How to Be Effortlessly Disciplined: 5 Mindset Shifts

Summary

In this video, Ali, a doctor turned entrepreneur, discusses five evidence-based strategies to enhance self-discipline. He introduces mental contrasting to visualize goals against current reality, implementation intentions to plan for obstacles, reducing environmental friction to simplify actions, monitoring and tracking progress for motivation, and making tasks enjoyable to reduce the need for discipline. Ali also highlights the 'Rise' time tracking app as a tool to improve discipline and productivity.

Takeaways

• 📊 Self-discipline is crucial for completing tasks despite distractions or boredom, and it can be developed and improved over time.
• 🛡️ Discipline acts as a mental armor, enabling individuals to perform tasks they don't feel like doing, which ultimately leads to freedom.
• 🧠 Mental contrasting involves envisioning the desired future and contrasting it with the current reality, which can energize and motivate towards goal commitment.
• 🔍 A study by Gabrielle Oettingen supports the effectiveness of mental contrasting in driving people to take responsibility for their actions towards their goals.
• ⏱️ Rise is a time-tracking app that helps increase discipline by automatically categorizing activities and providing insights into how time is spent.
• 🚀 Implementation intentions, as studied by Angela Duckworth, involve creating 'if-then' statements to overcome potential obstacles, leading to increased action towards goals.
• 🔗 Pairing mental contrasting with implementation intentions forms a strategy called MCI, which is evidence-based for increasing motivation and discipline.
• 🏋️‍♂️ Reducing environmental friction by designing an environment that supports desired behaviors can make it easier to be disciplined without relying on willpower.
• 📊 Monitoring and tracking progress in areas of focus can increase motivation, provide feedback, and clarify what strategies are effective for improvement.
• 📝 The app 'Streaks' is used for habit tracking, reminding users to perform actions and maintaining motivation through visual streaks of consistency.
• 🌟 Making tasks more enjoyable or energizing can reduce the need for discipline, as people are more likely to engage in activities they find fun or fulfilling.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the video?

The main theme of the video is to discuss five science-backed methods to improve self-discipline and the potential pitfalls of focusing too much on discipline.

What is the scale mentioned in the video for measuring one's ability to complete tasks despite distractions?

The scale mentioned is from 1 to 10, where 10 represents the highest level of self-discipline in completing tasks regardless of boredom or distractions.

What is the concept of mental contrasting as explained in the video?

Mental contrasting is a technique based on fantasy realization theory, which involves contrasting one's current reality with their desired future, thereby inducing a necessity to act and mobilizing energy towards goal commitment.

What is the role of the 'rise' app in improving discipline according to the video?

The 'rise' app is a time tracking app that helps users monitor their time spent on various activities, thus increasing their awareness and helping them to be more disciplined by seeing how much time they actually spend on tasks.

What is an 'implementation intention' and how does it help with discipline?

An implementation intention is a strategy where one formulates 'if-then' statements to anticipate and plan responses to potential obstacles that could hinder their progress towards a goal, thus increasing the likelihood of overcoming those obstacles and staying disciplined.

How does the video suggest reducing environmental friction to improve discipline?

The video suggests designing one's environment to make the desired actions easier to perform, such as having gym clothes ready in the morning to encourage going to the gym or not buying junk food to avoid unhealthy eating habits.

What is the significance of monitoring and tracking in enhancing discipline?

Monitoring and tracking provide motivation, feedback, and clarity about what is working and what is not, which helps individuals adjust their actions and maintain discipline towards their goals.

What is the 'streaks' app mentioned in the video and how does it contribute to discipline?

The 'streaks' app is a habit tracking tool that reminds users to perform certain actions and helps them maintain a streak of consecutive days of performing those actions, which serves as a motivational factor to continue being disciplined.

Why might focusing too much on discipline be the wrong move according to the video?

Focusing too much on discipline might be the wrong move because it can lead to an overemphasis on willpower and self-control, potentially neglecting the importance of making tasks enjoyable and energizing, which can naturally enhance productivity and discipline.

What is the core thesis of the book 'Feelgood productivity' by Ali, as mentioned in the video?

