On Discipline

Many everyday behaviors are harming us more than we want to admit. We’re dependent on simple pleasures, and it’s silently degrading our agency. This comfort-driven autopilot lulls us into accepting unfulfilled, half-empty lives. Fasting is a tool that we can leverage to change this story. It can build the mental muscle we need to break free of the shit that holds us back.

Coffee, video games, hot showers, TV, social media, sleeping in, eating out, jacking off, even overworking – all things that are easy to justify in moderation. We may not sense their impact, but our compulsion to these habits clouds our judgement and dulls the human experience. I believe an unbroken daily habit or over-indulgence in any of this is harmful - it wastes so much potential for life.

When a person without discipline starts an exercise routine, they can go a week or two with enough motivation. In their mind’s eye they see a stronger, leaner, healthier self - someone worth striving to become. But since they don’t regularly exercise willpower, they give in to default behaviors of everyday comforts and quit - demonstrating that they are unable make choices that challenge and improve them and can do little more than run their life on autopilot. This person isn’t free to do what they want, they are bound by their comfort zone.

Coming to terms with my dependencies was uncomfortable as hell and is still a struggle. I had every reason in the world to believe that energy drinks, video games, and social media weren’t an issue for me. Taking an extended break revealed how noisy my life was and how it contributed to anxiety, dissatisfaction, and slowed progress. The detoxification process was mentally and emotionally exhausting. I had headaches, fought fatigue, and was so damn bored. I spent a couple of weeks very depressed.

But the result was incredibly freeing. Since then, I’ve continued fasting practices – I consider it necessary mental training. I can go without food, or without caffeine, or without YouTube. I can build whatever habit I choose to. I know I can. Regular fasting shakes things up, helps me evaluate my priorities, and builds my confidence. You probably already know where to start, allow yourself to acknowledge what you’re dependent on. Fasting is an opportunity to be bored - inviting creativity, be uncomfortable - inviting strength, and shed vices - inviting health.