We all want to be disciplined. We all want to be better. At least, I hope we do.
There’s a consistent thread when I look at those who lived lives I admire. They’re prolific. To be prolific, they prioritize while being competent, efficient, and disciplined. If you want something done, give it to the busiest person in the room. To be great, you need the abilities of that busy person.
Power Laws
Isaac Asimov, Richard Feynman, Julius Caesar, and Winston Churchill were all consistently prolific in their day. Some modern-day versions of this are Tyler Cowen, with his blogs/articles/books, and Brandon Sanderson, still early in his career with 40+ books he’s released. Stephen King has released 90+ books, while even George RR Martin, who is stigmatized as slow to release, has written at least 24 books. Isaac Asimov, who arguably was the best science fiction writer of his day, wrote or edited over 500 books, not including his over 90,000 letters and postcards.
Pareto Principle
Some humans just do more. The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, stipulates that 20% of a group produces 80% of the output. We see this in nature with animals and even with seeds, where 20% of the seeds result in 80% of plants. The far end of the distribution is even more skewed. Power laws are inherent in venture investing, where it’s common knowledge that your top-performing portfolio company will equal the returns of all your other investments combined. The extremes of society are important to understand for both the positive and the negative.
Quantity begets quality
Quantity begets quality, whether it be war (Genghis Khan and his generals running circles around the world), writing, politics (Elizabeth Warren against Bloomberg, Ted Kennedy vs. new to politics Romney), comedy (Seinfeld talks about not breaking the chain writing a joke every day and read Born Standing Up by Steve Martin), music (Mozart, The Beatles), sports, meditation, or any other endeavor. The best spend massive amounts of time on deliberate practice.
When I was younger, I thought the possibilities were endless. In a sense, they were, but as we age, our obligations increase with our work, friends, family, and partners. The little time left gets spent on select hobbies. If you’re like me, the amount of genuinely free time you have is filled with a backlog of items on a to-do list. Discipline is needed to complete them.
Improve 1% each day
I’m not perfect. I’m not optimal. No one is. No one will ever be… well, maybe some future, awesome AGI will. In the meantime, humans can strive to be optimal and work to be better, but we don’t have to feel bad for not being 100% every day.
A little bit of discipline goes a long way. Set basic goals within reach and accomplish them. Set reminders, make to-do lists, and reward yourself when you complete tasks. Mirror the discipline of the prolific.