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Hello listeners, welcome to the Science of Self on March 8, 2024, where you improve your

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life from the inside out. Today's episode dives into the power of yes or no questions,

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inspired by Peter Hollins book, Super Brain. We all struggle with self-discipline, but

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what if the answer lies in a series of simple questions? Join us as we explore how saying

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yes or no to yourself can be the key to unlocking your full potential.

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To build self-discipline, one needs to self-monitor. At some point, you need to be able to know that

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what you're doing is wrong. This moment of realization will probably, after the fact,

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but you might even catch yourself in the middle of it from time to time.

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All the self-discipline in the world isn't useful if you don't know when you need to exercise it,

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either in the present moment or in the future. Unfortunately, most types of self-analysis are

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completely foreign to us. It runs counter to how we're wired because it involves stepping outside

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of our self-interested tendencies. Thus, it is not a skill we practice, and this leads us to

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often being unable to explain why we do what we do. We do, we react, and then the conscious

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thought comes after, if at all. Frankly, we walk around day to day with such a lack of

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self-awareness that we can barely recite the steps of our work commute. As bothersome and

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painful as self-analysis is, flat-out ignoring or not knowing yourself is not an acceptable

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alternative. You're not going to get far with willful ignorance or lack of perspective.

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You will have to be tough on yourself and ask yourself some hard questions. That's what this

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chapter is about. It contains questions you can ask yourself whenever you come to a stopping point

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or a fork in the road in your progress, especially if you sense you might give up and drift off into

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idleness, sloth, or undisciplined thinking. You can and should ask yourself these questions

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whenever you have time to do a mental check-in. There is, however, one very important facet

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about these questions. Your answers to most of them, no matter what the situation at the time

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you ask, must be either yes or no. No gray areas, no but, no, it depends, and no, I don't know,

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just yes or no, no explanation allowed, one word answers only.

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It may sound like I'm encouraging you to set up a false dichotomy, a situation where you're forced

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into choosing one of only two acceptable answers when in reality the situation may be much more

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complex. This might put you in a conundrum when you can't clearly answer yes or no, but you're

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right, that's exactly what I'm doing, and here's why. First, a drawn-out answer can get in the way

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of executing action or change. Giving a complex answer to any of these questions could lead you

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down a rabbit hole of overthinking, which will likely delay action on your part. This is otherwise

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known as analysis paralysis. This is also a slippery slope to creating excuses which we already know

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are no good. Second and more importantly, just answering yes or no to these questions, all of

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which I'm sure can be answered more deeply and thoroughly, forces you to state a harsh truth

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about yourself or know that you need to take action. When you have no option to equivocate,

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justify, or over-explain, you're forced to make a sharp, clear judgment on yourself.

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If you're over 50% at any point toward yes or no, that's your answer. Your justifications,

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defenses, or explanations about why you're doing or not doing it don't matter. Either you're doing

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something or you're not, and most of the time when you're forced to answer like this, you're not

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going to like what you find. This pushes you to act. Were you late to baseball practice? Well,

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there was so much traffic and you guys didn't start on time anyway. That might be true,

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but that's not the question that was asked. Instead, this answer provides no information

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and displays a similar amount of self-awareness. This person doesn't think they're the type

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to be late to baseball practice. Yes, now you've reached a harsh truth. You can either choose to

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accept that your actions define you, or you can exercise better discipline in the future

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to change this answer. This ends up being an important piece of the puzzle with the yes-no

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questions we use. The entire crux of self-discipline is that you're doing what you need to do despite

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wanting to give up and despite pain and discomfort. Thus, it's only appropriate that you stop the

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habit of justifications and equivocations and simply get things done, no matter how valid

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those excuses might be. That's why you bought this book after all. You can discuss all the

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me-getting factors, roadblocks, issues, or complications when you're in the post-mortem

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phase, when your projects are done and submitted. Do first and stop talking in circles. With that,

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let's dive in. When you feel you're at a crossroads or a stopping point in getting to where you

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want to be, the questions you need to ask are as follows. It might help to jot them on a note card

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somewhere or even carry them with you as a sort of self-discipline compass whenever needed.

