How do I develop a strong work ethic?

[r0ckyreed]

After watching Christopher Robin, I have realized the importance of play and the insignificance of “productivity” and “achievement” because it is all about future-oriented things that are out of touch with child-like playfulness and adventure.

However, I read David Goggins’ book Can’t Hurt Me, and I realize that both play/adventure and work ethic/potential are both important to actualize.
 

David Goggins went to the work ethic extreme of grinding and hustling. But Leo’s Satisfaction Meditation video reminded me to flow instead of grind in that all of my activities I do need to be grounded in satisfaction, joy, love, excitement, etc.

In addition, Leo brings up the importance of work ethic as well many times, and I am wondering what are some practical ways of developing a healthy, strong work ethic that is in flow with satisfaction?

One of my other mentors, David Lion gives the advice of “always follow your highest excitements” instead of trying to grind through work. This has been my philosophy and has worked out well.

I am kind of just wondering, what is the importance of work ethic and how do I go about developing a strong work ethic that can be aligned with satisfaction (in what I will call “play ethic”)?

How do you resolve that paradox between work ethic and satisfaction?

The main two things on your deathbed (if you have one) will be: (1) did I actually enjoy my life? (2) Did I make the most of my life and live up to my full potential?

For me, enjoyment and satisfaction mainly come from not doing anything at all except what I feel inspired to do. If I feel like reading, I will read, but if I do not, then I will not.

I think a big part of work ethic is discipline. Isn’t discipline “not wanting to do something, but doing it anyways?” If so, how do you resolve that paradox between enjoyment/satisfaction and work ethic/discipline? I tend to follow my feelings and heart in the moment as opposed to some arbitrary schedule.

EDIT: I don’t really think I have ever had a “good work ethic” because most of my good work comes when I am in a certain state of consciousness where I am inspired and full of energy to do it, where I am playing, grooving, and flowing with my task.

I am wondering if strict discipline/work ethic is helpful and how to develop a strong discipline to commit to reading, meditating, eating healthy, and doing a lot of things that I want to do. The thing is that part of myself wants to read every day, etc. but another part of me likes to go on hikes and adventures and play instead of dedication to reading, exercising, life purpose, etc.

It is tough to be stuck in the middle of two parts of me wanting opposite things, if you know what I mean.

Thank you!

Edited November 1, 2021 by r0ckyreed

[hyruga]

You need to have a compelling vision of the future. The future is so wonderful and you are so wealthy and it compels you to work harder to achieve your dreams.

 

[itachi uchiha]

Work happy ,not hard.if u work hard life will be hard.

 

Eric kandell A nobel prize winner said "one has to get pleasure out of the moment to moment aspects of carrear .the rest take care of itself"

 

Jiro said"after you find your occupation ,u have to immerse yourself in work,love your work.never complain about your job.that is the secret to success and the key to being regarded honarably"

 

Linus torvaldus invented linux os. And he said"i think the people who work hard are doing something wrong.i dont work long hours , i play around with computers a lot.which take a lot longer than you think"

 

Now lets get practical.how do u love what u do.seth godin said there is no map for excellence and each of us have to find that map ourself.well it  to took a long time for me find it myself .u need to do soulseraching,working on mind and love everything u do.it is doable and i am doing it .but it take some time to get your mind to love everything u do.

[r0ckyreed]

I appreciate your all’s responses. I agree. 
 

I am wondering, how do I integrate the two parts of myself together. I have one part of me that is very ambitious and wants to read, exercise, and push myself to full potential, but then another part of me just wants to relax, play, screw around, and go on adventures and hikes and eat junk food.

I think Leo explained this best in his Holism episode, where I feel like a part of me is ambitious, but another part of me wants to relax and play. How do I best integrate these two parts of myself?

I need more nuance in my life. For instance, I want to “do what is most emotionally difficult” (in reference to Leo’s video on One Simple Rule To Ace Life) and being totally satisfied with the process, as described in Satisfaction Meditation.

Thank you!

Edited November 1, 2021 by r0ckyreed

[hyruga]

Here are some good techniques.

https://youtu.be/hML-7FUdKJQ

You need to have a system:

https://youtu.be/F-_qOh5tKrI

 

[r0ckyreed]

2 hours ago, hyruga said:

Here are some good techniques.

https://youtu.be/hML-7FUdKJQ

You need to have a system:

https://youtu.be/F-_qOh5tKrI

 

@hyruga Thank you so much! Very helpful!

