My 30 Days of Discipline have ended and I would like to share my thoughts on the experience. Here is s the rundown of the whole thing:
13.4. --> Success.
14.4. --> Success.
15.4. --> Failed.
16.4. --> Failed.
17.4. --> Success.
18.4. --> Failed.
19.4. --> Success.
20.4. --> Failed.
21.4. --> Success.
22.4. --> Success.
23.4. --> Failed.
24.4. --> Failed.
25.4. --> Failed.
26.4. --> Failed.
27.4. --> Success.
28.4. --> Success.
29.4. --> Failed.
30.4. --> Failed.
1.5. --> Success.
2.5. --> Success.
3.5. --> Failed.
4.5. --> Failed.
5.5. --> Success.
6.5. --> Success.
7.5. --> Failed.
8.5. --> Success.
9.5. --> Success.
10.5. --> Failed.
11.5. --> Failed.
12.5. --> Success.
My success rate has been 50%. I agree, it does not seem much but honestly these 50% have been earned through hard toil. As I have already described in my thread – the hard part is making your dues on all twelve habits every single day. They may seem easy and I have thought as much but Goddamn have some of them kicked my ass. Repeatedly, as you can see.
Habit 1 A Feast Fit for the Gods--> eat a maximum of 3 times a day and no snacks.
I have come across an eating habit called intermittent fasting through Mike Cernovich at the same time as I have found about this book. The gist of it (as I have come to understand it) is to eat during a time span of 8 hours, be it through morning to noon or afternoon to evening. The rest of the day, that is 16 hours, you do not eat.
I have been following this regimen since then. At first it was hard and I had cravings because up until then I was used to constantly eat little things throughout the whole day. I can vouch for myself that I have experienced a lift in general well being and productivity. I have yet to know why but the best description I can give is that I am much less ‘foggy’ in my mind; my head is much clearer now and I am able to study for longer and more efficient without wasting hours staring into paper while the words go straight through me.
Thus this habit was not that difficult to follow (after painful beginnings that is).
Habit 2 Rise and Shine, the Clock is Ticking and the Day is Wasting--> wake up every day at 5AM.
Oh, boy… with this one I have had the biggest problems with and it represents the biggest contributor to my failures. What can I say except honestly admitting that it is fucking hard to get up at 5AM on a constant basis. My days are full of activities as I try to juggle med school, gym, girlfriend, family, self improvement, writing all at once. Some days I succeed smoothly and some days I get pummeled. It is the days when I get pummeled that I have a hard time getting up the following morning.
I can wake up with a bladder full of water (I have started to drink almost 1 liter before I go to bed), take the longest piss ever and just fall back into bed like an automaton. It is a struggle and a challenge. The trick seems to be to really have your shit in your head and life together and on a tight leash.
Love, family and friends are simply not permitted to harass me anymore. It is hard but painstakingly I am fighting to set up boundaries. Shit like this messes me up. They do not do it with intention but it is their normal behavior to want to talk, to vent their problems and frustrations. I get it and I understand, but the problem lies within the simple knowledge that they day lasts 24 hours. I do not get a special exemption from this hard cold truth. So hours listening to them is hours wasted which could have been used much more productively.
It seems this will be one of my bigger fights to come. But I welcome it.
Habit 3 Comfortable? Not after This--> cold showers.
I modified this one a bit. I just could not force myself at 4.30AM or 5AM to jump into liquid ice cubes. I have to confess that I screamed more than a couple of times like bitch. Thus I have started taking my showers at mild warm temperature at the beginning and then turning the dial slowly down to cold, colder and feminist attitude towards life cold as I got used to the temperature before.
I do not know if this counts or not but frankly I could not care less because there simply is no other way for me to complete this habit lest I become Mr. Freeze as portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Habit 4 Willy Wanker, Let me Introduce You to Billy Badass --> masturbation is forbidden.
Father I must make a confession for I have sinned. Beat my meat a couple too many times for my liking. Seems like this is a problem I have picked up from watching too much pornography. Since then I have dialed it down quite a bit but my goal is to eliminate porn and masturbation from my life entirely. Have started the NoFap/NoPorn challenge.
Habit 5 Your Body is a Weapon --> every day you must do 100 bodyweight pushups, squats and crunches.
This one was more tedious than hard. Currently I am following the Body of a Spartan routine (also by Victor Pride) and there were days when I simply could not muster the will to do pushups, squats and crunches after a good session of hitting the weights in the gym.
The trick I found which helped me greatly was to start immediately as I woke up and then slice the remaining numbers into tinier but doable pieces. After a week in I started doing pushups, squats and crunches to failure the first thing in the morning. As I’ve progressed through program I was able to start doing 30+ of all in one go which made the rest scattered through the whole day a much easier endeavor.
