Do something every day that you don’t want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.�??Mark Twain
Who else thinks this one is rubbish?
[quote]lixy wrote:
Do something every day that you don’t want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.�??Mark Twain
Who else thinks this one is rubbish?[/quote]
If you have ever delt with a teenage kid who’s idea of a workout is walking from the couch and TV to the bed and another TV/ video game these are very strong words. Insert any other lazy person into the example. You seem to be a very hard working and smart student so it’s not surprising it’s not registering with you, you don’t need it.
D
There are many things in my life that I do not want to do. However, I do them anyway as part of my being a mature adult. These words may not be particularly inspiring, but they are true nonetheless.
It’s not rubbish at all…although he was American, so I know he already sucks to you.
What it reaaly means is the things you know you should do but don’t…like calling your Grandma, helping a friend, doing the dishes, extra chores to make someone elses life easier or better or brighter.
It’s Beautiful!
I used to not floss with regularity (we’re talking probably 18ish). I had tried at various points to make myself do it regularly, but it never stuck. At some point I decided it had to be done and I forced myself through visible reminders to do it every day for an extended period. Eventually it got to the point at which not flossing, at very least before bed, felt like not putting on pants before leaving the house, or at least any other purely automatic behavior. Think the key’s, wallet, phone triple tap or whatever your personal equivalent is.
I think Twain’s advice is dead on for many simple aspects of life. It certainly isn’t profound though. I think the average eight year old has figured it out.
In the context of this site, I think more people need to get into the habits of exercising and eating properly, rather than trying to force themselves though willpower alone for extended periods. I eat healthy foods, cook, train, etc. because it’s what I do rather than what I make myself do. It wasn’t always this way. My habits in this regard have evolved considerably since I got my pubes.
[quote]etaco wrote:
I used to not floss with regularity (we’re talking probably 18ish). I had tried at various points to make myself do it regularly, but it never stuck. At some point I decided it had to be done and I forced myself through visible reminders to do it every day for an extended period. Eventually it got to the point at which not flossing, at very least before bed, felt like not putting on pants before leaving the house, or at least any other purely automatic behavior. Think the key’s, wallet, phone triple tap or whatever your personal equivalent is.
I think Twain’s advice is dead on for many simple aspects of life. It certainly isn’t profound though. I think the average eight year old has figured it out.
In the context of this site, I think more people need to get into the habits of exercising and eating properly, rather than trying to force themselves though willpower alone for extended periods. I eat healthy foods, cook, train, etc. because it’s what I do rather than what I make myself do. It wasn’t always this way. My habits in this regard have evolved considerably since I got my pubes.[/quote]
Bro, what a farging good example. For years I just brushed twice a day thinking that was enough. Even though I heard you should floss I brushed it off (no pun int) because I thought flossing was difficult and cumbersome. I finally had a dentist break it down to me and the consequences of neglecting flossing. I made it a habit and can’t feel comfortable without doing it now.
Lixy, to put a Bhuddist slant to it the saying “life is suffering and when you accept it you suffer less” is the same. Just doing the unpleasent stuff instead of bitching about it, as some like to do, makes it much less painless.
D
[quote]lixy wrote:
Do something every day that you don’t want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.�??Mark Twain
Who else thinks this one is rubbish?[/quote]
No, I completely agree with the quote. This is why some people succeed and some don’t.
I’ll take my guitar playing for example. I didn’t like reading music yet I forced myself to practice it and eventually got it to the habit of doing so. When that happened it became effortless. Now I have a skill that lets me get more work.
Here’s another example. Cleaning, I hate doing it yet but when I get in the habit of doing so (by forcing myself to do so), its not so bad (doing duty without pain).
I don’t see how you could think this is rubbish. You must of misunderstood the true meaning.
Only potheads and fatasses disagree with discipline. And they both deserve to be euthanized.
Hmmm…sorry guys, I still don’t think one should “do something every day that you don’t want to do”. I believe in only doing what you want to do - not in a hedonistic sense. If you don’t want to do something, don’t. You’ll be doing it bad anyway.
It’s a philosophical issue which I don’t think Mark Twain captured well in here - with all due respect to the great writer he was.
We train and eat well because we want to get/remain big/strong/healthy/etc. But judging from the consensus in the replies, I must be missing something (over-analyzing?).