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1. Will this course of action create a gap between my ideal self and my non-desired self?

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You want the answer here to be no, and you should do everything possible to not answer yes.

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Your ideal self is the one who possesses the self-discipline of a Shaolin monk on steroids.

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Let's say you're striving to be more productive at work. You fear that a lot of your colleagues

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have no idea why you're at work. You're nice enough, but they can't name one thing that you've done

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to make yourself indispensable. You become aware of this possibility and it frightens you. You start

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to see yourself that way. The thing is, you don't feel like yourself at work. You're riddled with

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anxiety and never really feel like the people know who you are. You don't have this issue

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in your social life. In fact, when explaining it to others, you give yourself an alter ego to

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show how you're almost a different person entirely when you're at the office. It's called rain.

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Rain is easily distracted. They spend a lot of time online at work, not always in work-related

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pursuits. They don't have a huge attention span at meetings. They do exactly the minimum required

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to not get fired. But given enough time, rain's lack of ambition and effort will make them redundant

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or expendable. But the person who you want to be is named somewhat audaciously steel. Steel is

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constantly assured. They never lack confidence. They know everything that goes on in their work.

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They don't have a lot of time for distraction. If there's a moment steel's not working,

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they're probably doing research on a future project or idea. They're optimistic and charming.

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They have a lot of answers, though they'll say, I don't have all the answers without sounding

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desperate. And of course, their work ethic is second to none, and they have the self-discipline

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of a Buddhist monk on a three-month silent retreat. Your conflict here is between the idea

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of your ideal self, steel, the kind of person who reflects your highest values, standards,

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and capabilities, and your undesired self, rain, the role you might indulge in sometimes,

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but strive to avoid as much as possible. Will your actions bring you closer to steel or rain?

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Will you move further away from your ideal, or will you go closer to achieving it? Again,

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this is a yes or no question. There may be a slight gap, but down the line it might be worth it,

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or, well, you see, this time is different because are not acceptable answers. Yes,

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the gap is bigger, or no, the gap is not bigger are your only choices.

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This question is important to ask because it raises the absolutely frightening possibility

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that you're not the type of person you want to be, and that your identity is at risk.

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It raises the possibility that you are lying to yourself. It creates a conflict between your words

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and your actions. It gives direct consequences to your actions by linking you to either steel

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or rain. Thus, you're pushed to protect yourself worth an image. The verbal realization of, yes,

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I'm not who I want to be, am supposed to be, or pride myself on being, just might shake you into

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action to do something about it. It should inspire you to make the first efforts to instill the

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discipline that will get you toward your ideal self. This question tends to feel a little confrontational,

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so here's an alternative phrasing. Does this course of action get me closer to my goal?

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Some people are simply more goal-oriented than identity-driven. It's easier for them to measure

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their progress by the attainment of milestones or targets rather than in terms of self-worth.

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In the end, this version of the yes-no question also links direct consequences to your actions.

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No matter which iteration of the question you ask yourself, it should make you consider cold

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reality. Are you truly acting in your own best interests and bringing yourself closer to your

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ideal? Or are you working against your belief? If you come to the conclusion that you're not

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serving your self-interest, then what exactly are you getting out of this deal? Will it be worth

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the sacrifice? At least gain self-awareness that you are making a trade-off.

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2. Does this action truly represent my intentions? Hopefully you answer yes,

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because self-discipline is reflected only when actions and intentions match. If not,

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what are your actions actually working toward? Let's say you have a goal of writing a novel.

