05:20but if I was, for example, struggling with discipline

05:22to, I don't know, write or to study

05:25or to go to the gym or whatever the thing is

05:27and by just imagining obstacles

05:28and then figuring out what I would do if I encountered them,

05:31that could lead to a 60% increase

05:33in the amount of questions I did

05:34or workouts I did or anything like that.

05:36That's pretty sick.

05:37It's a very, very easy change we can make to our lives.

05:39And actually psychologists have paired these two strategies

05:41that we've just talked about together

05:42called MCII,

05:44Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions.

05:46So technically an implementation intention is just like

05:48when you say, if X happens, I will do Y.

05:50So if, for example, you wanna floss more

05:52and you can say, if I am brushing my teeth

05:54or when I'm brushing my teeth,

05:55then afterwards I will also floss.

05:57So this is sometimes known as habit stacking

05:58where you are stacking multiple habits together.

06:00But technically the psychology term for it

06:02is implementation intentions.

06:04And then if you pair it with mental contrasting,

06:06i.e imagining the future, imagining the obstacles

06:08and then running implementation intentions

06:10to figure out how you're gonna get through those obstacles,

06:13that concept of MCII is a really well-validated

06:17and highly evidence-based strategy

06:18for increasing your motivation and discipline

06:20to actually make progress with the stuff that matters to you.

06:22If you're interested in more details

06:24about implementation intentions,

06:25I have a whole section about them in my book,

06:26Field of Productivity, which you can check out if you like.

06:28But let's now talk about method number three,

06:29which is to reduce environmental friction.

06:32And the key idea here is that if you really want

06:33to effortlessly increase your discipline,

06:35you've gotta design your environment

06:37in a way that makes it really easy.

06:38So if, for example, you are trying to be more disciplined

06:40to go to the gym,

06:41then having your gym clothes out

06:43and in front of you when you wake up

06:44so you can put them on first thing in the morning

06:46makes it way easier to actually have the discipline

06:48to go to the gym.

06:49Similarly, if you're trying to be more disciplined

06:50and not eat unhealthy food,

06:52then just not buying junk food

06:53when you go to the supermarket

06:54and shoving in your fridge

06:55is a way of designing your environment

06:57in a way that makes it easy

06:58for you to be disciplined in that context.

06:59And I can't remember where this quote is from,

07:00but there's a really nice quote,

07:01which is that it doesn't take much discipline

07:03to not eat a chocolate bar

07:04if there are no chocolate bars in the house.

07:06And whenever I do talks and speak to students

07:07and any of this kind of stuff,

07:09people always ask me like,

07:10oh, you know, I'm not disciplined enough

07:12or like, how do I get more disciplined in my life?

07:14And I usually start,

07:15I don't usually start with mental contrasting

07:16or implementation intentions

07:17because it's a bit of a mouthful to explain.

07:19I usually start with,

07:20what does your environment look like?

07:21Have you actually designed your environment

07:23in a way that makes it way easier

07:25for you to do the thing that you think you wanna do?

07:27You know, back when I was in medical school,

07:28I would have my medical textbooks

07:29literally next to my desk

07:31rather than across the room

07:32because there's no excuse for me

07:33not to just pick them up

07:34if they're right next to me.

07:35But if they're all the way across the room

07:36and I have to walk like five steps to get there

07:38and take them off the bookshelf and open,

07:39that's too much friction.

07:40Whatever I can do

07:41to reduce the environmental friction

07:42of making something happen

07:43is gonna make it way more likely

07:45that the thing will actually happen

07:46and that is a way to become

07:47more effortlessly disciplined

07:48by not actually needing to rely

07:50on discipline and willpower.

07:51So if you want an action point,

07:52ask yourself right now,

07:53what is something

07:54that you are struggling with discipline in?

07:55And what are one or two things

07:57that you can do

07:57to design your environment

07:58in a way that makes it way easier

08:00for you to do the thing

08:01that you actually want to do?

08:02All right, strategy number four

08:03is monitoring and tracking.

08:05And basically the idea here

08:06is something from management literature,

08:08which is what gets measured

08:09gets managed

08:10and what gets measured gets improved.

08:11And there've been a bunch of studies

08:12that have shown this.

08:13For example,

08:13for people who are trying to lose weight,

08:15just the act of weighing yourself every day

08:17and just looking at that number

08:18means just by default,

08:19you end up losing weight

08:20because now you're more aware

08:21of this thing that you're trying to do.

08:22Similarly, if you're trying

08:23to build muscle at the gym,

08:24everyone says you should track your workouts

08:26and you should take progress pics

08:27and maybe even like measure

08:28your biceps and stuff

08:29because tracking those numbers

08:30and seeing improvements over time

08:32is a massive source of motivation

08:34and therefore helps us

08:35be more effortlessly disciplined.

08:36And there are three key reasons

08:37why monitoring the things

08:38that you wanna be more disciplined

08:39and actually works.

08:40The first one is motivation.

