Hello, this is my first post. I love Mark Manson and I hope somebody else hasn't shared this already.
I wanted to discuss this author's idea of countering procrastination by changing and letting go of your identity/what you think you know about yourself. EX: I am a late night sleeper and I procrastinate by not sleeping early because it conflicts with the belief that I always sleep late at night.
I don't want to blindly agree with him, but his "Manson's Law of Avoidance" (which he made up) seems good for me to end procrastination. What do you think?
I wasn't really sure where he was going with his Law of Avoidance. It seemed a bit contrived to be considered a "law," I thought. In the end, I kind of think I understand what he was getting at. I think it's less of going against what you believe yourself to be, and maybe just more about going against the status quo. You are who you are because of what you repeatedly do, and so throwing a wrench into the routine is stressful. One point of his that I really related to, is not being too attached to making something "good." I find it much more liberating to stop focussing on how I want to make something as good and perfect I can, and more on just doing it. I've heard it referred to as "Perfection Paralysis" before. So if you just see yourself as a guy who writes stuff as opposed to a professional novellist or whatever, then you will produce more, better work than you would if you were always trying to write that one perfect thing. Sure you might write a lot of crap in the process, but you will be consistently improving, and have a number of stories under your belt, rather than a half-written first draft of your "perfect" work.