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The 40% Rule and the placebo effect both ultimately show that all of us are more capable than we give ourselves credit for.
As mentioned in the previous chapter, the fight-or-flight response is one of these—it puts you into a state of massive physiological arousal and makes your mind go blank and necessarily abandon all discipline and willpower in the interest of survival. These responses indeed contributed to increased chances of survival in the past, but unfortunately, they don’t have much of a place in modern society.
Meditation practices also often involve focusing on the breath and have a similar effect of reducing fight-or-flight instincts. However you go about it, controlling arousal can make a world of difference. Maybe you’ll use this technique the next time you’re anxiously anticipating speaking in front of an audience, or perhaps taking an intense and important exam. Whatever it is that causes you stress, you’ll be more adept to handle it with a clear mental state.
“So long as a person is committed to the goal, has the requisite ability to attain it, and does not have conflicting goals, there is a positive, linear relationship between goal difficulty and task performance.”
There’s an even simpler rule, developed by Grant Cardone, that you can use to determine how loftily you set your goals. It’s known as the 10X Rule, and it states that you should set targets that are ten times more than what you think you want, and then take ten times greater action than you think is necessary to accomplish those targets.
The key is to stop selling yourself short.
That’s where the 10-Minute Rule comes in—if you want something, wait at least ten minutes before getting it. It’s simple and leaves no room for debate or excuses. When you feel an urge, force yourself to wait for ten minutes before giving in to whatever the urge is. If you’re still craving it after ten minutes, then have it. Or wait ten more minutes because you’ve already done it and survived just fine. Simply by choosing to wait you remove the “immediate” from immediate gratification—building discipline and improving decision-making.
There is almost no perfect timing you should be waiting for. Waiting to have more money, resources, or experience very rarely increases your odds of accomplishing the goal in the future. You only have the chance to succeed once you’ve started, and you can always figure out the details along the way.
A healthy heuristic to combat procrastination and perfectionism is dubbed the 75% Rule.
The biggest obstacle is to recognize when this tendency is happening and to hold yourself accountable.
If you notice that you’re using past behavior to justify counterproductive actions in the present (“I was so good yesterday I can take a break today”), stop immediately and don’t undercut your own progress.
If you give yourself a relaxed deadline, you avoid being disciplined; if you give yourself a tight deadline, you can draw on your self-discipline.
“Therefore the Master acts without doing anything…Things arise and she lets them come; things disappear and she lets them go.” Such art of calm acceptance—no matter the circumstances around you or the urges that gnaw at you—is key to mastering the practice of urge surfing.
The more vividly you can visualize and relate to your future self, the more likely you are to delay gratification in moments of temptation, so you should explore ways of creating a more solid connection to your future self.
Of course, meditation has been shown to be a viable method of achieving that state of present awareness. Really, anything that gets you to focus on the present is a good thing—whether that’s creating art, listening to music, or playing a sport. Any activity that creates more self-awareness in your daily life will ultimately help with self-discipline.
Meditation, as well as engaging in creative pursuits that get you to focus on the present and cultivate your self-awareness, can help you rise above
temptations and stay on track to reach your goals.
The general idea is that people will work harder to achieve something if they are aware of all the ways that they are not starting from zero and are closer to completion.
As you gradually develop a more optimistic approach, you’ll find it easier and easier to avoid people and situations that are negative or unproductive.
Perhaps the most important thing that happens when you focus on being optimistic is that you begin to attract other positive thinkers who can influence you to do bigger and better things for yourself.
As long as you focus on outcomes and attach self-worth to them, you’ll be closed off to new experiences and taking risks.
Whenever you feel trapped or just stuck where you are in life, ask yourself whether you’re focusing on outcomes and what people think of you, or if you are engaged in the process of pursuing your goals and truly living in the present.
In reality, creating and developing good habits of self-discipline is exponentially more important than motivation in terms of reaching goals and getting what you want.
motivation is temporary, no matter how much of it you have. It is a reaction, an emotion, and these things dry up. Habits, on the other hand, are consistent, and they are necessary to make self-discipline sustainable.
In the words of Aristotle, “Good habits formed at youth make all the difference.” Building habits is thought to be easier in childhood because our minds are more malleable, but altering habits is possible regardless of age.
Motivation is nice to have. It is, however, often emotional, temporary, and exhaustible.
Habits have been shown to take around sixty-six days to form, so all you need to do is commit to small actions (mini habits) for that amount of time. Take small steps to integrate the habit of self-discipline in yourself.
When it comes to self-discipline, the three main executive functions involved are working memory, impulse control, and cognitive flexibility and adaptability. These functions allow you to set and pursue goals, prioritize activities, regulate your impulses, and filter out distractions, all of which ultimately combine to manifest as self-discipline.
When you have a deep understanding of the purpose behind your actions and a clear vision of what you want to achieve, then it becomes second nature for you to find the fuel to keep up your efforts and persist until you reach your goal.
Studies have consistently shown material gains—making money and receiving bonuses, for instance—to be poor motivators. Instead, personal feelings of progress, autonomy, mastery, and purpose are far more effective motivators to attach yourself to.
Navy SEALs have several tactics to keep taking action, the most well-known of which is the 40% Rule. According to this rule, just when you think you’re already physically or psychologically maxed out, you’ve really only reached 40 percent of your full capacity.
