Jay Papasan

The economic cost is one thing, but what's the cost to my family if I'm working late every day just because I'm not being as effective as I could be? So the next two lies are discipline life is a lie. And then willpower is always on will call is a lie. And what we tried to break out two things. Discipline, one of the meanings for it is training yourself to do something until it's habitual.

The economic cost is one thing, but what's the cost to my family if I'm working late every day just because I'm not being as effective as I could be? So the next two lies are discipline life is a lie. And then willpower is always on will call is a lie. And what we tried to break out two things. Discipline, one of the meanings for it is training yourself to do something until it's habitual.

When I was giving my one thing talk in Nashville, a guy showed up an hour and 15 minutes early. And I went up to him and I said, oh, wow, you won the early bird award. You know, are you with the team? And he goes, nope, I'm just here. I'm always early. It's a habit. I hear that habit word and I'm like, you know, tell me more. And it turns out that he had been a Green Beret.

When I was giving my one thing talk in Nashville, a guy showed up an hour and 15 minutes early. And I went up to him and I said, oh, wow, you won the early bird award. You know, are you with the team? And he goes, nope, I'm just here. I'm always early. It's a habit. I hear that habit word and I'm like, you know, tell me more. And it turns out that he had been a Green Beret.

He'd been out of the service for almost two decades, but he'd been in it for, I think, I don't know, 15 years. And he said, I was trained to show up early and observe, and I just can't shake the habit. Everywhere we go, we're early. We're early to dinner, to the movies. It drives my wife crazy.

He'd been out of the service for almost two decades, but he'd been in it for, I think, I don't know, 15 years. And he said, I was trained to show up early and observe, and I just can't shake the habit. Everywhere we go, we're early. We're early to dinner, to the movies. It drives my wife crazy.

And I love that because it's a perfect illustration that in our sense, and when we were building our construct, we really wanted to hit on this idea that being disciplined all the time, which we go into in willpower, there is some science about how There is an ebb and flow to your, what we often call this phenomenon called willpower.

And I love that because it's a perfect illustration that in our sense, and when we were building our construct, we really wanted to hit on this idea that being disciplined all the time, which we go into in willpower, there is some science about how There is an ebb and flow to your, what we often call this phenomenon called willpower.

But this other definition is, if you know what your one thing is, the very next thing you would want to do is make it a habit. Because if that became habitual, you work to build the habit, and then the habit would work for you. And kind of the big aha we had here is, was that when we looked at the research, like how long does it actually take to form a habit?

But this other definition is, if you know what your one thing is, the very next thing you would want to do is make it a habit. Because if that became habitual, you work to build the habit, and then the habit would work for you. And kind of the big aha we had here is, was that when we looked at the research, like how long does it actually take to form a habit?

Most people conventionally believe it takes either 21 or 30 days. But the most recent research we found, they had asked, I think, over 200 graduate students to take on a new health habit. Anything from drinking eight glasses of water to quitting smoking, whatever they wanted. And for a year, they followed them around and said, did you do it, yes or no? And how hard was it every single day?

Most people conventionally believe it takes either 21 or 30 days. But the most recent research we found, they had asked, I think, over 200 graduate students to take on a new health habit. Anything from drinking eight glasses of water to quitting smoking, whatever they wanted. And for a year, they followed them around and said, did you do it, yes or no? And how hard was it every single day?

And what they discovered is that on average, around 66 days is when it got as easy as it was ever going to get. So it takes us about three times as long as most people think to form a habit, even on average. We want to at least keep our foot on that pedal, right, for that long. And so that was the discipline thing.

And what they discovered is that on average, around 66 days is when it got as easy as it was ever going to get. So it takes us about three times as long as most people think to form a habit, even on average. We want to at least keep our foot on that pedal, right, for that long. And so that was the discipline thing.

So clarify the willpower part. So then what's the distinction? What would you call willpower?

So clarify the willpower part. So then what's the distinction? What would you call willpower?

So we dove into the science of how we say yes to what we need to do and how we say no to everything else. But the researchers, the scientists, right, the guys in the lab coats, We're calling it willpower. And they defined that as the power to say yes to what you need to do. If I'm on a diet, that means, you know, carrot sticks and hummus and no to everything else. So no nachos for me.

So we dove into the science of how we say yes to what we need to do and how we say no to everything else. But the researchers, the scientists, right, the guys in the lab coats, We're calling it willpower. And they defined that as the power to say yes to what you need to do. If I'm on a diet, that means, you know, carrot sticks and hummus and no to everything else. So no nachos for me.

And both of those, they measure it, literally take energy out of your system. And kind of shockingly, your brain is one-fiftieth of your body mass, and it takes up one-fifth of all of the energy you consume. It's the hungriest organ in your body after the liver.

And both of those, they measure it, literally take energy out of your system. And kind of shockingly, your brain is one-fiftieth of your body mass, and it takes up one-fifth of all of the energy you consume. It's the hungriest organ in your body after the liver.