- Ignoring goals, tabooing / identifying with methods - the opposite of Beeminder, even the opposite of SMART
I just read Willpower, by Baumeister, and I've started on another book, Superhuman by Habit, and was thinking something similar. It is probably the Habit book where it came from.
It's probably in line with your recent posts on self control vs. willpower as well.
Take a meta focus. Focus on process.
simply shaping my identity as a person who ...
How about simply shaping your identity as a person who builds good habits?
I think that basic argument is in Superhuman by Habit. Maybe you'd like it. Part of the process is the level of commitment to executing the habit. There is always immediate gain through blowing off the habit for a day. It won't really kill you. It's only a day. But if you set up an artificial goal of doing the habit, and keeping your streak alive, then you've busted your streak that you've been working on.
The streak doesn't really matter for the end result. You could skip. But once you're thinking in those terms, you're hosed. The streak is meaningless, so it needs to be invested with meaning.
I really wish there was a "Gamify your Life" android app, where you get points all day for doing things. Bling! You took your vitamins! Bling! You went to bed at a decent hour. I play Ingress, and I've noted how much time and energy I and others will put into "points". Just call them points, and I'll do anything. It's insane. But potentially useful, if only I had a game aligned to my goals.
Google delivers: HabitRPG https://habitrpg.com/static/front
Looks like it's open source too.
The problem I have with the other goal tracking is the cost of all the measurement, and then the incommeasurabilty of all the different goals, and then the Getting Things Done issue of all the other things you might be doing weighing on your attention for what you are doing, or more likely, are not doing. Somehow that "but what about improving this other X" has to get turned off.
I'll give the app a try (maybe), and if so, let people know what I've found.
- Don't fight The Boss
Or, promise future goodies to the Lower Self. The Lower Self is forgetful. And if you delay often enough, you've effectively cut down on the rate of the bad habit. Maybe that was from Baumeister, with an associated study or two.
Just call them points, and I'll do anything. It's insane.
Cf. Crossfit: "Men will die for points" X-)
1. Ignoring goals, tabooing / identifying with methods - the opposite of Beeminder, even the opposite of SMART
Suppose I want to lose weight. Have a general idea of how much and how fast, and decide on the method. Then I ignore the goal and focus on the method. I ignore both the long-term and short-term goal (no Beeminder), ignore the measurement (SMART), ignore all the common wisdom here. The reason I ignore them that I want to avoid constantly haggling with myself, using the soda example, "Surely this one glass will not set me back much?" and instead I identify with the method, such as, simply shaping my identity as a person who does not drink soda, period. Instead of being conscious of the goal, just focus on this new identity. Without a goal in mind, there is nothing to haggle about and that makes it work. So there is not that kind of "Perhaps, this is a special case because X so half a glass should be allowed..." instead, it is just taboo, because it violates my new sense of self of a person who just does not do that. The beauty of this solution that there is nothing to haggle about. It is a harnessing of the cognitive dissonance and protect-your-identity mechanisms, if the new self is the sort of person who just does not drink soda then the only way to not get dissonant and to preserve the identity is to not do so. This, so far, seems to be surprisingly easy for me. It is similar to religious taboos, like people who don't eat X because then they could no longer consider themselves a pious follower of religion Y and it would shake their identity. You could say it is a custom-made nanoreligion each time. Being pious by not violating self-made taboos, preserving the identity of the pious person, without having keep the goal in consciousness.
2. Don't fight The Boss
Someone casually dropped on stopdrinking.reddit.com "It is not about fighting your urges, it is about stopping to fight your better judgement." Precisely. There is a Higher Self (say, Superego) telling me to live healthy and a Lower Self (Ego, Id) telling me to indulge in urges and cravings. Identify with Higher Self, and it is a constant fight with the Lower Self. Identify with the Lower Self and all I need to do is to surrender to the commands of the Higher Self. It does not feel good, but in this case it is okay to not feel good. I call the Higher Self The Bos. It is like "I really want to do X but The Boss does not let me do so. It makes me feel depressed. It is okay. Just accept the feeling and don't fight The Boss. You can never beat The Boss. Just surrender and accept your fate." It is also a nano, well, in this case a microreligion because it is more consistent than the one-off taboos of nanoreligions. Identifying with Lower Self is a bit of an "I am a sinner" thing, and this surrender to The Boss feels a bit religious, a bit close to the AA and 12-step methods.