How to build discipline and brainwash yourself

http://ryanwaggoner.com/2010/11/the-greatest-secret-in-the-world/

by ryanwaggoner • 16 years ago

253 128 16 years ago

ryanwaggoner12• 16 years ago

I hesitated before submitting this here, because motivational / self-improvement stuff is a hard sell with the HN crowd (and for good reason). However, I've found it very helpful, and thought someone else here might as well. We all like to read deep, technical things that make us smarter and more knowledgeable, but it turns out that most people fail not because they're not smart enough or knowledgeable enough, but because they lack the discipline and drive to match their goals and ambitions.

eru7• 16 years ago

How about writing your own mantras and them repeating on the book's schedule?

ryanwaggoner12• 16 years ago

I agree that this could be a really effective approach, and I did consider it, particularly because I'm a Christian and I spent more time reading this book than I do reading my Bible :)

Actually, you've just given me an idea; I'm going to put together something like this for hackers and founders. Come to think of it, that's a little of what we're doing at http://hn.21times.org, though the articles are too long for this kind of repetitive reading. Any suggestions?

tobtoh2• 16 years ago

There is no reason you can't - but I find the advantage of taking someone else's mantra is that it comes 'baggage free'. I feel that if I absorb an 'external' mantra, it has more authority and lacks the subconscious emotional baggage that I would bring writing my own.

I realise this is very 'airy fairy' thinking, but heck, the whole article is about playing mind games with yourself to gain a benefit so it's not that out of place :)

sausagefeet2• 16 years ago

Question, is the major benefit that you had the discipline to read this book for a year? You didn't go into what you're doing differently now that you weren't a year ago.

ryanwaggoner12• 16 years ago

I'll cover that in another post, but yes, I feel much, much more disciplined and in control now. Particularly around daily habits. I have about a dozen habits that I do Mon-Fri and I haven't missed a single one in more than a year. For the last three months, I've been getting up at 345am seven days a week and I haven't missed a single day. It's not all this book and it's hard to describe, but there's a difference.

x0ner• 16 years ago

I can only imagine that if you are writing a post about the book that you did in fact read the passages as recommended. I personally am curious however if you ever reached a point of skimming? I am not sure if I could see the benefit in re-reading the same thing over and over. Yes, it instills the point their trying to make, but at what point is it overkill? Not to discredit it, but it reminds me of the whole process people with anxiety take to calm themselves down..."It will all be fine", "I am ok", "Things are out of my control", etc.

Alleyfield2• 16 years ago

Why couldn't I just make a little book for myself that would include inspirational quotes from my own personal heroes and just read them out aloud them every day?

I mean seriously... That example scroll just seemed kinda tootsy wootsy, some might even say "gay", like in a harry-potter-fantasy-world kind of way.

ryanwaggoner12• 16 years ago

You could. And probably should. I've thought about doing that myself, as I have no shortage of quotes and inspirational passages that I have collected from my readings over the years. But this book was a good place to start, and while corny, I found the message to be solid.

Hey, this might do absolutely nothing for you, which is fine. Like I said, I found it helpful and I perceive a difference in my attitudes and behaviors after spending a year with this book. But that's just me.

Alleyfield2• 16 years ago

I already have one. :)

I didn't question whether this book has worked for you or not, it's good if it has and more power to you.

It's about the reader's own attitude towards it. If you really believe in those passages (which, based on the passage, seem to be written like horoscopes) then of course they're going to work for you. Just like horoscopes magically seem to work into every situation.

In my humble honest opinion, advice like "I will persist until I succeed" just creates train wrecks. Especially when repeated 75 times in a month. I also believe that self help books like this one tend to cloud the reader's judgement and inflate their egos - which is not nice.

mike-cardwell2• 16 years ago

But then he wouldn't get the Amazon affiliate revenue :(

ryanwaggoner12• 16 years ago

Yeah, that $0.48 commission is why I spent a year reading this book three times a day. You caught me.

amih• 16 years ago

I'm not religious but this seems like prayer, where you repeat with similar frequency some ideas. Unlike established religion, here you can pick the subject you want to transfer to your mind as new habits of thought. Nice! I will check this book.

pbhjpbhj2• 16 years ago

Christian prayer is usually non-repetitive. However I know in other religions (Islam say) that prayer is more often strictly formalised. I guess if you used the Book of Common Prayer or something then it would work for Anglicans too.