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You think about it a lot. When you're working your day job, chipping away at another responsibility

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you need to look after, you're still imagining yourself as a published author or at least somebody

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who's written a complete book. You're planning characters and plot points in your head and seemingly

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dreaming about your work all the time. When you get free time after work or on the weekends,

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you're doing a lot to unwind, hitting the coffee shop, taking long walks, meeting friends for lunch,

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spending time online, hitting the bars at night, basic distractions. You might be talking about

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your book to friends, who at least appear to be interested. The one thing you're not doing though

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is actually working on the book. You're not committing anything to writing. You've got an

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empty file folder on your desktop, waiting to be filled with sketches, ideas, and text,

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but there's nothing in it. You're not doing anything wrong necessarily, but are your actions

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actually accomplishing what you want? Are you actively working toward finishing that novel

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and trying to get on the road to be a full-time writer? That's the next line of interrogation

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for you. Are your activities in alignment with your intentions? Is what you mentally desire

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being translated into action? Are you doing what you need to be doing, or are you merely

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paying at lip service? Even worse, has your attention drifted away from your best intentions,

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leading you to act without a goal at all? The easiest example of this would be sending work

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emails on your phone, but getting sidetracked by social media. You probably don't have any problem

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imagining or even meditating on your desires. You may have a very clear picture in your head as to

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what you want to be, but unless you're actually gearing your efforts toward fulfilling that goal,

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those thoughts and intentions don't mean a thing. You won't get credit, a claim, or congratulations

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for thinking a good game. You get them for doing something. You can have very articulated, very

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clear visions for what you want to be, but if what you're doing isn't directly contributing to those

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intentions, you're not getting anywhere. Intentions don't pay the bills. For instance,

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don't pat yourself on the back for thinking about bringing your significant other a present.

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This won't be very convincing to them. The answer to this question has ramifications

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outside the attainment of your goals. It also strikes to the heart of your character.

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Someone who talks a good game but can't match it with definitive actions could be considered

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undependable or untrustworthy. Your reputation hinges on what you're actually able to accomplish.

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Not being able to match your emotions with actual work is a sign of mental frailty,

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no matter how complete your idea might be in your head. Anyone can talk like a writer,

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and it might be good for a lively evening of interesting discussion,

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but that completely evaporates when the conversation's over if you don't actually work on the novel.

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Words and evocative speech ultimately don't mean anything. Action does.

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That's why this question is important, and like the first question, it might be more helpful if

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your answer is no, again, without any conditions, explanations, footnotes, or excuses. Just no.

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Hopefully the cold shock of that no will spur you to put your intentions into actions.

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This question could be asked about almost any aspect of your life.

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Am I being a responsible parent and keeping my behavior in line with what I tell my kids?

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Am I working hard enough to reach my goal of learning a new language?

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Am I really working hard enough at being the best pool player in the western hemisphere,

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or do I need to spend more time practicing my bank shots?

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Any kind of ambition or goal that you have in mind, no matter how personal or public,

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is easily addressed by asking yourself if your actions are meeting your intentions.

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Yes or no? That's almost always enough to get you moving in the right direction.

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If not, it'll be because of your intentions themselves, not how self-disciplined you are.

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3. Am I merely uncomfortable? Is your reason for not wanting to exercise self-discipline

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related only to mere discomfort and nothing actually harmful?

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You want to answer no here, otherwise you're admitting that you melt faster than an ice cube

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in summer. Consequently, you may realize how much you disempower yourself. Let's talk about

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going to the neighborhood gym. Almost anybody who is in decent physical shape,

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it stands for reason, has probably conquered most of their self-consciousness about working out in

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public and has no problem sweating it out in the presence of strangers. For those who aren't top

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physical specimens, the story can be quite different. Exercising can make them uncomfortable

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for a myriad of reasons. From the moment they get on a treadmill, they may feel like they're

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being watched and judged. If they try to do an arm curl, they may feel embarrassed or timid in

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the presence of someone who's obviously done thousands of them. If they're trying to work

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off the punch around their stomach, they may feel that other people are watching and appraising them

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harshly. This is, of course, ignoring the muscular fatigue and soreness they can follow.

