Today's Deep Thought

[Doctor Phibes]

I would have said that 'disciplined' means following your own rules.

Well, that and getting spanked for being a naughty boy by a lady in night-attire.

[Catseye3]

@doctor-phibes said in Today's Deep Thought:

I would have said that 'disciplined' means following your own rules.

I'd say it's closer to the opposite. Following your own rules often doesn't get you where you want to go -- or where you think you want to go. You can decide you want to be fit. Do you follow your own rules by eating a pint of ice cream, or do you acknowledge the rules of calorie expenditure and all that by returning half the container to the freezer, even when you don't want to?

[brenda]

@mik said in Today's Deep Thought:

I was never very good at either of those.

+1
But I have a lot of fun!

[Doctor Phibes]

@catseye3 said in Today's Deep Thought:

@doctor-phibes said in Today's Deep Thought:

I would have said that 'disciplined' means following your own rules.

I'd say it's closer to the opposite. Following your own rules often doesn't get you where you want to go -- or where you think you want to go. You can decide you want to be fit. Do you follow your own rules by eating a pint of ice cream, or do you acknowledge the rules of calorie expenditure and all that by returning half the container to the freezer, even when you don't want to?

Eating a pint of ice cream isn't following your own rules. Nobody sets those kind of rules if they want to succeed, that's just somebody saying 'fuck it'.

Disciplined is setting difficult rules for yourself and then following them.

Albert Einstein, for example, was very disciplined in his work, but he didn't follow other people's rules.

[Klaus]

"Not following the rules" is such a cliche. If you want to be a true rebel, you need to follow the rules.

[Catseye3]

@doctor-phibes said in Today's Deep Thought:

Eating a pint of ice cream isn't following your own rules. Disciplined is setting difficult rules for yourself and then following them. <

But what does 'difficult' mean? Difficult is different for everybody. Discipline is refraining from doing what you want to do when doing what you want is keeping you from a desired goal.

[Klaus]

• "Stand up straight with your shoulders back."
• "Treat yourself like you are someone you are responsible for helping."
• "Make friends with people who want the best for you."
• "Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today."
• "Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them."
• "Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world."
• "Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient)."
• "Tell the truth — or, at least, don’t lie."
• "Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t."
• "Be precise in your speech."
• "Do not bother children when they are skate-boarding."
• "Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street."

[Loki]

How you treat yourself today is the future self you will be.

[Larry]

@catseye3 said in Today's Deep Thought:

@doctor-phibes said in Today's Deep Thought:

Eating a pint of ice cream isn't following your own rules. Disciplined is setting difficult rules for yourself and then following them. <

But what does 'difficult' mean? Difficult is different for everybody. Discipline is refraining from doing what you want to do when doing what you want is keeping you from a desired goal.

No, that is NOT what discipline is. That is the definition of "restraint".

[Loki]

The difference between a good habit and a bad habit is that a good habit is painful initially with long term benefit and a bad habit feels great in the moment but has long term adverse consequences.

[Horace]

@horace said in Today's Deep Thought:

@klaus said in Today's Deep Thought:

He's talking about TNCR.

Link to video

We recently hired a senior software developer/architect who's written some books, one of which is about how to interview and advance in your career as a software developer. He was hired in a role with the same job title as most of his co-workers, including myself. I literally thought of that scene when I saw he'd written that book. It's just an e-book though, with like two Amazon reviews. In fairness, he does seem to know his stuff.

I just became aware that this guy wrote a book recently about his mental health struggles, suicide attempt, and subsequent involuntary institutionalization. He was in a psych ward less than a year ago, and thought everybody there was so stupid and corrupt that he had to write a book about it, self-published on Amazon. Now I know why he took the job here. Everybody else googled him before making him an offer.