3085: Habit Change is Like Chess by Steve Pavlina on Self-Discipline, Preparation & Tactical Adjustments

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[00:00:27] This is optimal living daily episode 3085. Habit Change is like chess.

[00:00:36] By Steve Pavlina, of Steve Pavlina.com, an owner and aerator just omolic. I read to you

[00:00:42] every single day of the year from the best articles and blogs I can find, with permission

[00:00:47] from the authors, of course. It's all in an effort to make your and my day, really.

[00:00:52] Not a tiny bit better. Now, I'm no chess player, but luckily Steve helps and not much

[00:00:58] knowledge of the game is required to appreciate this post today, so with that, let's get

[00:01:03] right to it, as we optimize your life.

[00:01:08] Habit Change is like chess. By Steve Pavlina of Steve Pavlina.com. Changing a habit

[00:01:19] is like playing a game of chess. In chess, there's an early game, a middle game, and an end

[00:01:25] game. The same is true for habit change. Many people try to change their habits by skipping

[00:01:31] straight to the end game. They dive in and commit themselves to making the change happen

[00:01:36] right away. This is what people do when they make a new year's resolution, and it hardly

[00:01:41] ever works. Scholars mate. Trying to change a habit overnight is like trying to execute

[00:01:47] scholars mate in chess. Scholars mate is a strategy of achieving checkmate in only four moves.

[00:01:56] It only works against total beginners. Against a chess player with an ounce of experience,

[00:02:02] scholars mate will fail. A botched scholar's mate puts him in a disadvantaged position,

[00:02:07] so attempting it is usually a bad idea, unless you're playing against a complete novice.

[00:02:13] Are you applying the scholar's mate strategy when trying to change old habits or adoption

[00:02:17] and new habits? Do you go straight for the kill only to find your attempt shot down? When

[00:02:24] you try to change a habit without devoting sufficient time to the early game and middle

[00:02:28] game, you'll almost always fail to make the change stick. Only the very easy habits will

[00:02:34] succumb to this kind of brute force strategy. The early game of habit change is education

[00:02:41] and setup. In the middle game, you execute some changes to support your habit change, and

[00:02:47] only in the end game, do you go directly for the kill? Early game. In the early game of chess,

[00:02:54] your goal is to set up your pieces for success. Move your pieces out, develop a solid pawn

[00:03:01] structure, get control of the center of the board, put some pressure on your opponent's

[00:03:06] pieces, defend your king. The goal of the early game is to get off to a strong start, where

[00:03:13] you'll hopefully be able to gain an advantage. The end game is still a long way off. In

[00:03:19] the early game of habit change, you're also setting yourself up for future success. Read

[00:03:24] some books to educate yourself, talk to people who've already made the change you seek.

[00:03:30] Write up a one page plan for how you're going to pull it off. These opening moves

[00:03:35] needn't be complicated, but they shouldn't be ignored. Middle game. In the middle game

[00:03:41] of chess, you'll normally become more aggressive, but you still aren't going for checkmate

[00:03:46] yet. You're mainly looking for opportunities to gain an advantage and material, position,

[00:03:53] Mentome. Use solid tactics to weaken your opponent until you have a shot at checkmate.

[00:04:00] In the middle game of habit change, your goal is to attack the scaffolding around the habit,

[00:04:06] not to go after the habit directly. What tactics can you use to give you an advantage? For example,

[00:04:13] if you want to change your diet, purge all the problem foods from your house, pick 5 restaurants

[00:04:18] where you can order healthy meals, learn 10 new healthy recipes, and recruit a body to go through the same change.

[00:04:25] Tell other people about the change you're attempting, and request their support.

[00:04:30] For any habit you want to change, you should be able to come up with at least a dozen tactical moves

[00:04:36] that will increase your advantage.

[00:04:39] Endgame. In the endgame of chess, your goal is to checkmate your opponent's king.

[00:04:45] If you do a good job in the early game and middle game, you'll be in a strong position to achieve checkmate.

[00:04:50] If you race through the first two stages, your own king will probably be made it instead.

[00:04:56] The endgame is often fairly straightforward, usually it's clear that you're either one or lost by this point.

[00:05:03] In the endgame of habit change, you finally initiate the change with a goal of making it stick.

[00:05:10] This is the point where you would begin a 30-day trial. Only in the endgame do you actually try to change your habit.

[00:05:17] Up until this point you're simply jocking for an advantage that will make the endgame successful.

[00:05:23] Fortunately, unlike chess, in the game of habit change, you can spend as long as you want in the early game and middle game.

[00:05:31] You don't have to worry about a timer counting down or an opponent trying to outthink you.