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Thus, for someone who is debating going to the gym, is mere discomfort holding them back or

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is it the prospect of real harm? That's the crux of the third yes or no question.

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Do I not want to do this just because it makes me feel uncomfortable or is this actually having a

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negative harmful effect on me? I'm willing to bet that 99 times out of 100, the answer is yes,

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it's merely uncomfortable. You're being pushed out of your comfort zone. You will suffer a bit

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mentally. Your body will grow sweaty and fatigued. Your brain will be exercised to its full capacity.

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You may experience some negative emotions such as stress and anxiety. You will recover just

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fine without lasting repercussions. This is all discomfort. And then? And then nothing. So are

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you the type of person to pack it in just because you're uncomfortable? Feel free to slide down the

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slipperish slope of what kind of person that might make you. Your worst case scenarios and

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wild justifications are just providing a flimsy reason to avoid discomfort. In fact,

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they're nothing more than mental illusions. This question forces you to face the shame that

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you're easily stopped by discomfort. Discomfort has and never will be a legitimate reason to not

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exercise self discipline. And thus, this shame should propel you into action.

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This is a question where the yes-no dichotomy is particularly effective. Every single thing we

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do to better ourselves, to effect positive change in our lives, is going to involve some measure of

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inconvenience, discomfort, or fatigue, at least in the beginning. It might even involve minor pain,

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especially if you're working out for the first time. But are any of those consequences inherently

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harmful? No, they're not. There are a thousand cliches that reflect that truth, like no pain,

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no gain. Affecting real change in your life is going to involve a measure of discomfort. I can't

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think of any kind of emotional, physical, spiritual, or occupational change that doesn't entail some

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irritation, soreness, inconvenience, or bother. If they didn't, everybody would do it.

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Think about this question with everything you do that's causing you some measure of discomfort.

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You have the choice to be lazy and weak-spirited or get into action.

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4. What would I do if I had no choice but to exercise self-discipline?

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We'll break from the theme of the chapter here for a moment, as this isn't a yes-no question.

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Sorry, I couldn't resist. Still, keep the answer short and sweet and rooted in reality

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without rationalizations. If there was a gun pointed at your head, what would happen if you

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were forced to exercise self-discipline? You might be forced to admit that absolutely nothing bad

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would happen, and in fact, you'd be better positioned than before. Similar to the last question,

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you may experience discomfort, but you'd get through it and persevere.

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Let's go back to the gym. You've been working out for an hour. You just received a phone call

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that if your heartbeat drops below a certain rate, your entire family will die. So, you jump on the

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treadmill and try to hold on for dear life. Nothing feels comfortable at this point,

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as you have fatigue, self-consciousness, revulsion at your own body odor, sweat marks everywhere,

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the whole nine yards, your lungs are burning and your mouth is dry. Miraculously,

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this criminal is caught after an hour. Besides those discomforts, what awful consequences have

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come as a result of your being forced to work out? None. The point is to understand that the

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worst-case scenarios we dream up will never occur. The benefits of your efforts are going to be real,

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and the price you have to pay to get them in the end won't be much at all. You might not

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even remember the pain or discomfort later. If you do, you'll probably firmly believe it was

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worth all the pain to get where you wanted to go. When you force yourself into something,

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you have nothing to lose but everything to gain. When you try to summon up the will to exercise

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self-discipline, picture yourself as having no plan B whatsoever. Don't look for shortcuts,

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don't search for less taxing or exhausting schemes, and don't try to negotiate with yourself.

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Again, gun to your head, you'd sigh, groan a bit, and then set to your task without any other

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consequences. Imaginary Crisis Averted

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Hopefully, it will make you understand how your fleeting impulses of annoyance or minor

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discomfort can derail you from your plans and how they shouldn't. The satisfaction you receive

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from your positive consequences will be more than enough to strike those small peeves from your memory.

