But if I had not pushed through the first two months of exercising those 4 days a week with discipline, I would have high blood pressure, probably be pre-diabetic. Now I have a great BP, blood work is fantastic and I have more energy during the day than ever before.
I had to use discipline and motivation to change what made me happy. Things that are generally good for you are not easy to do. Id rather binge netflix, play video games all night and eat ice cream in my younger days because that me me happy. I was actually just killing myself quicker.
The logic of do what makes you feel good or happy is so flawed. Doing heroine or shooting morphine feels amazing, but that does not make it ok.
Ultimate we are like the rat who will walk across a shock pad time and time again to receive an instant organized versus turning toward the female rat in heat.
So with the realization that staying up all night and playing video games and eating garbage is bad for you, you decided to work out and take better care for yourself. I too had the same realization, because I realized It is the path to happiness.
Personally I believe we have more agency than lab rats.
Screw motivation. Screw discipline too.
Tricking yourself (motivation, discipline, etc.) to do something means you don’t really want to it. This results in a feeling of struggle, and also repression. And thus, ineffective outcomes as you sabotage yourself or fail to “stick with” something.
We all naturally know what it is we really want to do. So stop. Relax. Listen to what that inner voice whisper, right now. Not to what others say you “should” do.
Ask yourself: “what would I love to create?”
Listening to oneself may not come naturally. We are trained by society, our parents, and schools to listen to “authorities”. So thoughts about what we “should” do run rampant in our minds.
But who’s the greatest authority of your life? You.
Once, I truly internalized the above, everything changed. It can happen to you too.
For me, I figured out the cause, but I have yet to find any helpful, long-term solutions.
In my experience with my own difficulties executing, I’ve found that ineffective action comes from inner struggle. Inner struggle comes from an inaccurate view about how thought works. See my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34692137#34699010.
With less inner turmoil, inspired, effective action becomes effortless to do and maintain.
In a fantastic quote from Antony Bourdain: "I understand there's a guy inside me who wants to lay in bed, smoke weed all day, and watch cartoons and old movies. My whole life is a series of stratagems to avoid, and outwit, that guy."
I used to do the same(still do sometimes), but these moments of joy are not happiness. They are a distraction from the suffering you are experiencing in real life.
Just my 2 cents