The core thesis of 'Feelgood productivity' is that when we feel good, we are more likely to be productive, and this applies to discipline as well. Making tasks enjoyable and energizing reduces the need for discipline.

What is the 'Trident method' mentioned in the video and how is it related to discipline?

The 'Trident method' is a time management technique discussed in another video by the same author. It is related to discipline as effective time management can support individuals in maintaining discipline by prioritizing and allocating time to important tasks.

Outlines

00:00

🛡️ Developing Discipline Through Mental Contrasting

The speaker, Ali, introduces the concept of discipline as a mental armor and suggests that most people could benefit from enhancing their self-discipline. He presents the first method, 'mental contrasting,' based on Gabrielle Oettingen's Fantasy Realization Theory. This method involves contrasting one's current reality with a desired future state, which can activate the necessary actions to bridge the gap. A study by Oettingen demonstrated that individuals who mentally contrasted their current state with their goals were more likely to act on their responsibilities towards achieving those goals. Ali also mentions his book, 'Feelgood Productivity,' and hints at a discussion on the potential pitfalls of overemphasizing discipline. He concludes the paragraph by introducing the 'rise' app, a time-tracking tool that he uses to improve his discipline and productivity, and which is sponsoring the video.

05:01

🚀 Boosting Discipline with Implementation Intentions

The second method discussed is 'implementation intentions,' a strategy explored by psychologist Angela Duckworth. This approach involves creating 'if-then' statements to prepare for and overcome potential obstacles. Duckworth's study with high school students showed that those who used this method completed 60% more practice questions than a control group. The speaker explains that by pairing mental contrasting with implementation intentions, one can create a powerful strategy known as MCI (Mental Contrasting with Implementation Intentions), which is highly effective for increasing motivation and discipline. Ali also mentions his book again for those interested in learning more about this strategy.

10:02

🌿 Designing an Environment for Effortless Discipline

The third strategy focuses on reducing environmental friction to make disciplined behavior more accessible. The idea is to design one's surroundings in a way that supports the desired actions, such as placing gym clothes in an easily accessible location to encourage exercise. The speaker emphasizes the importance of the environment in shaping behavior and suggests that by reducing the 'friction' associated with starting a task, one can increase the likelihood of following through with it. He provides examples from his own life, such as keeping medical textbooks close by during medical school, to illustrate how environmental design can support discipline.

📊 The Power of Monitoring and Tracking for Discipline

Monitoring and tracking are introduced as the fourth method for increasing discipline. The speaker cites the principle that what gets measured gets managed and improved, with examples such as daily weigh-ins aiding weight loss and tracking workouts to build muscle. He outlines three reasons why tracking works: it provides motivation through the visibility of progress, offers a feedback loop to adjust actions, and gives clarity on what strategies are effective. Ali shares his personal use of the 'streaks' app to maintain habits like daily exercise and filming for his vlog channel, highlighting the motivational benefits of tracking and monitoring.

🎉 Making Discipline Fun and Energizing

The final strategy presented is to make the activities that require discipline more enjoyable or energizing. The speaker argues that when we feel good about what we are doing, productivity and discipline naturally follow. He suggests incorporating elements of play, power, and people into tasks to make them more enjoyable, reducing the need for discipline. Examples include playing music while studying or changing locations to make the study process feel like an adventure. The speaker connects this strategy to the core thesis of his book, 'Feelgood Productivity,' and encourages finding ways to make any task more pleasant to eliminate the need for discipline.

Keywords

💡Discipline

Discipline refers to the ability to control one's behavior and emotions, especially in pursuit of long-term goals. In the video, discipline is presented as a crucial component for personal development and achieving goals, with the speaker suggesting that it acts like 'an armor for your mind.' The video discusses various strategies to enhance discipline, emphasizing its importance for freedom and success.

💡Mental Contrasting

Mental contrasting is a psychological concept where individuals balance their fantasies of a desired future with reflections on their current reality. In the context of the video, mental contrasting is introduced as a method to induce a necessity to act, thereby increasing motivation and discipline towards goal achievement. The script mentions a study by Gabriele Oettingen, which supports the effectiveness of this technique.