Leo’s new video Burning Through Karma helped me answer my questions here. I have a spiritual side and a human side and I gotta burn through my cravings to transcend them.

[r0ckyreed]

Update:

I found my own answers to the paradox between work ethic/discipline and playfulness/adventure.  

The key thing is to get in touch with your higher self.  Really imagine what your higher self and what kind of energies they have that might be different from yours now.  For instance, my higher-self is more playful, adventurous, humorous, and doesn't take things so seriously.  My higher-self plays and flows with life.  My higher-self could be seen as lazy, but yet my higher-self gets everything done.  My higher-self does not "work out," but rather it "plays out" and has fun.  My higher-self does not "work or grind" but rather it flows and yet gets everything done.  That is the key is that my higher-self still goes through challenges of doing what is most emotionally difficult because my higher-self has integrated all parts of who I am.  My higher-self makes the challenges become effortless because that is what the state of flow is about.  Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is on my booklist to read.

What I mean by parts is that according to Internal Family Systems (IFS) theory, our psyche is made of many parts to ourselves.  We all have sub personalities within our minds, and IFS is all about helping us integrate all these parts to ourselves.  For instance, part of our minds want to be lazy, playful, and adventurous, and another part wants us to have discipline, work, grind, and accomplish goals.  The key is to stop the battle in our minds and turn it into a playground where all parts of yourself feel like they can be authentic and come together.  This is a big issue with addictions.  Part of our minds want to be sober and another part of ourselves loves the alcohol or drugs.  The key is to bring more love to our parts by helping the addicted part of ourselves become more connected with higher energies of love.  Alcohol and drugs are a way of numbing, and until that part of your mind burns through that karma, then that behavior will always continue.  

Burning through karma is when all parts of your mind become integrated on a single issue or fully.  The way you integrate all your parts could be done through journaling, self-hypnosis, therapy, act-as-if, imagination, and bringing more love to all of your parts.  The issue with the part of yourself that wants drugs or whatnot is that that part of your mind wants to feel good and feel loved and approved and still is convinced that drugs help it grow.

The key is to do things that help us grow.  Sometimes as Winnie the Pooh stated, "doing nothing very often leads to the very best of something."  It is okay to be lazy, have fun, be adventurous, and playful, and it is also okay to have a discipline.  The key is to discern what kind of energies you are attracting from your activities.  If your discipline is a grind and something you hate doing, then find a way to flow with it or just stop doing it and follow your heart.  Follow your heart always.  If your spirit wants to play and stop doing work for the time being, then do that.  You will be more productive if you allow yourself to play and follow your inspirations and excitements.  What is the point of all of your hard work if it isn't helping you become more aligned with the spirit of yourself?  Play with your work and your work will never be a grind.  It will be effortless and more enjoyable.  The first step is not taking life so seriously.  Learn to use your imagination and follow your heart.  Find your inspiration from "doing nothing" as Pooh reminds us to do.  This all ties back into Leo's Satisfaction Meditation video where he states that work ethic is important, but it all needs to revolve around higher energies of love, playfulness, satisfaction, and adventure.  We only live NOW.  The only thing to be regretted on death bed is that we did not fully live now and our lives were not aligned with our spirit of adventure and inspiration, etc.  Have no goals or plans other than to live fully now.  Look at a dog or a child. They can teach us a lot what life is like to live fully now.  They don't have plans.  They have fun.  Why grind when we can flow?  As David Lion stated, "when it is you, it is forced.  When it is God, it flows."

[Human Mint]

Made me laugh the fact that you even learn from Winnie the Pooh

[r0ckyreed]

19 hours ago, Human Mint said:

Made me laugh the fact that you even learn from Winnie the Pooh

Yup! Even Rocky Balboa needs blissipline.

[How to be wise]

@r0ckyreed Stop watching tv.

 

[Human Mint]

More simple even: work ethic/discipline unlocks playfulness/adventure.  

That's the counterintuitive aspect of life purpose.

[Terell Kirby]

By replacing the "how" with the "when".

Don't over think it... just do it.