The Science of Self

A point of distinction must be made between introverts and highly sensitive people—HSPs. They may appear identical at first glance, but that’s where the similarities end. The HSP is characterized by the acronym DOES, which stands for depth of processing, overstimulation, emotional reactivity, and sensing the subtle. This all amounts to HSPs wearing a proverbial hearing aid turned up to the max whe...

There are four basic chronotypes—bears, lions, wolves, and dolphins. By understanding your chronotype, you can plan your day around your peak periods of productivity. To find your most productive hours, you’ll also need to factor in changing stress levels and external communication demands. Get the audiobook on Audible at http://bit.ly/MoreEnergyHollins Show notes and/or episode transcripts are av...

Even though Carl Jung defined these two terms and forever created a spectrum, he recognized that it was impossible for people to not be in the middle. These are called ambiverts, and the vast majority of us are ambiverts. Get the audiobook on Audible Show notes and/or episode transcripts are available at https://bit.ly/self-growth-home Peter Hollins is a bestselling author, human psychology resear...

Procrastination can be a sign that your organization, goals or mindset are not where they should be, but all of us procrastinate out of laziness from time to time. Fix the problem by restoring momentum as soon as you can. Get started with just the tiniest task first or promise yourself you’ll do just five minutes. If your procrastination comes from deeper issues, you need to tackle these first. Ge...

Another way to look at it is by taking the circadian rhythm and extrapolating it into our ultradian rhythms, which are the rhythms that move with us through the twenty-four-hour cycle of our lives. Sleep researcher Neil Kleitman identified the presence and importance of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and discovered that the body generally operates in ninety-minute cycles, moving progressively thro...

The personality spectrum has been defined in many ways throughout history, but people have increasingly gravitated toward classifying themselves in terms of their capacity for social interaction and how important a person’s internal or external world was. It was later refined to understand that introverts are depleted by social interaction, while extroverts are recharged by it. This leads to oppos...

• Not everyone will follow the same sleep/wakefulness cycles; it’s up to you to understand your own rhythms and work with them. Identify your peak energy periods and schedule your most important or demanding tasks for this time. You need less self-discipline if you’re working with your natural motivational flow. • A great way to break out of inaction or overcome strong derailing emotions is to cou...

People are not machines with uniform, unwavering energy levels no matter the time of day. Firstly, bear in mind that there is nothing innately superior about being a “morning person,” and you won’t magically be more productive just because you forced yourself to wake up early or get more things done before lunchtime. As we’ve seen, this advice works for some chronotypes, but not everyone will actu...

The personality spectrum has been defined in many ways throughout history, but people have increasingly gravitated toward classifying themselves in terms of their capacity for social interaction and how important a person’s internal or external world was. It was later refined to understand that introverts are depleted by social interaction, while extroverts are recharged by it. This leads to oppos...

Willpower is a limited resource but so is time. Self-discipline requires conscious control over how we spend our time. Follow Stephen Covey’s advice and “put the big rocks first”—the less important tasks of life can be squeezed in later. Start the day with your priorities. Get the audiobook on Audible at http://bit.ly/41Habits Show notes and/or episode transcripts are available at https://bit.ly/s...

• Delayed gratification is a process wherein you forego a short-term reward or some temptation in favor of a bigger reward that comes later. The ability to delay gratification has been closely linked with success and is an integral part of practicing self-discipline. • If you wish to develop this skill in order to achieve your goals, there is a 10-step program you can follow over a 30-day period i...

• When we talk about energy, we must start with the physical aspect. Our bodies are our engines, and they must be properly fueled to perform well, or at all. We have to eliminate all of our physical-energy vampires and replace them with better habits and awareness. We can take a quick look at what happens when we run out of energy; when we burn out—one of the biggest energy vampires. This is a sta...

Here is a brief passage from Meditations by the Roman emperor-philosopher Marcus Aurelius that illustrates what we lose by surrendering to discomfort (of which is no concern to him) and not taking steps toward what we want in life: At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: “I have to go to work—as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was b...