Habit 6 Dress to Impress, Dress for Success --> every day you dress the best your wardrobe allows.
I have started to become more attentive to the way I dress. I was never sloppy to begin with but never did push the boundaries to look the best either. That changed or to be more honest – is changing slowly.
Habit 7 Do What You Need to Do --> maintain a to-do list.
I am mad at myself about this one because there were too many days when I did not make one. Sure it seems easy but I you would not believe how many days I have said to myself that I will make one right before bed, then I did not make one and said to myself as I woke up: ‘Fuck.’
This has to be done a couple of hours before bed. Late afternoon works best for me when I take a pause in between doing something. I need a couple of minutes to think about what I have to do the next day and right before hitting the sack just does not cut it, because I always want to go to sleep pronto without wasting time on such ‘bullshit’.
Not satisfied with myself on this one, still got spades to improve.
Habit 8 Stand Tall and Proud Like a Lion --> maintain good posture and make eye contacts.
I recommend reading and listening to this podcast made by Mike Cernovich which describes the importance of posture.
These are things that are not hard to do but have a great cumulative effect. I’ve noticed myself walking with pride and getting more eye glances from strangers. Be they men or women. It just feels good going somewhere with a resolute look and purposeful steps.
Habit 9 No Excuses, No Explanations, No Bullshit --> offer only yes and no answers and give a concise explanation of your wants and needs. Never say when offered to give an opinion: ‘I do not know or I do not care.’
By nature I am a chatty and conflict averse person. Simply said, I do not like hurting people so I had (and still have) trouble with this habit. Especially when it came to shooting down the demands of persons close to me. I would have catch myself often giving them word salads worth of explanation filled with trite bullshit just to spare their feelings.
I am starting to think that all this does is breed simmering resentment which explodes either way. Be it today or tomorrow. Seems to me that it is better to be honest and get into conflict head first, if needed, than to cowardly wait for the wave to muster strength and ferocity which usually delivers devastation.
Habit 10 Keep Those Ideas Written Down --> keep a notebook and pen at hand to write down ideas that pop into your head.
This habit I really like. I am writing down my thoughts into a black notebook since a couple of months ago and it helps me calm down. Writing seems to have a soothing effect for me and I retain ideas in written form as they pass like a bullet through my head. I thought they would stay there but all good moments in life seem to be fleeting and as such it is truly wise to try to catch them in some way or form. Especially when I am thinking about an idea and see a cute ass in front me; pattern interruption indeed.
Habit 11 Your purpose here --> visualize a goal and work towards it.
For fifteen minutes every day I shut down all of my electronic devices and am by myself in a dark room where I simply think about the things I want in life. Truth be told I do not know even what I want. And that scares me; to hell and back.
Do I want a player lifestyle? Fuck a lot of girls? Live like Dan Blizerian? Do I envision myself as an alpha head of a big family? Feminine girl to whom I stay loyal? Is my goal to build an empire? Have a lot of cash? Do I want to chase pussy or do I wish to start a family? Both? Do I wish to travel? Alone or with someone? Do I wish to simply disappear for a couple of months and go where the road takes me? Do I even wish to become a physician? What about a combat medic? Which specialty should I choose? What kind of woman do I actually want? Tall? Small? Big boobs? Petite boobs? Ass? Huge ass? Hourglass shape? Do I want to become like Donald Trump? Or perhaps Teddy Roosevelt? What are my interests? How would I like to earn my money? Do I wish to start a company? Fuck, fuck, fuck!
At first I got terrified and switched on the lights because the questions just kept coming and coming and coming. Without stop; like a flood and I thought myself loosing within the waves. But as I persevered and slowly marched from question to question trying to answer each one separately they started to slow down. I think I am getting a glimmer of the future I envision myself in being the most happy. I do not know if this future is what I truly want or if I will ever attain it, but…
What more can I do, than to walk on Gods path, seeded with thorns with an honest smile towards a destination unbeknownst to me?
This has become my mantra when shit hits the fan. Smile and do not stop moving. Smile and do not stop moving. Handle the problems as they come as you know best. Be honest, be courteous, be disciplined and be happy. Smile. There is not more than you can do. There is not more that you should do. Never give up.
Habit 12 On the Sevent Day He Rested (But Not for too Long) --> rest day pretty much but at the end of it you have to prepare for the upcoming week.
I really like this one. But then again, who does not after a hard week?
Hope you guys enjoyed what I wrote. I will write replies to the posts made by other members and apologize for not doing so earlier; I just did not take the time. Besides that I would like to apologize for grammatical and syntax errors of any kind in advance. English is not my first language.
Sorry for the huge wall of text in front of you. I simply wrote the words which came out of my soul. I did not expect much and I am, frankly, surprised it has become SO much.
The TLDR version in one sentence – 30 Days of Discipline works and I recommend it.