New Ask Me Anything (AMA) video every week. Ask me a question on Patreon or as a comment here (Patreon takes priority): https://patreon.com/lexfridman

I've been getting a lot of great questions on Patreon, so I'm trying a new thing (this video) where I answer one or a few questions on a particular topic in a 5-20 minute AMA. The aim is to do one a week. Let me know what you think. I apologize for the slow pace of talking. I'm learning how to communicate better without getting lost in my thoughts. My brain seems to work much faster than I speak, so I go down mental tangents which counter-intuitively slows the speaking. The brain is fascinating ;-)

Let me know if this kind of thing is interesting or of value to you. The aim is to do one a week. Let me know what you think. I apologize for the slow pace of talking. I'm learning how to communicate better without getting lost in my thoughts. My brain seems to work much faster than I speak, so I go down mental tangents which counter-intuitively slows the speaking. The brain is fascinating ;-)

This video is from an AMA I did on Patreon a while ago. I'll post a few of those and then start doing new ones. Let me know if once a week is too frequent, not frequent enough or just right.

Mariam asks, hello Lex, in your interview with Ariana, you have mentioned that suffering is good for the soul.

What is your belief system for maintaining self-discipline and strong character no matter what?

I think a lot of that is quite personal, in the sense that you have to know yourself.

What's the distribution of energy levels that you have, like what makes you lazy, what makes you excited, what makes you motivated?

I think that's different from person to person.

I think for me, I try to do something difficult every day, something I don't want to do.

Really, if you open your mind, your ear to the moments where you don't really feel like doing it, Do it.

Those kinds of things, I think train your mind in the right kind of way to take on the things in your life that you know you should be doing, but are hard and so you try to avoid them.

I mean, just training that muscle, not on real things, but every day on things as silly as, like for example, sometimes I'll take a freezing cold shower.

I usually kind of ask myself, is this something I really don't feel like doing right now?

And I never really feel like doing a cold shower, but there's some days where I really don't want to, and that's when I'll do it.

And I'll stand under the water for at least 1 minute, just freezing cold.

Sometimes it could be as silly as you're feeling down, but, and you go to like a, I go to a Starbucks and then you don't feel like smiling or being friendly, but you do it.

I don't like running, that's why I do it.

Getting out there, starting to run the first mile, first 2 miles is something that I don't want to do in the moment and I do it.

You know, it sounds dramatic to call that suffering, but it really is this comfort struggle that trains your mind in the way that in other things that you are deeply passionate about that are long-term parts of your life, allows you to pursue them long-term through the dark parts, through the struggle, through the suffering of mental and physical.

You know, there's so many days I wake up full of doubt.

And I think those days, those moments are not something you can take on without practice.

It's, especially if you do difficult things, especially if you do things that are not traditional or so on, but really everybody hits a wall.

Often enough, if you do something big, I think that's something you have to take seriously and you have to practice and practice and practice.

And a big part of practice, at least for me, is habits.

So most things I have noticed myself getting good at and most things I care about that I want to solve are things I do every day without exception.

To me, to me, it's better to do something for 1 minute a day, every day, without exception, than doing it once a month for an entire day.

I think there's something about that ritual that multiplies your mind's ability to really take on the full depths of whatever the task is.


Speaker 0: Mariam asks, hello Lex, in your interview with Ariana, you have mentioned that suffering is good for the soul. Where did that come from? What is your belief system for maintaining self-discipline and strong character no matter what? I think a lot of that is quite personal, in the sense that you have to know yourself. What's the distribution of energy levels that you have, like what makes you lazy, what makes you excited, what makes you motivated?

I think that's different from person to person. But there's several things I could say. I think for me, I try to do something difficult every day, something I don't want to do. Really, if you open your mind, your ear to the moments where you don't really feel like doing it, Do it. Those kinds of things, I think train your mind in the right kind of way to take on the things in your life that you know you should be doing, but are hard and so you try to avoid them.

I mean, just training that muscle, not on real things, but every day on things as silly as, like for example, sometimes I'll take a freezing cold shower. I usually kind of ask myself, is this something I really don't feel like doing right now? And I never really feel like doing a cold shower, but there's some days where I really don't want to, and that's when I'll do it. And I'll stand under the water for at least 1 minute, just freezing cold. Sometimes it could be as silly as you're feeling down, but, and you go to like a, I go to a Starbucks and then you don't feel like smiling or being friendly, but you do it.

I don't feel like doing it and I do it. So just practicing that muscle. Exercise, heck yeah, every single day. I don't really, especially running. I don't like running, that's why I do it.

I especially don't like starting to run. Getting out there, starting to run the first mile, first 2 miles is something that I don't want to do in the moment and I do it. I think that's those little moments. You know, it sounds dramatic to call that suffering, but it really is this comfort struggle that trains your mind in the way that in other things that you are deeply passionate about that are long-term parts of your life, allows you to pursue them long-term through the dark parts, through the struggle, through the suffering of mental and physical. So mental is the self-doubt.

You know, there's so many days I wake up full of doubt. And I think those days, those moments are not something you can take on without practice. It's, especially if you do difficult things, especially if you do things that are not traditional or so on, but really everybody hits a wall. Often enough, if you do something big, I think that's something you have to take seriously and you have to practice and practice and practice. And a big part of practice, at least for me, is habits.

So most things I have noticed myself getting good at and most things I care about that I want to solve are things I do every day without exception. To me, to me, it's better to do something for 1 minute a day, every day, without exception, than doing it once a month for an entire day. I think there's something about that ritual that multiplies your mind's ability to really take on the full depths of whatever the task is. You

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Do Something Difficult Every Day | AMA #1 - Ask Me Anything with Lex Fridman