Anyway, thanks all for the input.
[quote]lixy wrote:
Hmmm…sorry guys, I still don’t think one should “do something every day that you don’t want to do”. I believe in only doing what you want to do - not in a hedonistic sense. If you don’t want to do something, don’t. You’ll be doing it bad anyway.
[/quote]
I love my job and going to the gym, but some days things get to be a hassle.
Some days I don’t want to go to work.
Some days I don’t want to go to the gym.
Some days I don’t want to get out of bed.
Some days I’d rather eat chocolate cake than chicken and broccoli.
Most days I’d rather drink a gallon of beer a day rather than a gallon of water.
But I drag my ass out of bed, go to work, go to the gym and eat healthy. And I don’t do it badly. Because I made an agreement with myself a long time ago that I would do this every day.
I may not WANT to do it. And that particular day, I don’t like doing it. But I HAVE to do it.
Perhaps it’s as easy as this.
The beer gives me the most trouble, though.
It’s good advice if you consider human aging as well (which applies to many on this site). The mighty science has shown time over that people who do things that they do not typically do all the time keep their minds longer into life. People who refuse to do new mental activities often suffer senility and Alzheimer’s.
Also when you get old as fuck you usually don’t feel like getting and doing shit. But if you do even though you don’t want to you can look at a far greater life expectancy. You think the fella that lived to be 120 wanted to take those sheep up the Ural mountains every damn day? probably not but you now what, according to him he was the only one willing to take care of the sheep because all his 80 grand kids didn’t want to. guy also lived of eggs and mutton his whole life in case there are any low fat rice-cakers out there still.
-chris
[quote]Avocado wrote:
It’s good advice if you consider human aging as well (which applies to many on this site). The mighty science has shown time over that people who do things that they do not typically do all the time keep their minds longer into life. People who refuse to do new mental activities often suffer senility and Alzheimer’s.
Also when you get old as fuck you usually don’t feel like getting and doing shit. But if you do even though you don’t want to you can look at a far greater life expectancy. You think the fella that lived to be 120 wanted to take those sheep up the Ural mountains every damn day? probably not but you now what, according to him he was the only one willing to take care of the sheep because all his 80 grand kids didn’t want to. guy also lived of eggs and mutton his whole life in case there are any low fat rice-cakers out there still.
-chris[/quote]
Getting old aint for sissies.
D
I think he was referring to good old delayed gratification.
Don’t procrastinate when there is work to be done and save the things you like best for once the days work is done.
Tenacity is definately something to be developed and tenacity is the stuff strong words are made of.
[quote]Contrl wrote:
Only potheads and fatasses disagree with discipline. And they both deserve to be euthanized.[/quote]
Well said.
[quote]lixy wrote:
Do something every day that you don’t want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.�??Mark Twain
Who else thinks this one is rubbish?[/quote]
Not rubbish.
When I was a kid I used to ask “why do I have to do that?” dad had 3 answers:
-because it’s good for you
-it’ll teach you responsibility
-on account of because (this was when he tired of repeating the first 2 answers)
Dad and Mr. Twain are correct.
Please, explain to me how ultimate egotism is a philosophical issue. I’m dying to know.
Excellent quote from Twain and a great reminder of the constant daily battle we must each fight against ourselves, reminds me of another quote “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”.
[quote]Contrl wrote:
Please, explain to me how ultimate egotism is a philosophical issue. I’m dying to know.[/quote]
A lot of confusion and a pretty huge strawman here. My fault for putting up a five word comment in the OP.
Doing something that eventually gets you what you want does not fall in the “do not want to do” things. Call it semantics, but to me, the quote is way too short to do the issue justice. I’m a firm believer in developing good habits and fighting bad ones. But never should you do something you don’t want to do. Doing your homework, going to the gym, having a meticulous diet, or saving the world are thing you want to do because they’ll ultimately get you what you want (assuming you care about your brains, body, and conscience. It’s called delayed gratification and Mark Twain’s quote is, poorly phrased. But that’s a risk you take when trying to be concise. Or it’s just that I’m taking his words too literally…
[quote]lixy wrote:
Do something every day that you don’t want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.�??Mark Twain
Who else thinks this one is rubbish?[/quote]
Not me, and I’m sure the T-Nation contributors would agree with Twain.