💡Implementation Intentions

Implementation intentions are a strategy where individuals formulate 'if-then' plans to overcome obstacles in achieving their goals. The video explains that this concept, introduced by Angela Duckworth, can lead to significant increases in goal-related actions, such as completing more practice questions or workouts. It is a method to preemptively plan for distractions and create a path to maintain discipline.

💡Feelgood Productivity

Feelgood productivity is the title of the book authored by the speaker, Ali. The term encapsulates the idea that productivity can be increased when activities are enjoyable and meaningful. The video suggests that by making tasks more enjoyable, the need for discipline decreases, as people are naturally inclined to engage in activities they find pleasurable.

💡Rise

Rise is a time-tracking app mentioned in the video that helps users monitor their productivity by automatically categorizing the activities on their computer. The speaker uses Rise to track writing time and improve discipline, highlighting its features like the Pomodoro timer and notifications to prevent distractions.

💡Streaks

Streaks is an app used by the speaker to maintain habits by tracking consecutive days of activity. The app serves as a visual reminder and motivator to continue a habit, such as exercising or meditating, by showing a growing streak. It exemplifies the video's theme of effortless discipline through monitoring and tracking.

💡Fantasy Realization Theory

Fantasy realization theory posits that contrasting one's fantasies of a desired future with their current reality can stimulate action towards achieving those fantasies. The video uses this theory to explain the effectiveness of mental contrasting in increasing discipline and moving towards goal commitment.

💡Grit

Grit is a term popularized by psychologist Angela Duckworth in her book of the same name. It refers to the combination of passion and perseverance toward long-term goals. The video references Duckworth's work on implementation intentions, which is an aspect of developing grit and enhancing discipline.

💡Environmental Friction

Environmental friction refers to the obstacles or barriers in one's environment that can hinder the pursuit of goals. The video suggests reducing this friction by designing an environment that facilitates discipline, such as placing gym clothes in easy reach to encourage exercise.

💡Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation is the drive to perform an activity for the sake of the activity itself, rather than for external rewards. The video discusses how monitoring progress can increase intrinsic motivation, which in turn enhances discipline and the desire to continue working towards a goal.

💡Play, Power, and People

These three concepts are components of the speaker's approach to making tasks more enjoyable and thus requiring less discipline. 'Play' refers to incorporating fun, 'power' to the sense of accomplishment, and 'people' to the social aspect of activities. The video suggests that integrating these elements can transform even mundane tasks into more engaging experiences.

Highlights

The importance of self-discipline in achieving goals and its comparison to a sharpened sword.

Introduction of the concept of mental contrasting based on Gabrielle Oettingen's fantasy realization theory.

The effectiveness of contrasting current reality with desired future in increasing goal commitment.

Mental contrasting's role in driving energy towards goals and enhancing discipline.

Recommendation of the 'Rise' time tracking app for improving discipline through automatic time categorization.

The impact of 'Rise' in increasing writing productivity and its role in the author's personal life.

Implementation intentions as a strategy to overcome obstacles and increase discipline, based on Angela Duckworth's study.

The combination of mental contrasting with implementation intentions (MCI) for increasing motivation and discipline.

The concept of reducing environmental friction to effortlessly increase discipline by designing the environment.

The practical example of having gym clothes ready to reduce friction for going to the gym.

The idea that monitoring and tracking behaviors lead to improvement and increased discipline.

The three reasons why monitoring works: motivation, feedback loop, and clarity on effectiveness.

The use of the 'Streaks' app for habit tracking and its motivational impact on maintaining discipline.

The final strategy of making tasks more enjoyable or energizing to reduce the need for discipline.

The core thesis of 'Feelgood productivity' and how feeling good enhances productivity and reduces the need for discipline.

Examples of making studying more enjoyable through environmental and sensory adjustments.

The potential issue of time management despite increased discipline and a reference to the Trident method video.