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5. Is I Don't Want To A Good Enough Excused To Not Do Something

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You already know the answer to this question. No. And hopefully, the way it's phrased makes

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you realize that I don't want to is a bit of an entitled and lazy thing to say. And you don't

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want to be entitled and lazy, do you? No matter how you dress it up or rationalize it, most of the

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time we just don't want to exercise discipline because we don't want to. We can play devil's

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advocate first to bring some context to this question. Why should you do something you really

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don't want to do? Life is a complicated enough affair as it is. Why weigh it down even more

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with something that you just don't want to experience or put effort towards things that

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make you miserable to any degree, even if they will result in positive consequences?

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What's the difference? Don't you have free will? What about living for carpe diem and truly

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living life because you're only young once? Those are all true, but now imagine people who

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do not have your range of options. Some people have to do things that nobody else wants to do

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to make ends meet. They work menial or strenuous jobs or work multiple jobs because they absolutely

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have to. Some of them have to take care of entire families, which might restrict them from things

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they really want to do. In fact, they may be so busy or preoccupied that they don't have time to

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even think about what they really want to do. They have no time for anything except working,

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eating, and sleeping. They indeed have the proverbial gun to their head from the previous question.

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And then they have to do that every day of the week. Some of them may be perfectly content with

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this. Maybe they find meaning in what they do and that's enough for them. That is respectable.

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You, however, by virtue of being able to hem and haul and procrastinate,

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are in a position of privilege to have the choices they don't.

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The chores and tasks you have to endure to get to the goal you want to reach

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are opportunities they do not have. They'd love to have the time to learn a foreign language,

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develop a knowledgeable appreciation for art, or spend time learning to communicate with their

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loved ones. They'd also love the choice to not do something they need to do. They just don't

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have the ability or time. You do. And not to be mean, but hey, let's be honest. If a long

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shoreman heard you complaining about the leg cramps you got while doing sit-ups,

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he might think you're being a little, well, ridiculous. He has no choice but to wake up

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at 5 a.m. each day and work until 8 p.m. How's that for a bit of perspective?

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Surely you can push a bit harder in the gym. Surely you can make the bed every morning.

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Surely that darned car can finally get washed. The answer to this question then is, hopefully,

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no, it's not a good excuse for anything. Everybody does something they don't want to do

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from time to time, but some people don't have the opportunity to do anything else.

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Turn that realization into a sense of gratitude that you can do it.

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That's not just the right way to be, either. It will give you a positive outlook,

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because it's impossible to feel gratitude and negativity at the same time.

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Spend some time thinking about people who have to do those arduous or dreadful jobs

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every day of their lives. Write them down in a list if you have to,

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then put yourself in proper perspective about the pesky discomforts or chores you have to do

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to get to your goal. Your being able to do those annoying things is actually a great freedom.

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These things you want to avoid are only drudgery if you choose to see them that way.

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Coming at a task from a mindset of gratitude versus dread will create vastly different outcomes.

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In the grand scheme of things, you're not asking all that much of yourself,

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and the end result will be far more worthy of your mental energy than what you spend

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to complain about them. 6. Am I doing the right thing or the easy thing?

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Sorry, another deviation from the theme of the chapter, yet it's still a helpful question to

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bring clarity to what you're trying to accomplish at the moment or in the future.

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Going to the gym would be the right thing, while the easy thing would be staying at home.

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The easy thing would also be researching healthy recipes online, or anything else you do to slightly

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ease your guilt. Unfortunately, doing the right thing usually means doing the hard thing.

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Actually, they're almost always the exact same thing. The average person doesn't typically

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choose things that are difficult when there is an alternative, which is why self-discipline is

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often the missing component for many people who don't fulfill their goals. People drift

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toward the path of least resistance, consciously or not. If you don't want that to be you,

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you'll need to be able to consciously answer whether you are doing that or doing what's right.