Two months of consistently performing any action will generally turn it into a habit, but until we reach that point, we have to put active effort into creating a new routine. We must make a choice not to eat certain foods, to exercise, or to drink a certain amount of water. But commitment and consistency are only needed at first. Eventually, thinking becomes unnecessary; we will have the rituals i...

Knowledge is power, and self-knowledge is self-power. If you know your strengths and weaknesses, you can consciously work around your blind spots while maximizing on your good attributes. Don’t see your flaws as shortcomings, but instead learn what you can from them and focus on the good. Get the audiobook on Audible at http://bit.ly/41Habits Show notes and/or episode transcripts are available at...

Next, we come to the practice of discomfort and all that it entails. By definition, anything that requires exercising self-discipline is uncomfortable. We’d rather not do it, otherwise it would be known as fun. This puts us in a quandary; sometimes there is nothing else we can do but suck it up and push forward, despite all the tactics and mindsets we’ve discussed in this book. At some point, we w...

The energy pyramid is a helpful way to think about the role of energy and how to manage it. It has four tiers that depend on each other: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. It lays out a blueprint we will follow for the rest of the book. The energy pyramid also dictates that we must rest sufficiently or risk burnout, and at the same time make sure we are challenging ourselves and pushing o...

A major stumbling block for those wanting to develop better self-discipline and improve their lives as letting their ego get in the way. The ego is a mask; it’s not the real you. Regularly remind yourself of the process, not the outcome and be okay with being a beginner or being wrong. Stop playing a role and encounter the moment as it is—no comparisons, appraisals, or judgments. On your self-disc...

The final piece of the puzzle for greater self-discipline and sticking to your guns is to change your thoughts. Thoughts, of course, lead to behavior, and behavior is what we want to change in the end. In this chapter, we talk about three specific ways to change the way that you think about taking action versus lying on the couch. First, we come to the Ulysses pact, or as I would call it, coerced...

It’s not that self-discipline, habitualized behaviors, and intentional and analytical thinking are useless endeavors. No, these are some of the best changes you can make to your life. But you won’t be able to learn or implement them, or benefit from them in any way, unless you simply possess enough energy to use them. Energy is the battery for all our thoughts and behaviors. Without it, no other t...

The truth is that to-do lists often don’t take context into account. Q1 and Q2 thinking solves that problem by forcing you to understand the difference between urgent and important. Most people don’t have a grasp of these blurry lines, but it can mean all the difference in your output. Related to this is the don’t-do list, also essentially seen in Q4 of the Eisenhower matrix. Most people know what...

Being mindful and meditating are not just ways to reduce stress and improve wellbeing; theyre techniques to strengthen self-awareness, lower reactivity and improve self-discipline. When you meditate, you activate the parts of your brain responsible for self-control, strengthening those neural connections. Meditation is not just a discrete activity but a way of life. Find ways to become aware throu...

Focus on a few main principles for lasting motivation: visualizing in detail our goal, getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, and allowing our future selves to advise and guide our present selves. Finally, the most important may be to recognize that you will slip up, but will always be ready to forgive, learn from mistakes, and move on to be better next time. Email the show at Podcast@Newto...

Another way to improve your to-do list is by using categories: immediate attention, in progress, follow-ups, upcoming, and ideas. This allows you to again sort by priority and make sure that you are properly addressing what needs to be addressed. Get the audiobook on Audible at https://adbl.co/3HhRPIm Show notes and/or episode transcripts are available at https://bit.ly/self-growth-home Peter Holl...

The irony is that simply having a little faith in yourself will start to shift things for you! As we’ve seen, gratitude, responsibility, honesty and allowing others to hold you accountable are great ways to improve your life, but there’s also a lot to be said for simply believing in yourself. Whatever your weaknesses are, whatever your obstacles, hold onto the idea that it can change, and you can...