More like meditation, it made me think of Ps119:97+ or the last para of Phillipians; or indeed any of multiple places where the Bible reader is encouraged to meditate on scripture and hold it in their hearts (or indeed as the Jews act out "pin it to your forehead").

mildweed• 16 years ago

There are a lot of good motivational/business advice passages in the Bible, I'd be interested to see if somebody's assembled all of those into a collection.

bincat• 16 years ago

Mormons also have their requirement to read Book of Mormon and pray daily. I'd caution to be really careful what information one chooses to reprogram their mind in that manner. You may end up believing or living by ideas that have no bearing on reality.

joseacta• 16 years ago

The repeating of the sentences every day has to do with your subconscious mind. Repeating it will record these words in your brain and with time your thinking will change along. If you read it once, probably tomorrow you won't remember what it said.

joakin• 16 years ago

I would seriously consider acquiring an audio version

eru7• 16 years ago

Or make your own.

shadowsun7• 16 years ago

Remind me: why is this on the frontpage of HN, again?

eru7• 16 years ago

Because there are loads of slackers reading HN, who'd like to change.

Now go back to work!

edw519• 16 years ago

Reasons to not buy the book:

1. I am a scientist. This sure doesn't seem like science to me.

Reasons to buy the book:

1. I am too ignorant to be pessimistic.

2. The source of the suggestion. Ryan's judgement usually seems pretty sound.

Two reasons are better than one. Just bought the book.

I'll start on Monday. I'll start on Monday. I'll start on Monday. I'll start on Monday. I'll start on Monday. I'll start on Monday. I'll start on Monday. I'll start on Monday. I'll start on Monday.

ryanwaggoner12• 16 years ago

Ha! I'm flattered; hope it works for you.

On the science question, I'd be interested to read more about the science of motivation. It seems intuitive that reading the same thing over and over would tend to reinforce it in your mind. Isn't that the basis for propaganda and brainwashing in general? However, intuition and science are often orthogonal, so some hard data would be interesting.

revorad• 16 years ago

The brainiacs at LessWrong have been thinking, discussing and arguing about akrasia for a long time - http://lesswrong.com/tag/akrasia/. You will find some references to scientific studies and data there.

Sounds like a very difficult nut to crack.

DevX101• 16 years ago

I am a scientist. This sure doesn't seem like science to me.

I'm not an expert in self-motivation so I don't know if there are placebo controlled randomized experiments to test effectiveness of self-motivation, but it seems like a reasonable and testable hypothesis that there are some real cognitive effects.

We know that athletes exhibit "muscle memory" where after prolonged repetition of a physical motion there are real changes that occur in the brain to make future repetitions sub-conscious, i.e. "being in the zone".

I suppose there could be an analagous system for higher order cognitive processes.

fleitz• 16 years ago

Given that the placebo effect is real, why not just use a placebo. Sure, this book may not be better than a placebo, but it's $8. If you get any positive effect at all it's probably worth it.

gcheong4• 16 years ago

If the excerpt given in the original post is any indication, the wording of the passages is probably too general to be of any direct effect but there is some evidence that forming what are known as "implementation intentions" does have some effect in helping direct oneself in goal attainment (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-delay/201001/implem...). So it could be that reminding your self to "persist" can lead you to form a more specific intention that does help you towards goal achievement, but you're probably better off just making your own set of implementation intentions and reading those each day.

joshkaufman• 16 years ago

Priming effects could also explain the results: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priming_(psychology)

nostrademons• 16 years ago

There's most definitely an analogous system for higher order cognitive processes. If you play Starcraft a lot, you will get better at Starcraft. If you program a lot, you will get better at programming. If you write a lot, you will get better at writing.

The part I'm not sure about is that additional level of abstraction. In my experience, if you read about programming a lot, you may get marginally better at programming, but nowhere near as good as you would've gotten had you spent that time programming. Similarly, if you read about persisting a lot, I doubt you'll get as good as you would if, every time you thought about quitting, you told yourself 'no' and kept going.

brc• 16 years ago

Well, we all know that spending time in the company of achievement minded, practical people tends to help with achievement. After all, friendships are really just a regular series of communications with people we tend to agree with. We can even be changed / motivated by people we've never actually met, such as politicians, actors, preachers, whomever. So clearly you don't even need a two-way communication for this to work. It's also possible to be affected by an 'enemy' if you spend enough time with them. So clearly you don't even have to see the person as a friend to accept influence, although it's likely that the less you respected the source, the less influence they woudl have. And it's also clear that, unless this process takes place over time, it's unlikely to be 'life changing'.

