Top all-time · #2766
WISDOMINATION
Personal blog · wisdomination.comproductivityphilosophy
WISDOMINATION is a personal blog at wisdomination.com about productivity and philosophy. Since 2015, 26 different Hacker News readers have linked it 33 times, most often “Screw motivation, what you need is discipline”. The last post was in 2021, but the archive is still widely read.
Too few sampled comments (16) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN readers link this blog mainly for 'Screw motivation, what you need is discipline', which argues discipline beats motivation, and for a survivorship bias explainer.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 16 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- Screw motivation, what you need is discipline10 people · 10 mentions · first linked 2015-01-31
- Screw motivation, what you need is discipline8 people · 8 mentions · first linked 2020-06-17
- What is Survivorship Bias (2015)2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2015-02-22
- Practical discipline2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2015-03-13
- Practical Discipline2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-02-07
What Hacker News says?
I find this post on Wisdomination applicable to this scenario. It changed the way I approached tasks. http://www.wisdomination.com/screw-motivation-what-you-need-...
Comment linking /screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-discipline/
on “Tricks to start working despite not feeling like it”Submitted Screw motivation, what you need is discipline as a story · 551 points
HN discussionThen there's this (the complete opposite of OP's link): https://www.wisdomination.com/screw-motivation-what-you-need...
Comment linking /screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-discipline/
on “Excuse me but why are you eating so many frogs”Submitted Startups and Cultural Optimism as a story · 22 points
HN discussionUnfortunately, will power means nothing. What you need, as I learned, is discipline, which is really hard to train. you basically have Work hard on small things one at a time until you build the habits you want. On that topic, this is pretty interesting: https://www.wisdomination.com/screw-motivation-what-you-need...
Comment linking /screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-discipline/
on “I Miss Working from the Office”Submitted Screw motivation what you need is discipline as a story · 7 points
HN discussionThis one is also great: http://www.wisdomination.com/what-is-survivorship-bias/ By far, the best explanation I've ever seen !
Comment linking /what-is-survivorship-bias/
on “Survivorship Bias”Submitted Why some people get what they want, and others don’t as a story · 7 points
HN discussionYou might want to read this: http://www.wisdomination.com/screw-motivation-what-you-need-...
Comment linking /screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-discipline/
on “Andrew Ng on Life, Creativity, and Failure”Submitted What the hell happened to the future? as a story · 6 points
HN discussionUnfortunatey, we are highly unpredictable and emotional machines. You're going to have to deal with ups and downs, moments of euphoria as well as depression, no matter what. The key is to stay disciplined, and if you believe strongly that what you're working on solves a real problem no one else is solving appropriately, then keep working on it, very hard. While at it, keep looking for people to join you on your adve…
Comment linking /screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-discipline/
on “Ask HN: As a single bootstrapper, how do you deal with the pressure?”Submitted Practical discipline as a story · 6 points
HN discussionScrew motivation, what you need is discipline. http://www.wisdomination.com/screw-motivation-what-you-need-...
Comment linking /screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-discipline/
on “Ask HN: How do I stay motivated to learn?”Submitted What is Survivorship Bias (2015) as a story · 2 points
HN discussionMotivation is an emotional spark; you need to use that to create structures that enforce discipline, the logs that keeps the fire going. I like this blog post which really breaks down motivation vs. discipline: https://www.wisdomination.com/screw-motivation-what-you-need...
Comment linking /screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-discipline/
on “Ask HN: How do you develop internal motivation?”Submitted Screw motivation, what you need is discipline as a story · 2 points
HN discussionWhat do we need our passion for? To motivate ourselves? IMO, we have a problem when we expect to feel motivated to do stuff. I think we need to learn to do stuff even if we "don't feel it" yet, that state comes later as a reward for doing. Long ago I read an article that made me think about this: http://www.wisdomination.com/screw-motivation-what-you-need-...
Comment linking /screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-discipline/
on “To fixate on finding work that makes us happy is a luxury”Submitted How to actually lose weight as a story · 2 points
HN discussion1. Working in an industry will reveal all sorts of problems. Being a customer may also. If you've ever asked yourself "why is this so difficult/stupid" you may have a good problem to solve. 2. Burnout is a lack of discipline but is often thought about as a lack of motivation. Get clear on the differences: https://www.wisdomination.com/screw-motivation-what-you-need...
Comment linking /screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-discipline/
on “Ask HN: Should I switch from software eng if I want to be an entrepreneur?”Submitted Practical Discipline as a story · 1 points
HN discussionI found this article quite interesting on the topic of motivation: http://www.wisdomination.com/screw-motivation-what-you-need-...
Comment linking /screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-discipline/
on “Ask HN: Need Advice Losing Focus and Motivation”Submitted Accurate Dictionary as a story · 1 points
HN discussionThere's an article that goes into motivation versus discipline [1] that holds a similar view to what you're saying - motivation is like waiting to get into Olympic form, whereas discipline is what gets you to Olympic form. [1] http://www.wisdomination.com/screw-motivation-what-you-need-...
Comment linking /screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-discipline/
on “Ask HN: What's better, motivation or discipline?”Submitted Practical Discipline as a story · 1 points
HN discussionI found this one practically actionable and helpful > Motivation, broadly speaking, operates on the erroneous assumption that a particular mental or emotional state is necessary to complete a task. > That’s completely the wrong way around. > Discipline, by contrast, separates outwards functioning from moods and feelings and thereby ironically circumvents the problem by consistently improving them. https://www.wisdom…
Comment linking /screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-discipline/
on “Procrastination and the Priority of Short-Term Mood Regulation”Submitted Screw motivation, what you need is discipline as a story · 1 points
HN discussionHa, runs directly contrary to this blogpost [0] that's done well on HN a few times. > At its core, chasing motivation is insistence on the infantile fantasy that we should only be doing things we feel like doing. The problem is then framed thus: “How do I get myself to feel like doing what I have rationally decided to do?”. Bad. The proper question is “How do I make my feelings inconsequential and do the things I co…
Comment linking /screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-discipline/
on “How to be consistent”Submitted The life-changing magic of compound interest as a story · 1 points
HN discussionMaybe discipline [0] is another way to look at it. [0] "Screw motivation, what you need is discipline." https://www.wisdomination.com/screw-motivation-what-you-need...
Comment linking /screw-motivation-what-you-need-is-discipline/
on “Ask HN: Is Motivation the Answer for Everything?”Submitted Of course you can outrun your fork as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
