Most of these are pithy statements that serve as reminders of much more complicated and nuanced ideas. This is a mix of recitation types, only some of which are explicitly related to motivation. I’ve summarized, rephrased, and expanded most of these for clarity, and cut entire sections that are too esoteric. Also, something I’d love to try, but haven’t, is putting some of these into a spaced repetition practice (I use Anki), since I’ve heard surprisingly positive things about how well that works.
Be ruthlessly efficient today
<Specific reminder about a habit that I’m seeking to break>
Brainstorm, then execute
If you don’t have a plan for it, it isn’t going to happen.
A long list of things that you want to do is no excuse for not doing any of them.
Make an extraordinary effort.
<Reminders about particular physical/emotional needs that are not adequately covered by existing habits>
What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. (might be from Heartsill Wilson)
Think about what isn’t being said, but needs to be.
Get results
Life is finite; pursue your cares.
The opposite of play is not work. The opposite of play is depression. (paraphrased from Simon Sutton-Smith)
Move gently
Weighted version of “shortest processing time” scheduling algorithm is close to optimal on all metrics. (from “Algorithms to live by”)
Exponential backoff for relationships: finite investment, infinite patience. (from “Algorithms to live by”)
Doing things right vs doing the right thing.
10-10-10. (Reference to the technique of thinking about how a decision would be viewed 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years in the future. Modify at your discretion.)
Bookending (think of extreme cases of what you are trying to predict)
Triage—nowadays I’d tell people to go read Holly Elmore’s writeup on this, with an emphasis on “We are always in triage. I fervently hope that one day we will be able to save everyone. In the meantime, it is irresponsible to pretend that we aren’t making life and death decisions with the allocation of our resources. Pretending there is no choice only makes our decisions worse.”
<several reminders about how I want to act in my relationships>
Change expectations and you change people, including yourself.
What you see is all there is. (Fallacy explained by Philip Tetlock)
The bait and switch—replacing a hard question with an easy one. (Fallacy explained by Philip Tetlock)
Reverse the phrasing of questions and statements (a standard technique for testing the credibility / reasonableness / usefulness of statements or questions)
Destroy your fear of criticism.
Constructive critiques are precious.
<Various personal techniques for de-stressing>
Use counterfactuals.
Mental parliament. (Also see related Moral Parliament or “personal board of directors” ideas.)
Try hard for five minutes. (Reference to Yudkowsky’s techniques of this sort.)
The 80-20 rule. Focus on doing 80% of the good.
Deep work.
Every moment is practice. What are you practicing?
Murphyjitsu.
Remember that it is the “experiencing self” who has to execute any plan you make.
Do your work in a way that allows other people to follow you.
Clairvoyance test (Another Tetlock idea: if you passed the question to someone who could see the future, they could give you the answer without having to come back for a re-specification of what the question actually is.)
When you reach the end of what you can comprehend, you probably haven’t found nature’s limits, but your own.
Wittgenstein’s ruler (Unless you have confidence in the ruler’s reliability, if you use a ruler to measure a table you may also be using the table to measure the ruler.)
Most of these are pithy statements that serve as reminders of much more complicated and nuanced ideas. This is a mix of recitation types, only some of which are explicitly related to motivation. I’ve summarized, rephrased, and expanded most of these for clarity, and cut entire sections that are too esoteric. Also, something I’d love to try, but haven’t, is putting some of these into a spaced repetition practice (I use Anki), since I’ve heard surprisingly positive things about how well that works.
Be ruthlessly efficient today
<Specific reminder about a habit that I’m seeking to break>
Brainstorm, then execute
If you don’t have a plan for it, it isn’t going to happen.
A long list of things that you want to do is no excuse for not doing any of them.
Make an extraordinary effort.
<Reminders about particular physical/emotional needs that are not adequately covered by existing habits>
Remember the spheres of control: Total control. Some control. No control. For more info, see here: https://www.precisionnutrition.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Sphere-of-control-FF.pdf
Every problem is an opportunity
What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. (might be from Heartsill Wilson)
Think about what isn’t being said, but needs to be.
Get results
Life is finite; pursue your cares.
The opposite of play is not work. The opposite of play is depression. (paraphrased from Simon Sutton-Smith)
Move gently
Weighted version of “shortest processing time” scheduling algorithm is close to optimal on all metrics. (from “Algorithms to live by”)
Exponential backoff for relationships: finite investment, infinite patience. (from “Algorithms to live by”)
Doing things right vs doing the right thing.
10-10-10. (Reference to the technique of thinking about how a decision would be viewed 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years in the future. Modify at your discretion.)
Bookending (think of extreme cases of what you are trying to predict)
Triage—nowadays I’d tell people to go read Holly Elmore’s writeup on this, with an emphasis on “We are always in triage. I fervently hope that one day we will be able to save everyone. In the meantime, it is irresponsible to pretend that we aren’t making life and death decisions with the allocation of our resources. Pretending there is no choice only makes our decisions worse.”
<several reminders about how I want to act in my relationships>
Change expectations and you change people, including yourself.
What you see is all there is. (Fallacy explained by Philip Tetlock)
The bait and switch—replacing a hard question with an easy one. (Fallacy explained by Philip Tetlock)
Reverse the phrasing of questions and statements (a standard technique for testing the credibility / reasonableness / usefulness of statements or questions)
Destroy your fear of criticism.
Constructive critiques are precious.
<Various personal techniques for de-stressing>
Use counterfactuals.
Mental parliament. (Also see related Moral Parliament or “personal board of directors” ideas.)
Try hard for five minutes. (Reference to Yudkowsky’s techniques of this sort.)
The 80-20 rule. Focus on doing 80% of the good.
Deep work.
Every moment is practice. What are you practicing?
Murphyjitsu.
Remember that it is the “experiencing self” who has to execute any plan you make.
Do your work in a way that allows other people to follow you.
Clairvoyance test (Another Tetlock idea: if you passed the question to someone who could see the future, they could give you the answer without having to come back for a re-specification of what the question actually is.)
When you reach the end of what you can comprehend, you probably haven’t found nature’s limits, but your own.
Wittgenstein’s ruler (Unless you have confidence in the ruler’s reliability, if you use a ruler to measure a table you may also be using the table to measure the ruler.)