I can see how a book of repetitive phrases would tap into the same process that causes us to be influenced by friends and other people we respect. The book is really just a way of a message being communicated back to us. You could probably think of it as a hack to get positive ideas burnt into your subconcious on a large scale. And also, it's obviously important that you respect the book (and by extension, the author). Friendships work when you let the friends have influence over your life because you value their opinion.

I read a lot of these types of books, and I've been questioned why. I figure I'm just going to spend the time either reading fiction books or watching TV, anyway, so why not?

jonhendry2• 16 years ago

"I'm not an expert in self-motivation so I don't know if there are placebo controlled randomized experiments to test effectiveness of self-motivation, but it seems like a reasonable and testable hypothesis that there are some real cognitive effects."

Maybe. But people sure buy a lot of different self-help books that claim to be THE WAY.

akkartik3• 16 years ago

What does it mean that the book is not scientific? It's just a tool. Is a spade scientific?

You only need scientific method to organize observations. There are no observations here. There's nothing scientific about 'discipline', but it's still useful.

natep6• 16 years ago

The approach taken in writing the book was not scientific. There were no studies to determine if the phrases and methodology actually work better than a placebo (whatever that would be...lorem ipsum?). It's possible that this approach is no better than anything else, and it only seems to have a positive effect on people because it's what they happened to be doing.

Not being scientific doesn't mean it doesn't work. Plenty of tools and techniques have been invented and developed without science that turn out to be effective when subjected to scientific analysis (example: many plants used for medicinal purposes). It seems to me, though, that many more turn out to be hogwash (examples: many plants used for medicinal purposes, blood-letting, homeopathy, prayer-as-treatment).

In short, P(tool developed w/ science is effective) > P(tool developed w/o science is effective), and I don't know of a methodology more effective than science for determining the effectiveness of a tool or technique.

naner2• 16 years ago

What does it mean that the book is not scientific?

There's no scientific justification to its methodology. So we don't know that repeating particular phrases over and over can change one's mind or behavior in a meaningful way.

Methos• 16 years ago

Actually I haven't read much of Ryan's blog/comments to make any opinion about him. But I definitely know that edw519 makes many interesting, informative comments on hn. And if he believes in Ryan's judgement, so will I.

ianb• 16 years ago

It's not science, it's engineering.

jonhendry2• 16 years ago

Ummm, no. I'm really happy that bridges are built using more rigor than is found in self-help books.

gcheong4• 16 years ago

What weights are you assigning to each or your reasons that the sum of the 2 reasons "for" outweigh the 1 reason against?

marchdown• 16 years ago

By the power of anthropic principle, AKA naïve reasoning, I call upon the practice of double-counting my evidence and gain a BOOK.

FooBarWidget• 16 years ago

Follow some psychology courses and then review your assertion that it doesn't seem like science.

From a behavioral and cognitive view of psychology, gaining motivation from passages in the book is comparable to observed learning. If the motivation one gains from reading the book results in positive results then according to contingency conditioning theory it should result in reinforcement of the behavior, thereby producing an upward spiral. The book probably also influences humans' by altering their beliefs and therefore perceptions during top-down processing of information.

From a biomedical view of psychology, reading a passage 1000 times probably alters your brain structure in significant enough ways that it alters your motivational attitudes. I think that if you put people who read the book in an fMRI scanner you'll see some difference compared to control people.

madair• 16 years ago

>> I am a scientist. This sure doesn't seem like science to me.

maybe it's nietzsche or one of the romanticists you should start with then

bh42• 16 years ago

There was a study which pointed out that this only works if you have self confidence, then you can brainwash yourself with affirmations like those.

But if you are insecure, then affirmations actually make you worse of because it is like poking your vicious inner self-critic with a stick.

I'd love to cite the study but my google-fu fails me today.

jkkramer• 16 years ago

http://www.economist.com/node/13815141?story_id=13815141

http://www.psychologicalscience.org/media/releases/2009/wood...

johnohara• 16 years ago

I reject the term 'brainwash' and choose instead to replace it with 'creative visualization.' A technique familiar to most serious athletes and the rationale behind the word 'training.'

The thinking is simple: Visualize your goal in full detail before you actually create it. Edwin Moses' '13 steps' rule is a perfect example.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Moses

In this regard, it's not that far from 'The Law of Attraction.' Through discipline, hard work, patience, and confidence, the goal approaches you as you approach it.

u48998• 16 years ago

The black Friday bug seems to have hit HN. Two purchasing suggestions in two days with loads of social comments (making it enticing of course).