Transcripts

I'm able to begin a task and complete it

regardless of boredom or distractions on

a scale from 1 to 10 how much do you

agree with that statement take a moment

to pause and to really think about your

answer to that now if you rated yourself

a 10 out of 10 then you probably don't

need this video but most of us could

probably do with a little bit more

discipline in our lives right through

discipline through self discipline you

develop like an armor for your mind you

just need to have discipline you need to

lock in and you need to do whether you

feel like you're not there is something

wrong with you and that discipline is

the solution discipline is the ability

to do hard stuff that you don't want to

do once you're disciplined like you're

you're like a sharpened sword man like a

well-tempered blade because discipline

equals

Freedom hey friends welcome back to the

channel if you're new here my name is

Ali I'm a doctor turned entrepreneur and

the author of Feelgood productivity

which is a book about how to do more of

what matters to you in a way that's

enjoyable and meaningful and sustainable

and so in this video I want to talk

through five science-backed evidence

based methods that you can use to become

more effortlessly disciplined but then

if you stick around till the end of the

video we're going to talk about why

actually focusing too much on discipline

might actually be the wrong move all

right so method number one is something

called mental contrasting and it's based

on a really cool study by a psychologist

called Gabrielle tingan and this is

about something called fantasy

realization Theory which states that

when people contrast their fantasies

about a desired future with Reflections

on their present reality a necessity to

act is induced that leads to the

activation and use of relevant

expectations that's a bit of a mouthful

but basically the way this study worked

is that they split people up into three

groups now with the first group they

asked them to imagine the positive

fantasy I.E to focus on the goal and

imagine how amazing it would be if they

actually hit the goal for the second

group they asked them to imagine a

negative fantasy I.E to focus on their

current state in the present moment and

how bad it was but then for the third

group they asked them to contrast these

two things so to look at the future to

look at the now and like really vividly

imagine the contrast between where they

are right now and where they want it to

be and basically what they showed is

that the people who contrasted where

they are and where they want to be were

way more likely to take responsibility

of their own actions when it came to

going towards their goals and they wrote

in 2009 we argue that mental contrasting

by making reality appear as an obstacle

to Fantasy realization mobilizes energy

that strengthens the transition to goal

commitment so basically the key idea

here is that if you mentally contrast

where you are now and where you want to

be that is more likely to drive energy

towards your goals and that is one of

the things that's more likely to make

you feel more disciplined and one

specific way of doing this is to First

imagine what that future and goal state

looks like like for example you've been

able to run that Marathon or get that

sixpack ABS or launch that business or

whatever the thing is that you're trying

to mobilize discipline to words and then

you want to figure out where you are

right now and imagine the obstacles that

might stand in your way like the

obstacle to me getting six-pack abs is

that I might eat too much crap or I

might not go to the gym as often as I

need to or a number of other things and

the more I can visualize those obstacles

along with the fantasy that I'm kind of

aiming towards in theory that is mental

contrasting and that should according to

the evidence improve our levels of

discipline now one of my favorite tools

that I use everyday for tracking to

improve my discipline is something

called rise and they are very kindly

sponsoring this video rise is an amazing

time tracking app that I've literally

been using for the last 2 years it works

on Mac it works on Windows and what it

does is that it automatically figures

out what program or what like Chrome tab

or whatever you're in and categorizes

that thing based on what you're doing on

your computer and so it's basically an

automatic way of tracking your time now

this is super helpful because if you're

struggling with discipline for something

like I was when I was writing my book it

was super helpful for me to see how much

time was I actually spend writing every

single day and so what rise would is

that if I was writing in Google Docs or

scrier or noan I was like you know the

different apps I was used for writing it

would call that writing time and I'd be

aiming to hit at least 4 hours a day and

before I used rise I thought hey i' I've

been writing all day and stuff but like

actually using rise made me realize that

oh crap I thought I was writing all day

but actually I was screwing around most

of the time and only doing like an hour

and a half of writing but as soon as I

started to track it and start seeing the

numbers I was like oh crap I should

spend more time in Google Docs and a

little less time on YouTube Rise also

has a really good commodora timer built

in so you can set 25 minute or 45 minute

study sessions or work s sessions or

whatever the thing is you want to do and

it also gives you very handy

notifications when it's time to take a

break and also when it senses that you

are getting distracted which I've got an

enormous mileage out of and genuinely

it's an app that helps me be more

