How To Lock In?

[SimpleGuy]

Hello, everyone. I want to focus on money now and I know about concept of "locking in" or "monk mode". So I want to do it. Maybe for all of my life, because the most fulfillment I get from life is doing my work.

How it locking in/monk mode look like? Any tips?

Is it possible to work for 10-12 hours a day on a consistent schedule, maybe even for whole life?

[bazera]

@SimpleGuy That monk mode, or locking in just refers to removing distractions, that's it.

Remove distractions that robs you of your energy and time and devote those to something you want to see progress in.

And what are distractions? That question is personal, depends on what distracts you. For me it was social media, doomscrolling, other dopamine-depleting habits, mindless socialization, mindless drama, even a relationship at some point, but that was me at a specific point in life, doesn't mean that relationships are distraction in general, that's why it has to be a conscious choise, not something you read on the internet.

Audit your life for couple days / weeks hour by hour, what is it that you do that can be removed and those hours channeled into a more constructive thing that you're working on?

16 minutes ago, SimpleGuy said:

maybe even for whole life?

That can be done, look at all those tech bros and Elon Musk types, but is that what you truly want? Maybe for some time yes, to achieve certain level of success but whole life? I'd reconsider that if I were you.

Edited July 30 by bazera

[YIDIRYIDIR]

watch this episode:

 

For the building phase of any big project in career or business, the "locking in" phase is important, you need massive effort and focus. but it won't last forever for most people, you would eventually burn out if you maintain that intensity phase longer than necessary.

[oOo]

If you can learn how to plan, you'll be surprised just how much you can get done.

If you can learn how to train yourself to plan at a more sophisticated level, you'll be less surprised by the results while feeling more rewarded from them.

Literally no body trains to plan at a more sophisticated level, so ignore most people on the subject outside of observing actions. 

Literally no one teaches how to train how to plan at a sophisticated level, so ignore most teachers.

The most important mechanism when it comes to planning, is pairing.

We pair mental phenomena to the mental construct of time and then our predictive brains reorganise their theories of what to anticipate in not just the world around them, but their sense of self relative to those plans. 

The reason why our sense of self becomes so integral to the process of planning is because what's the most common characteristic most associate with the lack of executing on a plan? Procrastination. 

This means, in as much as you need to learn to pair the association between mental phenomena and time you need to learn how to anticipate your own emotional reactions in time, and pre-plan how you are going to work through them. Procrastination is only a virus in as much as the software is not self-aware of its own power thresholds. When the power thresholds, like the relationship between our consciousness and emotions, become out of balance, so too does our behaviour in as much as their is not concordance between our awareness and its reorganisation. Making that leap to and from awareness and reorganisation comes down to where the sensitisation to our bodily experiences meets the will to challenge. It's opposite to the contrary, procrastination, is the compounding result of dissociation x disorganised attention meets increasingly lower consciousness. These are not perfect lines, but they are proportional. 

Get out a timer now and imagine you are going to practice doing activities for the next ten minutes. 

You are not going to write a list down.

You are going to come up with 10 activities, mentally imagine each activity being paired to its respective minute and you are going to do all of those activities in precise order, not missing a beat.

Then you are going to come up with 5 activities, 2 minutes each over 10 minutes.

Then you will come up with 2 activities, 5 minutes each over 10 minutes.

Then you are going to come up with 3 activities, 10 minutes each over 30 minutes.

Then you are... You get the picture. 

It's absolutely vital to take the pairing between mental phenomenon and time, as it is pivotal to the learning process of planning itself. 

Now, when it comes to strategizing that's a different subject but I will give you the first shoelaces here.

After the above has been practiced, simply come up with 3 competing hypotheses each time before executing each 10 minute, 30 minute or whatever time slot you choose, in deciding what the (1) shortest path is between their achievement, the (2) most effective path and (3) the most value aligned. Ideally, you want to align all three of these, and feel free to come up with your own further metrics. 

Good luck, that'll get you started, you'll be surprised just how effective simple training like this can be. And, don't forget to remind yourself of the feedback you learned on each next execution to both encourage and advance your approach, however subtle the reformulation. 

