Waking up in the morning, a cup of coffee, and a cigarette—you could call this my solid, ingrained habit. This ritual happens almost on its own every morning; I hardly have to put any effort into it. The reason? A perfectly stable and deeply rooted habit. For example, at lunch or in the evening, I have to use willpower to force myself to go to the kitchen and put the kettle on the stove (to exert effort). But in the morning, during that very ritual, the kettle goes on as if on autopilot; I don't even notice it. Brain activity at that moment is practically zero; everything happens on its own.
I am highly undisciplined. I used to have to exert colossal effort when I needed to be at work at a specific time. Another example is the vegetable garden. When the soil is clean and weeds are just starting to grow, there's no problem; the soil just needs a little loosening. But this needs to be done once a week, regularly. If you let the weeds go and don't do it on time, you'll later have to exert superhuman effort to get the garden back to a normal state. So, when the season arrives, I have to force myself, but it doesn't always work. I often end up having to clear what is essentially half a jungle, spending an enormous amount of time and effort on it.
I consider myself quite flexible when it comes to acquiring new skills, but I'm not 20 years old anymore, and I know myself a bit by now. Fighting myself doesn't seem quite right; in my case, it makes more sense to channel my efforts in a specific direction. The analogy of a person navigating a river with many tributaries fits well here:
— You can swim against the current (the struggle). This drains practically all your strength. Yes, you become stronger to some extent, your body adapts, muscles grow, joints strengthen, but it's a big question whether you'll have enough strength left to reach your intended goal. Will you enjoy the process itself, or will you forever be a slave to future happiness?
— You can just drift with the current (indifference). Minimal energy expenditure, but you don't define the destination; where the current will wash you up is a big question.
— Or you can swim with the current while choosing your channel, maneuvering between streams and branches, applying only the minimum necessary effort to follow your pre-chosen direction. In doing so, you can enjoy the process itself—meaning you can already be happy.
I can't say that I haven't made willpower-driven efforts in the past; quite the opposite. I've attempted to quit smoking—lasting 2-3 weeks, multiple times—and that's usually how long my willpower reserves lasted. A new line of work?! Three to four weeks of intensive work on a project in a completely new industry, spending 16-17 hours at the computer, often without breaks. After a month—complete burnout. Not only could I not work, I couldn't even force myself to read anything longer than a news headline.
Several times I started a blog on the internet, built several websites completely from scratch, spent a colossal amount of effort and time—the result: all projects abandoned. I started a blog on the Hive ecosystem several times—running on enthusiasm for 1-2 months, then burnout. However, the good thing is that all the content is stored on the blockchain, and after a few years, you can return and pick up right where you left off. That's exactly what I'm planning to do now, albeit with some differences.
And so, I am gradually coming to the realization that I was, and still am, doing something wrong. It's the wrong approach, a lack of a harmonious system, which makes it impossible to achieve results from sustained, long-term work.
Conversely, when I think about how my morning ritual with coffee and a cigarette has been happening for years without me needing to exert any effort—it all happens on its own—I realize that habit is precisely that magical element I might be missing for the magic to happen. But perhaps it's not the habit itself of doing something specific and systematically, but rather the system of forming habits. Some things become a habit very easily, while others, even after applying substantial effort, just don't stick, as if something is going wrong.
A few years ago, the thought occurred to me that a human being has some functional similarities to a computer (though, of course, a human is a much more perfect creation):
— RAM (Random Access Memory) — Consciousness.
— Processor (CPU) — Intellect.
— Hard Drive — Memories and experience.
— The Internet — Superconsciousness.
— Programs — Habits.
Habits are the very programs that govern human activity and shape the reality around us. But unlike a computer, a person is capable of rewriting their own programs—creating new neural pathways that form habits. And consequently, new habits will shape a new reality.
I think the topic of the principles of habit formation and breaking negative habits will take up a significant part of the content on my blog. If this topic interests you, subscribe so you don't miss out.