effortlessly disciplined in fact I love

the app so much that I reached out to

the founders of the company the super

cool people and I've actually invested

in rice as a company because I have

enormous Faith behind what they're doing

and it's a really cool team behind it as

well and it's just a genuinely fantastic

way of tracking your time and staying

more on track and more disciplin so

thank you so much rise for sponsoring

this video all right method number two

is something really powerful as well and

that's something I use every day in my

life and that is called implementation

intentions now here is a cool study by

psychologist Angela Duckworth who

actually wrote the really good book grit

and in the study they got a group of

high school students who were going to

take a particular exam and first they

asked everyone to visualize the outcome

of succeeding in that exam but then they

split up the class into two different

groups now the first group the control

group was just asked to write an essay

about an influential person in their

life but the second group was asked

firstly to imagine the obstacles that

would stand in the way of them

succeeding the exam and then also to

create if then statements that might

help them overcome the obstacle so for

example if I get distracted while doing

practice tests I will get up and do a

quick walk around my room and then sit

down and start again so basically

they're trying to imagine the obstacles

that are going to be in their way and

then figuring out what are they going to

do if and when they encounter those

obstacles and the researchers found that

the treatment group I.E the group that

was asked to do the if then stuff that

group completed 60% more practice

questions than the people in the control

group and I don't know about you but if

I was for example struggling with

discipline to I don't know write or to

study or to go to the gym or whatever

the thing is and by just imagining

obstacles and then figuring out what I

would do if I encountered them that

could lead to a 60% increase in the

amount of questions I did or workouts I

did or anything like that that's pretty

sick it's a very very easy change we can

make to our lives and actually

psychologists have paired these two

strategies that we've just talked about

together called MCI mental contrasting

with implementation intentions so

technically an implementation intention

is just like when you say if x happens I

will do y so if for example you want to

floss more and you can say if I am

brushing my teeth or when I'm brushing

my teeth then afterwards I will also

floss so this is sometimes known as

habit stacking where you are stacking in

multiple habits together but technically

the psychology term for it is

implementation intentions and then if

you pair it with mental contrasting I.E

Imagining the future Imagining the

obstacles and then running

implementation intentions to figure out

how you're going to get through those

obstacles that concept of MCI is a

really well validated and highly

evidence-based strategy for increasing

your motivation and discipline to

actually make progress with the stuff

that matters to you if you're interested

in more details about implementation

intentions I have a whole section about

them in my book Feelgood productivity

which you can check out if you like but

let's now talk about method number three

which is to reduce environmental

friction and the key idea here is that

if you really want to effortlessly

increase your discipline you've got to

design your environment in a way that

makes it really easy so if for example

you are trying to be more disciplined to

go to the gym then having your gym

clothes out and in front of you when you

wake up so you can put them on first

thing in the morning makes it way easier

to actually have the discipline to go to

the gym similarly if you're trying to be

more disciplined and not eat unhealthy

food then just not buying junk food when

you go to the supermarket and shoving in

your fridge is a way of designing your

environment in a way that makes it easy

for you to be disciplined in that

context and I can't remember where this

quote is from but there's a really nice

quote which is that it doesn't take much

discipline to not eat a chocolate bar if

there are no chocolate bars in the house

and whenever I do talks and speak to

students and you know any any of this

kind of stuff people always ask me like

oh you know I I'm I'm not I'm not

disciplined enough or like how do I get

more discipline in my life and I usually

start I don't usually start with mental

contrastic or implementation intentions

cuz it's a bit of a mouthful to explain

I usually start with what does your

environment look like have you actually

designed your environment in a way that

makes it way easier for you to do the

thing that you think you want to do you

know back when I was in medical school I

would have my medical text books

literally next to my desk rather than

across the room because there's no

excuse for me not to just pick them up

if they're right next to me but if

they're all the way across the room and

I have to walk like five steps to get

there and take them off the bookshelf

and open that's too much friction

whatever I can do to reduce the

environmental friction of making

something happen is going to make it way

more likely that the thing will actually

happen and that is a way to become more

effortlessly disciplined by not actually

needing to rely on discipline and

willpower so if you want an action point

ask yourself right now what is something

that you are struggling with discipline

in and what are one or two things that

