On doing things

I have been thinking about the way we do things. Or perhaps, the way we do not. We have a set of objectives we would like to do. But we do not do them. For one justified reason or another.

Yet, we remain insistent that we want to do them. Why is that?

I read a lot of books on productivity and "doing" things this year. And while they have all been interesting reads, I cannot help but find this question unanswered. They mention why we should do it. Most include many anecdotes on other folks having done it. They even try to mention how one might do it. But nothing really explains how one moves from 0 to 1. From not doing the thing, to doing it. B.J. Fogg's Tiny Habits, and James Clear's Atomic Habits suggest that the trick lies in making it as small of a jump possibe. Taking it down from a 0-1 jump to a 0-.01 jump. But these books fail to take into consideration that these are subjective things. And a 0-.01 jump, may still feel like a 0-1 jump to some folks. The progress that is sure to follow is not the issue. The issue is not knowing the catalyst that changes you from a state of total inaction, to action. Especially when doing hard things.

Think about how much harder closing down all the apps and putting away your computer and reading a book sounds compared to flipping open a tab to instagram/reddit/facebook. You can replace reading a book with just about anything else you tell yourself you want to do, but have not. We are pushed from every direction to blame our willpower, or lack thereof. Discounting the millions (billions) of dollars spent by opposing forces to denigrate and design it so you feel this way. It is because these designs and changes are done under the guise of convenience and are supposed to benefit you. Or they are done in such a way that you are either unaware or have no choice but to submit to it. And they are systematically removing friction so that you will choose to spend time on their platforms, thinking what they want. Thinking that it is being done in your best interest.

Changing your choices from this frictionless distractions towards what you want to do requires active strategizing. It requries you to change your atmosphere. To be an active architect in your life. And the frustrating thing here is that it will go against the grain of what most others expect. At times it feels as if you are a luddite. Or perhaps you are missing a key information on how other folks manage to live with it. This applies to reddit/facebook/insta/tiktok, but also in other realms of your life. You will certainly face this kind of push if you decide that a materialistic life isn't for you. The push to blame willpower and remove any culpability from the designers/programmers/company is high.

We see this a bit more pronounced when it comes to weight loss and nutrition. And mind you, what they have to say is not wrong. It is devoid of empathy and at best unhelpful; at worst, damaging. One of the many attempts to focuse on and individual's willpower goes "Calories in, calories out." "It's the law of thermodynamics! " they will chime. But yelling CICO and "it worked for me!" feels akin to going to a poor person and yelling "money in, money out!". Like, yes? But what are you accomplishing by saying that? Here is what I hear:

These laws are set in stone. So if you've failed to manage your weight/ make money it is a personal individual failing. By reminding you of this law, I am implicitly asserting a moral high ground and relinquishing any culpability.

It just feels the same kind of bootstrapping willpower nonsense when it comes to habits. It's not enough to just "know". I'm not really sure what my end-point is. This is just a bunch of weird frustrations I've bottled up.