So why do we celebrate Thanksgiving?

trickjarrett• 16 years ago

Give it time, soon Thanksgiving will become an artifact of a holiday with a small loyal following and Black Friday will become the real holiday.

arethuza• 16 years ago

So you chaps really do celebrate Thanksgiving - I thought it was just a plot element in sitcoms...

space-monkey2• 16 years ago

Well, if by "celebrate" you mean "eat a lot of food", then yes!

eru7• 16 years ago

Who's we? I don't.

EdiX• 16 years ago

Read this sentence three times a day for five weeks:

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results."

samd• 16 years ago

Why is that insanity? Is it because you expect that the future will be like the past and thus continuing to do the same thing that you've been doing will produce the same results?

Well, why do you think the future will be like the past?

Is it because, in the past, the future was always like the past, and thus by induction the future will continue to be like the past?

But why should you trust induction? Is it because in the past induction has been trustworthy and thus you expect it will continue to be trustworthy in the future?

Well, why do you expect the future to be like the past?

timwiseman• 16 years ago

But I often do the same thing repeatedly fully expecting different results because in between the state/context has changed...

aamar• 16 years ago

I think this was a joke, but I hope no one has ever made any assessment or decision of any sort on the basis of this quip (incidentally, not Einstein's[1]).

This, of course, is not the definition of insanity, nor is it a remotely good proxy. Doing things over and over again -- whether chopping at that tree or going to the gym or working on a difficult problem -- should absolutely yield different results. All actions accumulate, some more than others.

[1] http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rita_Mae_Brown

light3• 16 years ago

I always thought of the 'different result' as meaning improvement, and the action in repetition as being suboptimal. Thereby no matter how much you practice you will be at best improving sub-optimally.

This makes particular sense when you're practicing a musical instrument, bad habits will be more and more engraved as you repeat more. The best instrument players are those who have been taught or self-discovered good ways to improve, and put in the hard practice/repetition.

lukeschlather• 16 years ago

Have you ever used a computer?

MarkPNeyer• 16 years ago

That definition of insantiy is worthless. Consider this:

You push the button once. Nothing happens. You push it again. Nothing happens. Does that mean nothing will happen in the future? No; that all depends upon what's going on when you push the button. Perhaps nothing that _you can observe_ happens.

FWIW, 'insanity' has many different definitions depending upon what kind of insanity you're talking about. There are different types of psychoses, schizophrenia, and sociopathic behavior as well.

gordonbowman2• 16 years ago

Great post Ryan. Curious, do you think it would be more helpful to repeat statements like these or questions that make you think?

In other words, which of these repeated daily would have more of an effect on self discipline:

“Today, I will multiply my value a hundredfold." vs. "What am I doing today to multiply my value by a hundredfold?"

jakerocheleau• 16 years ago

I think the latter is a more advanced form of the original. The first is just a statement. The 2nd assumes the statement to already be true, you're just examining the possibilities of how to manifest it's "trueness".. for lack of a better word.

gordonbowman2• 16 years ago

I would agree. It begins to make one think of the "how" behind it.

phugoid2• 16 years ago

My grandfathers managed to get their work done, all of it, without chanting mantras on a schedule. One of them was a farmer and part-time blacksmith, the other a cod fisherman.

ryanwaggoner12• 16 years ago

Are you sure?

Evgeny2• 16 years ago

May have something to do with starving if the job was not done. Quite a strong motivator. Not sure if it's a good thing or not, but not many of us will literally starve if we do not get some of our job done, so being sloppy does not have severe negative consequences.

phugoid2• 16 years ago

That's exactly what I was shooting at. I realize that my occasional apathy is a great luxury that my grandparents didn't have.

I find inspiration in knowing that I am a stone's throw away from real hardship.

jcw• 16 years ago

The Greatest Salesman in the World is still being published, I have a copy sitting on my bookshelf right now. It was a gift, and I never read it. If anyone knows, what are the difference between the two?

JanezStupar2• 16 years ago

It seems like a "poor man's" or lazy guy's autogenic training.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autogenic_training

Did it for quite awhile. And I got great results, amongst them: lucid dreaming, increased focus, reduced anxiety. I used to race downhill bikes at the time - and autogenic training combined with autosuggesty actually helped me reach previously inconceivable levels of performance.