you can do to design your environment in

a way that that makes it way easier for

you to do the thing that you actually

want to do all right strategy number

four is monitoring and tracking and

basically the idea here is something

from management literature which is what

gets measured gets managed and what gets

measured gets improved and there have

been a bunch of studies that have shown

this for example for people who are

trying to lose weight just the act of

weighing yourself every day and just

looking at that number means just by

default you end up losing weight because

now you're more aware of this thing that

you're trying to do similarly if you're

trying to build muscle at the gym

everyone says you should track your

workouts and you should take progress

picks and maybe even like measure your

biceps and stuff because tracking those

numbers and seeing improvements over

time is a massive source of motivation

and therefore helps us be more

effortlessly disciplined and there are

three key reasons why monitoring the

things that you want to be more

disciplined in actually works the first

one is motivation so seeing ourselves

make progress in a thing that we care

about is enormously motivating and

drives something called intrinsic

motivation which is where you do the

thing for the sake of doing the thing

and feeling yourself improve and level

up and stuff is just a profoundly

motivating thing that we can do secondly

monitoring gives us a feedback loop and

so when we can see the result of the

actions that we're taking we can adjust

adust our actions accordingly and

thirdly monitoring gives us clarity

about what's working and what's not

working and so again allows us to adjust

what we're actually doing and that means

that you can focus on the stuff that's

actually moving the needle for the

results that you want which means you

have fewer things to focus on which is

also a thing that helps discipline for

me personally the way that I track any

new habit that I want to build is by

using an app called streaks on my iPhone

home screen it's super helpful right now

it reminds me to exercise 30 minutes a

day to do this meditation exercise that

I'm trying out and to film something for

my Vlog Channel every day and these are

things that I would otherwise struggle

with but the fact that I see it right

there on my iPhone home screen means

that I'm just like oh yeah of course I

need to do some exercise today and then

I will do it cuz I want to keep the

streak up and it's a reminder and it's

also monitoring and tracking and stuff

and seeing that streak build up for

several days in a row is also profoundly

motivating and now the final strategy

that I want to talk about as a way of

effortlessly increasing your discipline

is to find a way to make whatever you're

doing a little bit more enjoyable or

energizing and this is the core thesis

of my book Feelgood productivity it's

why it's called Feelgood productivity

because when we feel good we are more

likely to be productive and this really

applies to discipline as well like when

was the last time you felt you needed

discipline to I don't know watch Netflix

we tend not to need discipline for those

things because those things are

inherently enjoyable the things we need

discipline for are the things that we

don't enjoy so you only need discipline

to go to the gym if you don't enjoy

going to the gym you only need

discipline to study for your exams if

you do not enjoy the process of studying

for your exams now at this point a lot

of people think well I've got to do hard

stuff and we we we all have to do things

we don't enjoy and yes it's true that we

all have to do things that we don't

enjoy at times but there is normally an

enormous list of things that we can do

to make whatever we're doing a little

bit more enjoyable and a little bit more

energizing the first three chapters of

my book are play power and people so

incorporating play and power and people

into anything that you're doing however

boring and Grim the thing is will just

automatically make it more enjoyable and

more energizing which reduces the amount

of discipline that you actually need to

Marshall in order to do the thing for

example let's say you are struggling

with discipline when it comes to

studying for your exams ask yourself

what would this look like if it were fun

how can I make studying for my exams a

little bit more enjoyable could you have

some Lord of the Rings instrumental

music in the background while you're

studying could you go to a different

library or a coffee shop each day of the

the week so it feels like you're going

on this adventure could you find a way

to make your notes aesthetically pretty

and color code your timetables and stuff

just as a way of making the process of

studying a little bit more pleasant now

I'm using students as an example here

because we have all probably been

students at some point in our life if we

aren't already but this really applies

to absolutely everything in our life

because when you're having fun with what

you're doing productivity and discipline

and motivation and all of that kind of

stuff just automatically takes care of

itself and once you've done that you

broadly won't have to worry about

discipline ever again but one thing you

might run into is still worrying about

time management because managing our

time is something we all struggle with

and you can check out my video over here

which is about the Trident method which

is a specific method that I've been

using to manage my time that I've got an

enormous value out of so check that out

over there thank you so much for

watching I hope you enjoyed this video

and I'll see you later bye-bye