3-2-1: Excitement over discipline, outliving yourself, and how to make important life choices

Happy 3-2-1 Thursday!

Here are 3 ideas, 2 quotes, and 1 question to consider this week...

I.

"Excitement is a better motivator than discipline. The people who appear to have an exceptional work ethic or remarkable discipline are often those with a genuine curiosity or interest in that area. The person who smiles is more likely to keep working than the person gritting their teeth."

​II.

"Writing is one of the only ways to outlive yourself. People still read books from hundreds or even thousands of years ago. The author's physical life ended long ago, but their mental life remains alive and meaningful even today."

(Share this on Twitter)

III.

"The question is not: will today be a good day?

Every day is a good day.

The question is: how much good will you get out of today?"

(Share this on Twitter)

​

I.

Poet and novelist May Sarton on talent:

"A talent grows by being used, and withers if it is not used. Closing the gap between expectation and reality can be painful, but it has to be done sooner or later. The fact is that millions of young people would like to write, but what they dream of is the published book, often skipping over the months and years of very hard work necessary to achieve that end..."

Source: The House by the Sea​

​II.

Professor of philosophy and cognitive science L.A. Paul offers a new lens for thinking about important life choices:

"As we live our lives, we find ourselves confronted with a brute fact about how little we can know about our futures—just when it is most important to us that we do know. For many big life choices, we only learn what we need to know after we've done it, and we change ourselves in the process of doing it. I'll argue that, in the end, the best response to this situation is to choose based on whether we want to discover who we'll become."

Source: Transformative Experience​

​

What small step can you take today that will put you on the path toward something wonderful?

(Share this on Twitter)

​

Want to share this issue of 3-2-1 via text, social media, or email? Just copy and paste this link:

https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/july-13-2023

​

​

Until next week,

James Clear
​Author of Atomic Habits and keynote speaker​​

​

p.s. When someone makes a phone call from the work bathroom...

​

​