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    Philosophies on Self-Discipline: Lessons from History’s Greatest Thinkers on How to Start, Endure, Finish, & Achieve
    Philosophies on Self-Discipline: Lessons from History’s Greatest Thinkers on How to Start, Endure, Finish, & Achieve
    Philosophies on Self-Discipline: Lessons from History’s Greatest Thinkers on How to Start, Endure, Finish, & Achieve
    Ebook152 pages2 hours

    Philosophies on Self-Discipline: Lessons from History’s Greatest Thinkers on How to Start, Endure, Finish, & Achieve

    By Peter Hollins

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    About this ebook

    8 meditations on goal achievement and getting things done no matter the circumstances.



    Instead of trying to go it alone or wing it, apply lessons from some of history’s greatest thinkers. Harness thousands of years worth of wisdom, not just your own.


    Our thoughts determine our actions. Learn from the best and create a self-disciplined mindset.



    Philosophies on Self-Discipline brings you the condensed knowledge of philosophers, polymaths, scientists, and psychologists. You will gain a working knowledge of many classic texts and theories, and learn how to apply them to your own modern life.
    There is no better way to become a well-rounded person who is also productive on command, and never prone to procrastinating.


    Thousands of years of knowledge in one book.



    Peter Hollins has studied psychology and peak human performance for over a dozen years and is a bestselling author. He has worked with a multitude of individuals to unlock their potential and path towards success. His writing draws on his academic, coaching, and research experience.


    A quintessential guide for procrastinators and couch potatoes.



    •Plato, Akrasia, and the power of small wins.
    •Nietzsche and the energy that our willpower runs on.
    •How to re-imagine hedonism for your own purposes.
    •Freud, subconscious desires, and getting things done.
    •The science of behaviorism and what we can learn from rats.
    •Kaizen, rituals, and focusing on the present.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPublishdrive
    Release dateSep 3, 2020
    ISBN9798681151562
    Philosophies on Self-Discipline: Lessons from History’s Greatest Thinkers on How to Start, Endure, Finish, & Achieve
    Author

    Peter Hollins

    Pete Hollins is a bestselling author and human psychology and behavior researcher. He is a dedicated student of the human condition. He possesses a BS and MA in psychology, and has worked with dozens of people from all walks of life. After working in private practice for years, he has turned his sights to writing and applying his years of education to help people improve their lives from the inside out. He enjoys hiking with his family, drinking craft beers, and attempting to paint. He is based in Seattle, Washington. To learn more about Hollins and his work, visit PeteHollins.com.

    Read more from Peter Hollins

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      Book preview

      Philosophies on Self-Discipline - Peter Hollins

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1: Plato and Akrasia

      How to Combat Akrasia and Develop Self-Discipline

      Use Mini Rewards

      Keep Things Small and Humble

      Use the Power of Ritual

      Chapter 2: Nietzsche and Will to Power

      How Does Will to Power Relate to Self-Discipline?

      Make Your Will like a Laser

      Control Your Desires Mindfully

      Create Your Own Life; Create Your Own Meaning; Create Yourself

      Chapter 3: Aristotle and Self-Control

      Make Self-Control a Habit—but Expect it to be Hard

      Seek the Golden Mean

      Chapter 4: Aristippus and Ethical Hedonism

      How is Ethical Hedonism Different from Hedonism?

      Reframe the Way You Think about Pleasure

      Reframe the Way You Think about Pain

      Chapter 5: Freud and Subconscious Motivators

      How can Freud and the Idea of the Unconscious Mind Help with Self-Discipline?

      Practice Compassionate Honesty

      Technique One: Look Out for those Defence Mechanisms

      Technique Two: Exploring Your Unconscious Beliefs

      Technique Three: Strengthen Healthy Motivations

      Chapter 6: B. F. Skinner and Behaviorism

      What does Skinner’s Behaviorism have to do with Self-Discipline?

      Set up Your Life to Support Self-Discipline

      Reward is Better than Punishment, but Genuine Internal Motivation is Best of All

      Chapter 7: Kaizen

      What does Kaizen say about self-discipline?

      The Power of Habit

      Budget Your Self-Discipline Wisely

      Chapter 8: Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism

      Why Stoicism and Self-Discipline are Closely Entwined

      Using Deliberate Hardship to Enhance Your Self-Discipline

      Adopt a Healthier Attitude to Adversity

      SUMMARY GUIDE

      Chapter 1. Plato and Akrasia

      Akrasia is whenever we work against our own best interests. Aristotle claimed we could combat akrasia through self-disciplined action toward our goals, repetition, and being honest with ourselves. Plato claimed we simply needed to avoid finding goodness in bad actions.

      You know you want to get in shape, and you’re finally committed to it, buying an expensive gym membership and laying out a new plan for exactly how you’re going to gain strength. Day one and two of your new protocol work well, but on day three, something strange happens. You skip your workout.

      Despite knowing how badly you want to be better, despite understanding all the benefits on the table and how proud and confident you’d feel if you actually achieved this goal, despite all the dedication and good will you began with, you skip your workout and watch YouTube videos instead.

      What happened?

      It’s a strange part of the human condition when you really think about it. We have what feels like a will to do something, and yet there is something else seemingly acting against us. Some call it plain old temptation, i.e. going for the pleasurable thing in the moment rather than staying the more difficult but more rewarding path.