[00:05:36] If you fail in the endgame, meaning your new habit doesn't stick, your mistake was most likely not in the endgame.

[00:05:44] You probably screwed it up in the early game or middle game.

[00:05:47] You didn't take enough time to educate and prepare yourself, and/or you didn't do enough work to give yourself a decisive advantage before you started.

[00:05:56] The role of self-discipline

[00:05:59] If you feel you must call forth a seemingly inhuman level of self-discipline while trying to change one of your habits,

[00:06:06] it usually means you botched or neglected the early game and/or middle game.

[00:06:11] Sweating through a habit change isn't self-discipline,

[00:06:15] sweating is the consequence of executing an ineffective strategy.

[00:06:19] More sweat won't tell much.

[00:06:22] Picture a chess player sweating every move in the endgame.

[00:06:26] Is this a good player?

[00:06:28] Often this is a sign of a weak player.

[00:06:30] For a skilled discipline player, the endgame frequently plays itself with the outcome being a foregone conclusion.

[00:06:38] Since there are fewer pieces on the board, there are fewer options to consider.

[00:06:42] If you can't even make it through the first week of a new habit without feeling an overwhelming urge to quit,

[00:06:48] because you have to push yourself unreasonably hard to keep going,

[00:06:52] your mistakes were made long before you even began day one.

[00:06:56] You're trying to pull off the equivalent of scholars made, and your imaginary opponents isn't stupid enough to fall for.

[00:07:03] Sometimes, a little self-discipline will be required in the endgame,

[00:07:07] especially if you're tackling a really tough habit.

[00:07:10] But if you built a solid foundation in the earlier stages, the endgame will often be smooth sailing.

[00:07:17] The proper role of self-discipline is to make the best moves you can in the early game and middle game,

[00:07:23] such that by the time you reach the endgame, achieving checkmate is "misey" as straightforward.

[00:07:29] Self-discipline also plays a major role even before the early game.

[00:07:33] Did you give proper attention to study, practice, and training before you challenge your opponent to a match?

[00:07:40] Do you know your strengths and how to leverage them?

[00:07:43] Do you know your opponent's weaknesses and how to-

[00:07:47] do take advantage of them. Are you prepared to win? If you take a disciplined approach

[00:07:52] to habit change, you won't be sweating the endgame. By the time you're starting on day one

[00:07:57] of your new habit, you'll have already knocked the legs out from under your old habit,

[00:08:02] and build the necessary scaffolding to support your new habit. When you finally begin day

[00:08:08] one, you'll already have the upper hand. What can you do to put yourself in a more advantageous

[00:08:14] position with respect to changing one of your habits? How can you eliminate obstacles,

[00:08:20] cut off escape routes, derail threats, gain more leverage, take control of the center etc.

[00:08:28] What early and middle game strategy and tactics will virtually guarantee success before

[00:08:32] you even begin day one? Incidentally, applying chess concepts to personal development,

[00:08:38] as an example of how cultivating many different interests enables us to transplant basic concepts

[00:08:45] from one field to another to solve problems creatively.

[00:08:53] You just listen to the post titled. Habit Change is like chess. By Steve Pavlina,

[00:08:58] of Steve Pavlina.com, and I'll be right back with my commentary. We've heard from a

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[00:10:09] Thank you to Steve, a great guy that I've been lucky enough to meet. A habit that I've

[00:10:15] more recently introduced for myself is getting some sunlight first thing when I wake up,

[00:10:21] pretty much before I do anything else. For me, I think it helps me get tired a bit

[00:10:25] earlier than normal, which I need. I tend to be a night owl, so it's easy to get carried

[00:10:30] away and throw off my sleep schedule by going to bed way too late. Luckily, this habit

[00:10:36] doesn't require too much effort or self-discipline. It feels good to get some sun early.

[00:10:42] It's not like it's painful. I usually feel better as opposed to exhausted or sore from

[00:10:48] something strenuous. So it's a bit of an easier one to implement, but what this article

[00:10:54] got me thinking about is how I can actually make that new habit part of the early game

[00:11:00] of a different habit like exercise. So for example, instead of just walking around slowly

[00:11:07] out in the sun in the morning, I could jump rope or do some squats, something a little

[00:11:13] bit more, but using the outside time as my early game, like a stepping stone to something

[00:11:19] more, I think it's a great idea that I can get me exercising just a bit more. So thank

[00:11:25] you to Steve for the idea and for the article. Thank you for being here listening every

[00:11:29] day. Hopefully this one sparked a good idea for you too. Have a great rest of your day and I'll

[00:11:36] see you tomorrow, where you're optimal life. I'll wait.