[SimpleGuy]

On 30.07.2026 at 1:18 PM, bazera said:

That can be done, look at all those tech bros and Elon Musk types, but is that what you truly want? Maybe for some time yes, to achieve certain level of success but whole life? I'd reconsider that if I were you.

Thank you bro. You know, the most fulfillment I get in life is from achieving my goals (usually in work). So why not work always if I'd feel always fulfilled?

[bazera]

@SimpleGuy Great, do whatever works for you. 

But also try exploring other kinds of fulfillments outside of achieving your goals.

Also notice that when you achieve a goal, it's fullfilling for a short period of time and then it becomes kinda meh, you get used to it. It doesn't stick. I also work on some goals but in the back of my mind I'm also looking for ways of more lasting fullfilment that life can offer.

[ChrisZoZo]

@SimpleGuy to really lock in. Do a meditation of where you imagine doing the actions in order to complete a said goal. Do this for 10 minutes as soon as you wake up and 10 minutes before you sleep. 
 

Then throughout day re-correct yourself if you find yourself becoming non locked-in. 

 

[SimpleGuy]

On 05.08.2026 at 0:00 PM, bazera said:

ways of more lasting fullfilment that life can offer.

Do you know already some examles of that?

[YIDIRYIDIR]

Also, when locking in, i suggest you read the book "the war of art", it talks about resistance, here's an overview of what it talks about: 

• Resistance targets anything important. The more meaningful a goal is to your growth, the more resistance you'll feel trying to pursue it.
• It's strongest right before you act. Resistance peaks at the moment just before you sit down to work and eases the second you actually begin.
• It uses fear, not logic. It doesn't argue with you rationally; it works through anxiety, self-doubt, and procrastination.
• It's impersonal. It's not a judgment on you specifically everyone doing meaningful work faces it, so don't take it personally or as evidence you're not cut out for the work.
• It recruits disguises. It shows up as distraction, busywork, self-sabotage, relationship drama, sudden "urgent" tasks, perfectionism, or even illness anything that keeps you from the real work.
• It never goes away. You don't defeat resistance permanently; you just show up and outwork it, day after day.
• The cure is showing up as a professional, not an amateur. Pressfield's answer is treating your work like a job: consistent hours, discipline, no waiting for inspiration or the "right mood."
• Resistance is proportional to the stakes. The more resistance you feel toward a particular action, the more likely that action matters for your growth so intensity of resistance is a signal.

Showing up as a professional means: 

• You show up every day. Regardless of mood, inspiration, or how you feel professionals work on a schedule, not on impulse.
• You show up no matter what. Sick, tired, uninspired you still put in the time.
• You stay on the job all day. Full commitment during work hours, not just token effort.
• You commit for the long haul. Professionals think in terms of years and careers, not single projects or bursts of motivation.
• The stakes are high and real for you. You treat the work as if your livelihood depends on it, because in some sense it does.
• You are not seduced by applause. You don't work for praise, and you don't collapse under criticism either you stay steady through both.
• You endure adversity. Setbacks, rejection, and failure don't knock you off course they're expected, not exceptional.
• You self-validate. You don't wait for permission, recognition, or external validation to know your work has value.
• You persist through fear. Professionals feel the same fear and doubt as anyone else they just don't let it stop them.
• You act in the face of fear. Courage isn't the absence of fear; it's moving forward despite it.
• You accept no excuses. No blaming circumstances, other people, or bad luck for not doing the work.
• You play it as it lays. You work with the conditions you actually have, not the ones you wish you had.
• You master the technique of your craft. Professionals put in the time to actually get skilled, not just inspired.
• You do not identify with your archetype. You don't over-romanticize being "an artist" you just do the work, without ego wrapped around the identity.
• You keep it simple, keep it real. You strip away drama and mystique and focus on the plain discipline of doing the work.

[bazera]

On 13/08/2026 at 0:59 PM, SimpleGuy said:

Do you know already some examles of that?

Not really, no. Just in theory. Spirituality seems to be an area that provides you with an ability to simply just be without chasing some endless cheese and be okay with that.

But I think that only comes after lots of suffering through life and training yourself and your nervous system a lot.

Edited 3 hours ago by bazera