08:41So seeing ourselves make progress

08:42in a thing that we care about

08:43is enormously motivating

08:45and drives something

08:46called intrinsic motivation,

08:47which is where you do the thing

08:48for the sake of doing the thing

08:50and feeling yourself improve

08:51and level up and stuff.

08:52It's just a profoundly motivating thing

08:53that we can do.

08:54Secondly, monitoring gives us a feedback loop.

08:56And so when we can see the result

08:57of the actions that we're taking,

08:58we can adjust our actions accordingly.

09:00And thirdly, monitoring gives us clarity

09:02about what's working

09:02and what's not working.

09:03And so again,

09:04allows us to adjust

09:05what we're actually doing.

09:06And that means that you can focus

09:07on the stuff

09:07that's actually moving the needle

09:08for the results that you want,

09:09which means you have fewer things

09:10to focus on,

09:11which is also a thing

09:12that helps discipline.

09:12For me personally,

09:13the way that I track any new habit

09:14that I wanna build

09:15is by using an app called Streaks

09:17on my iPhone home screen.

09:18It's super helpful.

09:19Right now, it reminds me

09:19to exercise 30 minutes a day

09:21to do this meditation exercise

09:22that I'm trying out

09:23and to film something

09:23for my vlog channel every day.

09:25And these are things

09:25that I would otherwise struggle with.

09:26But the fact that I see it right there

09:28on my iPhone home screen

09:29means that I'm just like,

09:30oh yeah,

09:30of course I need to do some exercise today.

09:32And then I will do it

09:33because I wanna keep the streak up

09:34and it's a reminder

09:34and it's also monitoring

09:35and tracking and stuff.

09:36And seeing that streak build up

09:38for several days in a row

09:39is also profoundly motivating.

09:40And now the final strategy

09:41that I wanna talk about

09:42as a way of effortlessly

09:43increasing your discipline

09:44is to find a way

09:45to make whatever you're doing

09:46a little bit more enjoyable

09:48or energizing.

09:49And this is the core thesis

09:50of my book, Feel Good Productivity.

09:51It's why it's called

09:51Feel Good Productivity,

09:52because when we feel good,

09:54we are more likely to be productive.

09:55And this really applies

09:55to discipline as well.

09:56Like when was the last time

09:57you felt you needed discipline

09:58to, I don't know, watch Netflix?

10:00We tend not to need discipline

10:01for those things

10:02because those things

10:02are inherently enjoyable.

10:03The things we need discipline

10:04for are the things

10:05that we don't enjoy.

10:06So you only need discipline

10:07to go to the gym

10:07if you don't enjoy going to the gym.

10:09You only need discipline

10:09to study for your exams

10:10if you do not enjoy the process

10:12of studying for your exams.

10:13Now, at this point,

10:13a lot of people think,

10:14well, I've gotta do hard stuff

10:15and we all have to do

10:16things we don't enjoy.

10:18And yes, it's true

10:18that we all have to do things

10:19that we don't enjoy at times,

10:21but there is normally

10:22an enormous list of things

10:23that we can do

10:23to make whatever we're doing

10:24a little bit more enjoyable

10:26and a little bit more energizing.

10:27The first three chapters of my book

10:28are play, power, and people.

10:30So incorporating play

10:31and power and people

10:32into anything that you're doing,

10:34however boring and grim the thing is,

10:36will just automatically

10:37make it more enjoyable

10:38and more energizing,

10:39which reduces the amount of discipline

10:41that you actually need

10:41to marshal in order to do the thing.

10:43For example,

10:44let's say you are struggling

10:45with discipline

10:45when it comes to studying

10:46for your exams.

10:47Ask yourself,

10:48what would this look like

10:49if it were fun?

10:50How can I make studying

10:50for my exams

10:51a little bit more enjoyable?

10:53Could you have some

10:54Lord of the Rings instrumental music

10:55in the background

10:56while you're studying?

10:56Could you go to a different library

10:57or a coffee shop

10:58each day of the week

10:59so it feels like

11:00you're going on this adventure?

11:01Could you find a way

11:01to make your notes

11:02aesthetically pretty

11:03and color code your timetables

11:04and stuff

11:05just as a way of making

11:06the process of studying

11:07a little bit more pleasant?

11:07Now I'm using students

11:08as an example here

11:09because we have all

11:10probably been students

11:10at some point in our life

11:11if we aren't already,

11:12but this really applies

11:13to absolutely everything in our life

11:14because when you're having fun

11:15with what you're doing,

11:16productivity and discipline

11:17and motivation

11:18and all of that kind of stuff

11:19just automatically

11:20takes care of itself.

11:20And once you've done that,

11:21you broadly won't have to worry

11:22about discipline ever again,

11:23but one thing you might run into

11:25is still worrying

11:25about time management

11:26because managing our time

11:27is something we all struggle with

11:28and you can check out

11:29my video over here,

11:30which is about

11:31which is a specific method

11:32that I've been using

11:33to manage my time

11:34that I've gotten

11:34enormous value out of.

11:35So check that out over there.

11:36Thank you so much for watching.

11:37I hope you enjoyed this video

11:38and I'll see you later.

11:38Bye.

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