As soon as you get into "should, "ought to" or "have to", another part of you is going to rebel. p.183 routines6 - internally we rebel against ourselves, our demands upon ourselves.
Depression // If / when you are down your thinking may become unclear, scattered, and fragmented. You may become paralyzed in your ability to accomplish anything. Even if you are active, you might not actually be getting anything accomplished. routines6 p.190
Dealing with Discouragement // "When you find yourself wasting time drowning in feeling of self loathing or self pity, don't berate yourself for having these feelings in addition to berating yourself for not getting the job done. Develop the habit at moments like this to say the word "oops" this means you allow yourself one second to acknowledge the you have slipped off track, then stubbornly refuse to waste any additional time wallowing. P.187 routines6 - life's futile and that's ok
Choice // When dealing with inner resistance about a choice, it's extremely important to make the statement: "If I want to, than I have to-- but do i really want to?" - its normal to be pulled in multiple directions at once. - routines6 p.184 Ex. if I want to become smarter & reach my goal of reading 100 books, I have to keep my routine of reading and writing every day... do I really want to? YES!"
Measure your progress, but be careful not to let those measurements interfere with progress by discouraging yourself when you mess up, miss days, or weeks. You don't need to catch up most of the time, you need to just get back on track. P.188 routines6 ?what's the best way to measure the success or lack of success of a routine?
Become an Imperfectionist // Many of us have the mindset of "either I'm going to do it perfectly or I'm going to wait until I have the time and energy and skill and everything else to do it perfectly. "If it's worth doing at all, it's worth doing poorly." - GK Chesterton quote - if we only do the things that we could do perfectly, we wouldn't do much. keypoint routines6 p.191
Fears // "To complete all tasks is to die." - Freud quote People fear both failure and completion of projects... they dread the lack of meaning that follows when they have finished something, many feel we need our work around us in order to feel important. routines6 p.191 // Fear of failure and { fear of completion keyphrase } both play a part in starting a new routine.
Answer: Make a conscious choice, deciding, "yes, it's worth it and I will do it, or No, it isn't worth it and I won't do it." routines6 p.191
"When you feel guilty about something, stop and deal with the guilt. Stop everything and decide either to do it and forget it, or not to do it and forget it, and not feel guilty about it. But make your choice a conscious choice. Don't try to fool yourself." - once you make the decision, it's settled, and you have to come to terms with the decision; accept the fact that it's something you have chosen to do or not to do. - routines6 p.184
Accept Your Own Limitations: Unrealistic expectations can immobilize you with anxiety, and feelings of inadequacy, discouragement, and resentment... ending up wasting time whirling around in these negative feelings instead of digging in and doing the task at hand + stressful way to live. - routines6 p.185 to p.186 --- Good question to ask: If someone else were in this same situation, what would you expect of them?
The "Just For Today" Philosophy. - It is overwhelming to consider the past (past thought = depression), and the future (future thought = anxiety) when making the decision to execute a routine. sidenote - [try not to think of routines as a decision, they're something you do- not something you chose to do.] Try and set the realistic goal of executing your routine {book is discussing being organized} "just today". You don't have to resolve all your fears, anxieties, and depression before you begin... you just have to begin. routines6 p.192