14/52: Two discipline stories and a lesson

#CapitalAtRisk

Above: Winning Long-term Games by Luca Dellanna

The 2010s was the decade of the Entrepreneur. The 2020s will be the decade of the Investor.

“Extreme patience combined with extreme decisiveness. You may call that our investment process. Yes, it's that simple”

Charlie Munger

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Two discipline stories and a lesson

Success rarely comes without discipline and ‘the ultimate discipline is self-discipline’, as my SAS solider friend said on episode five, ‘Donkey Work’, of the ‘Brilliantly Easy, Stupidly Difficult’ 9others podcast, here.

Clearly I’m not the jumping-through-embassy-windows type however I do like to look for self-discipline wherever I can find it and I like to see what other people are strict with themselves about in case there’s something I can learn.

This last week two bits of self-discipline have come up, one I noticed and one I’ve implemented myself. Then, serendipitously, I was sent a new book with a lesson in how to stitch all this together for long-term success.

Story one

Kids in the UK are on their Easter holidays and for the last few mornings when I’ve walked Ralph the dog through the cricket club near my house there have been a dozen or so kids in the practice nets.

Today I noticed something. When I passed the kids on my way out most of them were bouncing a tennis ball up and down on the thin side of the bat. It struck me that this has nothing to do with hitting the ball for six, catching someone out or bowling a googly.

However maybe there’s something in it because when I passed the kids again on my way back most of them were still doing it and that was 45 minutes later. Some kids weren’t though, maybe they got bored.

Does it matter that some stopped bouncing the ball on the edge of their cricket bat when they’ll never do that in an actual cricket match?

You might argue not, but which kids do you think will make the better cricketers?

Story two

On Boxing Day 2022 I decided to experiment and stop drinking for a while. I wanted to do at least one month then see how I felt about doing a few more. I reckon months 4-6 were the most difficult — the novelty had worn off and, although I did feel a hundred times better, going teetotal for a whole year just felt like such a long time when I often fancied a glass of good red with a steak.

But now, over 15 months later, I've stuck with it and it just feels so normal and no big deal at all. Never say never, but this experiment could last for many years to come. As always, thanks to Hector Hughes for the inspiration on this one.

Then it was in amongst an email conversation with another Hector, Hector Alexander¹, that I came up with the next experiment. He pointed out a couple of things I'm doing that could be major distractions to my progress (thank you Hector).

Now what?!

At the end of March I wondered if there was something else I could experiment with for a month that would be a bit of a challenge, get rid of some distractions and help me focus...

Starting on 1st April I banned myself from LinkedIn and X between the hours of 8am and 8pm, Monday through Friday.

A week and a bit in, how’s it going?

Well, I don’t have as much FOMO as I thought I would. I thought I’d be scrolling for ages after 8pm and at the weekend to see what had been going on without me but I’m not. I do have a quick look; I see if I have mentions or DMs and I might have a look at X’s (much improved) ‘Explore’ tab but that’s it — takes about 20 minutes or so.

During the first few days I thought I’d get a bit bored, crack and have a quick scroll through X but I wasn’t at all tempted (maybe because I’m stitching this self-discipline together with others? See below…). I mean, I did have moments where previously I’d have had a scroll through X but since 1st April I’ve just thought, ‘well I can’t do that so onto the next item on my to-do list!’. And If I’m really stuck for something to do or want a break then I’ll read or walk Ralph the dog, (re)listening to podcasts.

Will this last?

I think it will. Giving up LinkedIn and X between 8am and 8pm, Monday through Friday, has been easier and given more immediate benefits than the early days of giving up alcohol so can see myself carrying on. I’m certainly getting more done and feel like I have more time, which is a remarkable combination (are you also starting to think I might have been a little addicted to the scrolling….?).

A lesson

And the lesson? Well, this week Luca Dellanna very kindly sent me an advance copy of his new book, ‘Winning Long-term Games’.