Hello, my name is Austin Shadle, and welcome
back to the Life Endurance Podcast, where we
explore methods of unlocking your true potential
in the greatest endurance race we all partake
in, life. You will be amazed what you can achieve
when you have no other option. How creating a
situation where you have no other option, by
choice, can be used to force the most out of
us. I was listening to a podcast, and the story
of how the author of The Hunchback of Notre Dame
was struggling to finish their novel. As the
deadline to finish was quickly approaching, he
took the most drastic measures possible to force
him to finish. He locked himself in a cold room
with a desk and a single blanket so he could
not be completely comfortable. He had an assistant
transfer food and supplies under the door. He
made it so there was nothing to do except work
on his book. Per usual, the example I bring up
is extreme, and even David Goggins tells us to
do as he says and not as he does. because going
to extremes all the time is rarely the best path.
But that doesn't mean we can't learn from others'
extremes. Alex Hormozy is a more modern example
of this. When he needs to do deep focused work,
he sets a timer and spends that entire amount
of time alone in a dark room with earplugs and
only his computer with the specific task on the
screen. And an example of the result of this
is that in four years, Alex wrote three books,
sold tens of millions of copies, even breaking
a world record for book launch sales. So we look
at stories of when people have no other option
or create environments that provide no other
options. We see the amazing things they overcome,
the exceptional innovations they create in technology,
the situations they've saved themselves from.
What's the common denominator? They only have
two options. Take action on the necessary task
or take no action at all. In these situations,
the only way to procrastinate is to literally
do nothing at all. And in that situation, I think
most of us would choose the single option over
no action at all. By removing our options, we
make it nearly impossible to procrastinate. A
big part of procrastination is struggling to
start. But again, when we only have a single
option, it becomes so much easier to start. And
we will find that once we start and build just
a little bit of momentum, that's when our motivations
truly surface. You remember and feel why you're
doing the work. That emotion and drive you thought
was lost while you were procrastinating. And
this allows us to build even more momentum and
deep work capability. I did this throughout the
entirety of my time in college. Engineering school
was extremely difficult. There was hours and
hours and hours of deep work required to pass.
Part of why I succeeded is that I rarely did
homework or studied in my dorm room or apartment.
I almost exclusively did my work in the library,
classrooms, anywhere that the only thing I could
do is work. If I didn't want to have a lot of
people around, I would spend hours in the back
rooms of the library. Where there were rows and
rows of old books, it was always hot, but it
was quiet. It left me no other options. I'll
admit, these days I struggle to recreate that.
So I'll leave today's life endurance takeaway
as a reminder to myself as much as advice to
anyone listening. If you're struggling with procrastination
or focus, try going to the extreme. Create an
environment that removes choice. Identify your
most important task and allow nothing else in
front of you. Remove comfort to a level that
forces you to want to take action so you can
return to comfort and you'll probably be surprised
of what you can achieve. I hope today's episode
added some value to your own pursuits. Please
subscribe and take a brief moment to share if
you think this could help others. To learn more
about my background, follow me on Instagram at
TheEnduranceBeast. To support yourself as well
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below. Thank you for listening, and as always,
I look forward to sharing the next episode.