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When you can't confidently say that you're doing the right thing, you're not, and then you're forced

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to compare the difference between right and easy. If you're not doing what you should be,

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then anything else out of your mouth is an excuse, plain and simple. Instead of beating

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around the bush and soothing your ego, it would actually be better to start being honest and

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upfront with yourself about your behavior. Categorize your actions into right or easy.

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Running to lose weight, right thing. Skipping a workout, easy thing. Cutting workout short,

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easy thing. Instead of rationalizing skipping a run because it's too hot outside or it's too late,

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you'd just start saying, I'm not going to run today because I'm too soft and lazy to maintain

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discipline. In reality, why are you skipping the run? Because you're lazy. You know the

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right thing to do is run. Therefore, you're taking the easy way out. In effect, you become

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brutally honest and confrontational with yourself, which is sometimes the only way to get a message

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across. You should always want to answer that you're doing what's right, and that will frequently

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mean that you have to make a little extra effort. But when you do it consistently, that extra effort

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pays off. For example, you might have the opportunity to cheat while taking an exam.

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Knowing that they wouldn't be caught, the typical student probably takes that opportunity to cheat

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and runs with it. But then the final exam comes around, and now the test taking environment is

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much more closely monitored to the point that cheating would be risky or even impossible.

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The students who didn't cheat on previous exams and relied on their own studying will have actually

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learned the material throughout the semester and given themselves a good shot at success,

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while the students who cheated their way through the entire semester won't know anything on the

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final exam. Reaching your goals isn't all that different from succeeding on that final exam.

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Sure, you might find little successes from shortcuts, from rationalizations along the way,

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but eventually it catches up to you and you'll find you don't have what it takes.

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Doing the right thing may feel like the harder route in the moment,

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but when you do it consistently, it winds up being the most efficient route to accomplishing your goals.

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Is there a real obstacle to my goal that can't be overcome?

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Think of this question as an excuse buster. An excuse is something that appears on the surface

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to be quite rational, but in reality is nothing more than an attempt to wriggle out of something

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that is difficult or uncomfortable or even just something that takes you slightly out of your

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comfort zone. Look, obviously on occasion there really will be a good reason for you not to do

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your workout that day. Both of your arms have suddenly fallen off, but usually there's a

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workaround no matter what. Looks like it's leg day then. The truth is that most of the reasons

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we give ourselves for not doing something are bogus and deep down we know it. What is really

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the obstacle? Think about it, a person who truly doesn't want to do something won't do it. No matter

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how easy it is for them, they'll dream up any number of excuses to say why they can't. And a

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person who truly does want to do something cannot be dissuaded, i.e. no matter what obstacles emerge,

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they do what they want to do. What this means is that it's not even really about the obstacles

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at all, it's about our will, intention, and self-discipline. If you catch yourself telling

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yourself a nice little story about why you couldn't possibly do the thing you said you were going to do,

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stop. Take a close look at what's going on and ask, is there really an obstacle in the way here,

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or is my attitude the obstacle? Another way to look at it, there may be obstacles, sure,

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but then again there always are. There are so many obstacles in life, you may as well say there are

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none because to have something standing in your way is pretty much the norm. It'll always be something,

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the weather, money, other people being idiots, tiredness, work, you name it. If not one thing,

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then the other. But are those obstacles that cannot be overcome? Probably not. Either you can

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acknowledge that you're just making excuses and refuse to believe them, or B, you can take the

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obstacle at face value, but refuse to let it mean anything, i.e. sure it's going to be tricky,

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but so what? You'll just find another way. If we're honest, the answer to this question is almost

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always nope. What is the outcome of this action if I continue along this path? The easy, tempting,

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distracting thing is right here in front of you, promising instant gratification.

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Indulging conceals its true cost though, which only kicks in later down the line in the future.

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Is your present self engaging in behavior that's screwing over your future self? In other words,

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are you doing things that your future self will regret? The idea behind this question is to activate

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long term thinking and downplay our tendency to focus only on the immediate rewards of an action

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in the present. Here are two options. Option A, pleasure and ease. Option B, turning down pleasure

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and ease. The choice is an easy one, right? You go with A. Life is hard. Why not make the best of it?