What the book and the article gets wrong (and probably most people who are trying it) is the time frame in which you perform your training.

You absolutely must not think in past or future tense. Form the mantra in present - it doesn't matter if the statements don't sound right. Present yourself with affirmative thoughts and you will get considerably confident and motivated about your goals.

Before races I would repeat in my mind(speaking or murmuring is even better): I am well trained. I am well prepared for the task ahead of me. I know the track. I am calm. My heart rate is low. I am a champion. On this track I am the dog to beat. - while visualizing the track and breathing slowly.

You see I learned this while suffering grave lack of self esteem due to insane levels of preparation and training that left me lacking any considerable results. I also suffered due to lack of acknowledgement of my skill from other riders. And then I came across this writing that proposed that Ego does need to get stroked and patted for confidence. BUT that it is not necessary for other people to do it, any kind of encouragement works - even self induced. This is a case where build it and they will come actually works.

jacquesm• 16 years ago

> and autogenic training combined with autosuggesty actually helped me reach previously inconceivable levels of performance.

You keep using that word 'inconceivable', I don't think you understand what it means ;)

Why was it inconceivable that you could achieve such levels of performance if you then actually went about and achieved them ?

JanezStupar2• 16 years ago

When you have low self esteem the only thing you know is that you can't do shit, you may work as hard as you want. Like Henry Ford said: "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right."

So I just wanted to say that for me, using a psychological tool (a hack if you will) really worked.

abp• 16 years ago

Should i say: http://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Thinking-Learning-Refactor-P...

The book: http://pragprog.com/titles/ahptl/pragmatic-thinking-and-lear...

A mindmap that describes the contents pretty well: http://media.pragprog.com/titles/ahptl/MindMapWeb.png

The remainders of "The Greatest Secret in the World" replaced with exercices and pieces about being more aware of many essential skills. Through the exercises and losely coupled chapters, you can learn some core disciplines of the whole human race.

Let me explain.

It's like a manual for the simplest things in live like control about yourself, how the brain works, performance in any situation and so on. It makes a real difference for you, once you have understood and practiced for a while. But it is worth the effort.

Books are like a stream of knowledge, when they are really packed to the smallest possible pieces of text. The first read through is an enjoyment of well written text and assembled graphics, tips and exercises. But when you work while you read it gets even better.

Riding a bycycle is a pretty good metaphor on the whole thing. You need to learn how to ride a bike. So you need a bike.

I assume you already have a brain, since you are reading this.

Then you probably want to know how it works and evolves, in many details and exercises? One chapter. Go for it.

It reads closely to the offense of structure of very well written code, but in human readable text.

This is my opinion and i'd like to hear from others what they think, by all means. :)

diziet• 16 years ago

I just don't buy that saying something like:

Henceforth, I will consider each day’s effort as but one blow of my blade against a mighty oak. The first blow may cause not a tremor in the wood, nor the second, nor the third. Each blow, of itself, may be trifling, and seem of no consequence. Yet from childish swipes the oak will eventually tumble. So it will be with my efforts of today.

I will be liken to the rain drop which washes away the mountain; the ant who devours a tiger; the star which brightens the earth; the slave who builds a pyramid. I will build my castle one brick at a time for I know that small attempts, repeated, will complete any undertaking.

is going to help me do anything but look silly. Maybe I'm just a pragmatic rationalist.

ryanwaggoner12• 16 years ago

Maybe I'm just a pragmatic rationalist.

Interesting that you chose the word pragmatic, since pragmatism says that an idea needs to be tested and found valid before considered true. I've done that to the best of my ability in my own life, while you're rejecting it out of hand, without testing or validation.

As for rationalism, are you really convinced that it's irrational or unreasonable to believe that reading the same thing over and over will help reinforce it in your mind? Perhaps you're the type of person who can hear something once and immediately apply it to all relevant areas of your life, but I'm not.

I know that I should just small steps towards a very challenging goal. I know that not giving up in the face of overwhelming adversity is important. I know that time is the most valuable resource I have. But those things are hard to remember in the thick of it, when my emotions are telling me to stop, give up, waste time.

At the end of the day, you are a slave to your habits and your defined ways of thinking about yourself and the world around you. Better to be a slave to good habits and positive ways of thinking. Greatness is rarely achieved without a healthy dose of hubris about one's own abilities, ignorance about what is realistic, or both.

