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Pure Execution Challenge v2
This thread was inspired by this thread, this thread and this thread.
The purpose of this challenge is to make me a monster of productivity. You're welcome to come along.
Background knowledge
Kicking yourself doesn't work. Logic doesn't work. Pep talks and motivational videos don't work. So what does work? The science of productivity and my personal experience point to the following ingredients:
1. Measure pure execution
2. Have a feedback loop
3. Eliminate cognitive dissonance
4. Eliminate internal conflicts
5. Have routine and structure
6. Normalize your dopamine baseline
Measure pure execution
The ability to execute is the main deciding factor when growing a business or making progress of any kind. A poor idea with excelent execution makes a lot of money, but an excelent idea with poor execution does not.
Not that you don't need to plan, research, read and learn - you do need those things - it's just that they are not and should not be the metrics by which you measure your progress. They're merely prerequisites to the actions that you need to take for the business to actually move forward. Once you're clear on what you want to do, the only planning, researching, reading or learning you need (doesn't mean you can't do them for pleasure) should come from a direct necessity of the next actions that you want to take. Also, as you increase your level of mastery, the less you need to learn and the more pure execution you can put in.
Have a feedback loop
Reflect on how you can improve your execution. Accept this challenge, post your progress daily and read on other people's suggestions and how they overcame their obstacles.
Eliminate cognitive dissonance
Making what you do, say and think coherent. I recommend reading the Life Compass chapter of the book Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.
Eliminate internal conflicts
Analyse and correct conflicting beliefs. This is not easy and to be honest I could not do this without my rationalist coach Tee Barnett (this is his email in case you want to contact him). I've tried many coaches and only he worked. Even though he's a business consultant, we work mostly on solving internal conflits, updating existing mental models and meta cognition.
Have routine and structure
Setup a healthy, productive routine that includes time for physical exercise, meditation, work, socialising, deeper relationships and high quality sleep. My routine includes daily activities, weekly activities (going out with friends during and shopping during the weekends) and yearly health checkups (blood work, medical and dental checkups).
Normalize your dopamine baseline
For me this was the missing piece. Movies, series, sugar, games, porn (but not masturbation) stimulate dopamine release in your brain. These behaviors increase your dopamine baseline which creates an over accumulation of the DeltaFosB protein in your brain. This over accumulation makes you hyper-reactive to these behaviors and numb to other, healthy, forms of pleasure (like enjoying the company of other people or reading a book), hence creating a positive feedback loop that evermore rewards behavior that isn't productive. If you indulge in any of these behaviors daily, normalizing your dopamine baseline is absolutely essential for getting enourmous amounts of pleasure from productive and meaningful work and for being able to focus for longer periods of time. To help achieve this goal, you can use the BrainBuddy app or the Fortify app to overcome porn addiction or the Fabulous app for creating healthy habits.
How to play
- Install the MultiTimer app and create timers for Maintenance (bathing, cooking, getting dressed, bathroom breaks), Planning, Research/Learning/Reading, Pure Execution, Healthy Pleasure (hanging out with friends, reading) and Unhealthy Pleasure (movies, series, sugar, games, porn) times
- When you hit 30 minutes of pure execution, use it as a trigger to become mindful and notice the enjoyment and pleasure of having accomplished 30 minutes of forward business moving action, then take a small break, anywhere between a few seconds to 5 minutes (if you need to do some chores)
- The goal is to increase your pure execution time
- Update your post daily with the pure execution time and the progress you've made
- No changing or switching the rules
This thread was inspired by this thread, this thread and this thread.
The purpose of this challenge is to make me a monster of productivity. You're welcome to come along.
Background knowledge
Kicking yourself doesn't work. Logic doesn't work. Pep talks and motivational videos don't work. So what does work? The science of productivity and my personal experience point to the following ingredients:
1. Measure pure execution
2. Have a feedback loop
3. Eliminate cognitive dissonance
4. Eliminate internal conflicts
5. Have routine and structure
6. Normalize your dopamine baseline
Measure pure execution
The ability to execute is the main deciding factor when growing a business or making progress of any kind. A poor idea with excelent execution makes a lot of money, but an excelent idea with poor execution does not.
Not that you don't need to plan, research, read and learn - you do need those things - it's just that they are not and should not be the metrics by which you measure your progress. They're merely prerequisites to the actions that you need to take for the business to actually move forward. Once you're clear on what you want to do, the only planning, researching, reading or learning you need (doesn't mean you can't do them for pleasure) should come from a direct necessity of the next actions that you want to take. Also, as you increase your level of mastery, the less you need to learn and the more pure execution you can put in.
Have a feedback loop
Reflect on how you can improve your execution. Accept this challenge, post your progress daily and read on other people's suggestions and how they overcame their obstacles.
Eliminate cognitive dissonance
Making what you do, say and think coherent. I recommend reading the Life Compass chapter of the book Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.
Eliminate internal conflicts
Analyse and correct conflicting beliefs. This is not easy and to be honest I could not do this without my rationalist coach Tee Barnett (this is his email in case you want to contact him). I've tried many coaches and only he worked. Even though he's a business consultant, we work mostly on solving internal conflits, updating existing mental models and meta cognition.
Have routine and structure
Setup a healthy, productive routine that includes time for physical exercise, meditation, work, socialising, deeper relationships and high quality sleep. My routine includes daily activities, weekly activities (going out with friends during and shopping during the weekends) and yearly health checkups (blood work, medical and dental checkups).
Normalize your dopamine baseline
For me this was the missing piece. Movies, series, sugar, games, porn (but not masturbation) stimulate dopamine release in your brain. These behaviors increase your dopamine baseline which creates an over accumulation of the DeltaFosB protein in your brain. This over accumulation makes you hyper-reactive to these behaviors and numb to other, healthy, forms of pleasure (like enjoying the company of other people or reading a book), hence creating a positive feedback loop that evermore rewards behavior that isn't productive. If you indulge in any of these behaviors daily, normalizing your dopamine baseline is absolutely essential for getting enourmous amounts of pleasure from productive and meaningful work and for being able to focus for longer periods of time. To help achieve this goal, you can use the BrainBuddy app or the Fortify app to overcome porn addiction or the Fabulous app for creating healthy habits.
How to play
- Install the MultiTimer app and create timers for Maintenance (bathing, cooking, getting dressed, bathroom breaks), Planning, Research/Learning/Reading, Pure Execution, Healthy Pleasure (hanging out with friends, reading) and Unhealthy Pleasure (movies, series, sugar, games, porn) times
- When you hit 30 minutes of pure execution, use it as a trigger to become mindful and notice the enjoyment and pleasure of having accomplished 30 minutes of forward business moving action, then take a small break, anywhere between a few seconds to 5 minutes (if you need to do some chores)
- The goal is to increase your pure execution time
- Update your post daily with the pure execution time and the progress you've made
- No changing or switching the rules
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