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Take the afternoon off for no reason. Have a treat or do a sloppy job on a task to just get it done.

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But look at this set of options. Option A, pleasure and ease, followed by guilt and shame

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at 10 minutes, then regret at 10 days, a deep sense of disappointment in yourself 10 weeks,

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and then the feeling that your dreams have passed you by and it's too late to do anything now

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10 months or years. Option B, turning down pleasure and ease, followed by nothing in particular,

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10 minutes, but then a little pride at having strength to be self-disciplined 10 days, a

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stronger sense of focus 10 weeks, and the completion of your dream goal 10 months or years.

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Which seems like the better choice now. They are of course both the same options in each case,

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only the second pair truly accounts for consequences of your actions and takes a long term view.

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The trouble is that all the less beneficial actions seem to have rewards that play out instantly

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with a bill that comes later, whereas the better choices take time for their benefits to show.

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If we aren't patient, focused and diligent, we will always pick option A, but still pay for it

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later. The old adage, act in haste, repent at leisure, captures this idea somewhat.

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Actions mature. Sometimes results only fully appear long after their instigating action.

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By asking the above question though, you're correcting this bias for rewards in the present

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and doing a full accounting of what an action really costs you.

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Don't choose something, simply according to the benefits you perceive in the moment.

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When you choose something, you're also choosing the consequences of that thing.

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Even consequences that play out over decades, you're choosing what happens over the next minutes,

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days, years and months. Also, if you did this action, what other actions would it make easier

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and more probable in the future? And are those what you really want? In other words,

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the more choose, pleasure and ease, the easier it is to keep choosing it.

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The next time you're faced with something that threatens to derail your discipline to action,

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ask what indulging looks like down the line. Look at possible outcomes and consequences.

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Ask what happens in 10 minutes, 10 days, 10 weeks, 10 years. Hey, there's a chance that

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acting now has few if any consequences and it's best to seize the day and have a good time,

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but at least choose that option with open eyes.

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Takeaways

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Yes or no? Just a simple answer, please, with no BS. This chapter is all about self-interrogation

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and digging into your excuses and rationalizations to avoid exercising self-discipline.

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What follows is typically self-awareness at how casually you view avoiding work.

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There are six questions to bring clarity. Most are indeed yes or no questions to force you to

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either admit a harsh truth or take action. Will this course of action create a gap between my

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ideal self and my non-desired self? Alternatively, does this action take me closer or farther from

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my goals? Does this action truly represent my intentions? If not, then what the heck am I doing?

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Am I merely uncomfortable? Am I letting mere discomfort keep me from my goals?

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Am I so mentally weak? What would I do if I had no choice but to exercise self-discipline?

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Certainly not the worst case scenario. Is, I don't want to, a good enough excuse to not do

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something? You may have the ability to use this excuse, but what about those who are never able

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to take a break and have to act every single time? It's difficult to feel gratitude and

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lack self-discipline at the same time. Am I doing the right thing or the easy thing?

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There's usually only one path to what you want, and it's not typically an easy one.

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Is there a real obstacle to my goal that I can't overcome?

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This focuses you on the fact that most of the time, the so-called obstacle is not the problem,

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but our attitude is, if we wanted to do it, no obstacle would stop us, and if we didn't want

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to do it, we wouldn't, even if there were zero obstacles. What is the outcome of this action

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if I continue along this path? Switch your focus away from instant gratification and see how a

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decision plays out over time, from 10 minutes to 10 years into the future. When you choose something,

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you're also choosing the consequence of that thing, even if those consequences don't kick in for a while.

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Thanks for joining us on The Science of Self, where you improve your life from the inside out.

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Remember, the power to change lies within you. Visit Peter Holland's website at bit.ly

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slash peterhollands for more insights on maximizing your potential. We'll see you next Friday.