How My Discipline Has Changed Over The Years 🔗

I remember reading somewhere that a good way to find well connected people is to ask random people who is the most well connected person they know.

Many of my friends say that I am the most disciplined person they know.

One pattern I noticed is that there were things that most people knew they should do but still didn’t do.

The earliest example I remember was reading. When I was very young I remember adults saying reading is good for you, everyone should read more, but most people don’t read. And I remember thinking to myself: I will read a lot. And I did read a lot. And it didn’t take a lot of discipline, it quickly got very easy, because I quickly started liking it.

Analogous for waking up early, eating healthy, exercising, saving, investing, etc. Those are all things that most people say they should do, yet most people don’t do.

I always tried to consistently do those things, until they got easy.

See below how my discipline has changed over time.

Sleep 🔗

Age	Sleep > Wake up time	Sleep > Sleep time
6 to 12
12 to 18	Consistently woke up early to go to school.	Stayed awake until late, watching TV.
18 to 24	Consistently woke up early to go to university.	Consistently slept early (no TV and no internet). At some point I tried to do polyphasic sleep and sleep only 2 hours per day, 30 minutes for every 6 hours. I did it for a few days, but it ended when I accidentally put the alarm for 12h30min later instead of just 30min later.
24 to 30	Consistently woke up early to go to work.	Consistently slept early (no TV and no internet).
30 to …	Consistently wake up early.	Less consistent about sleeping early due to our young child.

Nutrition 🔗

Age	Nutrition
6 to 12	Saved unhealthy food like chocolate for later instead of eating everything at once.
12 to 18	Never bought unhealthy food/drinks. Ate/drunk when it was free.
18 to 24	Never bought unhealthy food/drinks. Ate/drunk when it was free.
24 to 30	Never bought unhealthy food/drinks. Ate when it was free. But there was free unhealthy food at the office all the time. It took a while to be able to resist and never eat it. I remember struggling the whole week to not eat any of the unhealthy food, and then at the end of the week giving in and eating one of the chocolate bars.
30 to …	Never buy unhealthy food/drinks. Eat when it is free, except at the office.

Exercise 🔗

Age	Exercise
6 to 12	Wanted to exercise, but didn’t know how.
12 to 18	Wanted to exercise, but didn’t know how. I remember one day I tried to go running, and ran too fast, and got tired quickly.
18 to 24	Learned a workout plan on the internet and did it consistently. Ran a marathon.
24 to 30	Consistent workouts. Learned more over time. Ran another marathon.
30 to …	Consistent workouts. Learning more over time.

Career 🔗

Age	Career
6 to 12	Studied and worked as little as possible to get the best grades. Learned for fun on my free time.
12 to 18	Studied and worked as little as possible to get the best grades. Learned for fun on my free time.
18 to 24	Studied and worked as little as possible to get the best grades. Learned for fun on my free time.
24 to 30	Worked as hard as possible to grow faster. Learned for fun on my free time.
30 to …	Work as hard as possible to grow faster. Learn for fun on my free time.

Saving 🔗

Age	Saving
6 to 12
12 to 18	Didn’t buy almost anything.
18 to 24	Didn’t buy almost anything.
24 to 30	Didn’t buy almost anything.
30 to …	Don’t buy almost anything.

Investing 🔗

Age	Investing
6 to 12	Money box.
12 to 18	Savings account.
18 to 24	Savings account.
24 to 30	Stock market.
30 to …	Stock market.

Partner 🔗

Age	Partner
6 to 12
12 to 18	Didn’t know how to talk to potential partners.
18 to 24	Talked to potential partners at parties.
24 to 30	Learned to talk to potential partners. It took many hours of deliberate practice.
30 to …	Got married.

Friends 🔗

Age	Friends
6 to 12
12 to 18	Friends with the misfits.
18 to 24	Friends with the people that wanted to improve. At some point I temporarily decided that having lunch with my friends was wasting too much time, and started having lunch alone. They were not happy about it.
24 to 30	Friends with the people that wanted to improve.
30 to …	Friends with the people that want to improve.

Parents 🔗

Age	Parents
6 to 12	Lived with both parents.
12 to 18	Lived with my mother. We used to fight a lot.
18 to 24	Lived alone and near. No more fighting.
24 to 30	Lived alone and far away. No more fighting.
30 to …	Live far away. No more fighting.

Awareness 🔗

Age	Awareness
6 to 12	Played too much video games.
12 to 18	Played less video games.
18 to 24	Played less video games.
24 to 30	Did a 10 day meditation retreat. Played less video games.
30 to …	Play less video games.

Fun 🔗

Age	Fun
6 to 12	Learned to play the acoustic guitar.
12 to 18	Also learned to play the electric guitar and the piano. Played difficult songs that I liked, and that most people didn’t like.
18 to 24	Also learned to play and sing songs that most people like, which are usually easier to play.
24 to 30	Kept playing the 3 musical instruments.
30 to …	Keep playing the 3 musical instruments.

Good 🔗

Age	Good
6 to 12	Helped people learn at school.
12 to 18	Gave private lessons to help people pass their school exams.
18 to 24	Helped people learn at university.
24 to 30	Started this site to try to help people.
30 to …	Continue working on this site to try to help people.

Who is the most disciplined person you know?