Let's flip this around: what are you trying to accomplish with your life? And what's the biggest internal roadblock to you accomplishing it?

kadavy• 16 years ago

Does anyone know if there is a plugin for this HN upvote message? I love it: https://skitch.com/kadavy/rb5pk/hn-upvote

mkrecny• 16 years ago

Maybe I'm a big softie, but does anyone else think that some of the images used in the excerpt are overly aggressive?

"blow of my blade against a mighty oak" "the ant who devours a tiger"

I'm not sure such images would inspire me.

gecko4• 16 years ago

Does anyone else find it a little obnoxious that ryan waggoner insists on posting every one of his blog posts on HN? If that's what I wanted, I'd just subscribe to his RSS feed.

ryanwaggoner12• 16 years ago

First, I don't post all of my posts. It might seem that way because I blog every day, but out of the 21 or so blog posts that I published in November, I've submitted exactly four to HN. And only two have made the homepage.

Second, if people don't find it useful or engaging, they'll stop upvoting it.

karlzt• 16 years ago

just put it on the pirate bay.

tygorius• 16 years ago

As much as I enjoy and have profited by reading Mandino's books, I have to point out that from a hacker perspective, there's a significant case of prior art in Benjamin Franklin's attempt to perfect his character by practicing each of 13 virtues for a week, cycling through them all four times over the course of a year. Not having computers, he used the technology of his time and made a chart to mark his progress. It's detailed in his autobiography and I would be greatly surprised if Mandino was unfamiliar with it. Googling "Benjamin Franklin virtue chart" will provide lots of discussion with anecdotes on the efficacy of the approach.

avitous• 16 years ago

Mandino specifically discusses Franklin's method in Chapter 3 of "The Greatest Secret In The World"; this is from the Kindle edition thereof, the only one of Mandino's books I've seen, so I don't know if earlier editions or Mandino's original book mentioned it.

khkwang• 16 years ago

Scroll I Today I begin a new life. Only principles endure and these I now possess..For what is success other than a state of mind? Which two, among a thousand wise men, will define success in the same words; yet failure is always described but one way. 'Failure is man’s inability to reach his goals in life, whatever they may be.'

Scroll II I will greet this day with love in my heart. And how will I act? I will love all manners of men for each has qualities to be admired even though they be hidden. With love I will tear down the wall of suspicion and hate which they have built round their hearts and in its place will I build bridges so that love may enter their souls.

Scroll III I will persist until I succeed. Nor will I allow yesterday’s success to lull me into today’s complacency, for this is the great foundation of failure. I will forget the happenings of the day that is gone, whether they were good or bad, and greet the new sun with confidence that this will be the best day of my life. So long as there is breath in me, that long will I persist. For now I know one of the greatest principles of success; if I persist long enough, I will win.

Scroll IV I am nature’s greatest miracle. Since the beginning of time never has there been another with my mind, my heart, my eyes, my ears, my hands, my hair, my mouth. None that come tomorrow can walk and talk and move and think exactly like me. All men are my brothers yet I am different from each. I am a unique creature.

Scroll V I will live this day as if it is my last. And if it is my last, it will be my greatest monument. This day I will make the best day of my life. This day I will drink every minute to its full. I will savor its taste and give thanks. I will maketh every hour count and each minute I will trade only for something of value.

Scroll VI Today I will be the master of my emotions. And how will I master my emotions so that every day is a happy day, and a productive one? I will learn this secret of the ages: Weak is he who permits his thoughts to control his actions; strong is he who forces these actions to control his thoughts.

Scroll VII I will laugh at the world. And with my laughter all things will be reduced to their proper size. I will laugh at my failures and they will vanish in could of new dreams; I will laugh at my successes and they will shrink to their true value.

Scroll VIII Today I will multiply my value a hundredfold. One grain of wheat when multiplied a hundredfold will produce a hundred stalks. Multiply these a hundredfold, ten times, and they will feed all the cities of the earth. Am I not more than a grain of wheat?

Scroll IX I will act now. My procrastination which has held me back was born of fear and now I recognize this secret mined from the depths of all courageous hearts. Now I know that to conquer fear I must always act without hesitation and the flutters in my heart will vanish. Now I know that action reduces the lion of terror to an ant of equanimity.

Scroll X Guidance. Never will I pray for the material things of the world…only guidance will I pray, that I may be shown the way to acquire these things, and my prayer will always be answered. ---

From wikipedia.

How to build discipline and brainwash yourself

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