      Others would call it laziness, procrastination, weakness, or self-sabotage. Some would suggest that behaving this way means you simply don’t want your goals badly enough, because if you did, you’d move mountains to achieve it.

      It turns out this problem existed long before the modern distraction of YouTube, however. Ancient philosophers tried to understand this phenomenon and asked themselves, why do people act against their own interests? And seeing as we do, how can we take control and reach the goals that are so important to us?

      The term akrasia describes this phenomenon, and is from the Greek ἀκρασία, which means lack of command. Lack of command over what? Yourself. Plato asked the question in his dialogue Protagoras, wondering why a person who acknowledges that something is the best and most rational course of action would then still fail to do it.

      Aristotle believed that akrasia comes in different forms, and one type of akrasia occurs because of what he called passion, which causes the apparent lapse in good judgment and rationality. The idea that emotions could derail rationality and lead to foolish behavior was a common theme for philosophers of the day.

      The other type of akrasia, according to Aristotle, was down to a weak will. Rationally and intellectually comprehending the results of your behavior is one thing, but deliberately choosing against your best interests speaks to a lack of self-discipline. So, according to Aristotle at least, the phenomenon of akrasia comes down to being either too passionate (a will overrun with emotion) or too weak (a will that isn’t strong enough).

      For Aristotle, akrasia was simply a sign that a person’s will was not up to the task of achieving the magnitude of their goals. He didn’t see any logical problem with saying, Person wants A, but ends up doing B—he only saw a lack of discipline.

      Now, you might have a strong will but simply choose not to apply it to certain ends, and that wouldn’t be akrasia; however, if you sincerely intended something and still couldn’t muster the discipline to do it, it is akrasia, and comes down to one or another of the reasons above.

      Plato had a somewhat different view. In essence, he believed that akrasia (as it’s defined above) doesn’t really exist at all. To understand his viewpoint, you need to know that for Plato, goodness and pleasure were essentially the same thing. He believed that people do what feels good to them, and that there isn’t anything intrinsically wrong with this impulse.

      Plato suggested that people will act freely and without struggle to do something they genuinely gain pleasure from. Addictive and avoidant behaviors aside, it’s probably fair to say that we all enjoy the things that are genuinely good in life. From this, it follows that if we are not doing something we said we would, then we can look at what we are doing and assume that we’re doing that instead because it feels good.

      Plato famously said, No one goes willingly toward the bad. What did he mean by this?

      For Plato, any action that went against your best interests was simply a sign that you didn’t know any better and didn’t have a good grasp of what was good for you. He believed it wasn’t necessarily a lack of self-control that led to akrasia, but a tendency to find relatively more pleasure in all those things that didn’t lead to our goals. In other words, akrasia is not necessarily moving away from what’s good for you, but moving toward a bad habit and justifying it one way or another.

      This is a subtle but fascinating perspective. Plato is saying that, in effect, we do behave rationally when we act. If you skip your gym workout to waste time online, it must be, he said, because you have found enough goodness in doing so. Consciously or unconsciously, you have made the decision to do what you’ve done. No paradox or irrational behavior needed.

      We can all identify with this. It’s easy to commit to a new diet when you’re feeling inspired (i.e. you’ve focused on all the goodness and pleasure that comes from being slim, healthy, and energetic), but when faced with a slice of chocolate cake, you forget all that and focus instead on the goodness and pleasure that comes from your stuffing your face with it.

      More contemporary philosophers have tackled the issue of akrasia both as a logical argument and a seeming paradox, and as an element of a more moral or ethical approach to understanding humanity’s potential and weaknesses.

      Philosopher Donald Davidson, for example, aligns with Plato’s view and suggests that if it’s really true that someone wants to do A, but when it comes down to it, does B (which they already decided was less appealing than A), the only explanation could be that they have temporarily appraised B as more appealing than A. They may do this because they haven’t properly considered all the facts that weigh in on their judgment about which is better—for example, how delicious and tempting chocolate cake is and how much they really enjoy eating it!

      Other philosophers and behavioral psychologists have echoed Aristotle’s view that there are essentially two driving forces or kinds of motivation at work—and it’s perfectly possible for them to conflict. For example, one more rational, future-focused part of us genuinely wants to eat better, and another, more emotional, present-based part of us wants to eat the cake now. There is no contradiction, only the evidence of two different motivations that inspire our actions to different extents in different contexts.

      Since this book is all about self-discipline and strengthening our will to help us achieve our goals, it makes sense to start with the concept of akrasia. But how exactly does it relate?

      Akrasia is a part of life, but we can lessen its effects by deliberately strengthening our self-discipline.

      Properly understanding and managing akrasia is fundamental, because it has the potential to undermine all our self-improvement efforts. You could work incredibly hard, gather all the necessary skills and mastery, commit to realistic goals and more, only to have the whole thing fall to pieces because you procrastinate right where it counts.

      If you are trying to develop self-discipline, it makes sense to begin with a realistic appraisal of all the ways human nature works against self-discipline, so that these obstacles can be removed consciously. Many people waste time making elaborate justifications for doing the thing they didn’t plan to do (I ate the cake because it’s my cheat day, and it doesn’t matter, because I’ll start again tomorrow, and it was only a little slice of cake anyway, and a very healthy cake . . .), but this gets them no

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