How did you go from a slacker to a hard worker?

[mr4ffe]

TL;DR: I'm looking for actionable advice that you have used to become more hardworking, which I hope will be valuable for other members with the same struggles.

---

My Background​

I'm 22 years old and started studying product engineering last year. I joined this forum a few years back, but I stepped away because I realized I need to work on my discipline and gain some skills.

I have struggled to keep up due to a lack of drive and inattentive ADHD. All my life was unmedicated, until last year when I started to try various prescriptions with little to no results. I am currently waiting for my doctor to increase the dosage or prescribe a different medication.

Right now, I will literally be on amphetamines, yet hardly reach the normal productivity baseline. However, I realize hard work is a non-negotiable pre-requisite for running a business (or just getting by, in general), so that's why I'm doing my best to learn to consistently do my best. Before college, I would sometimes hyperfocus and crunch all my homework in one run without sleeping or taking any breaks, but I haven't been able to achieve that state with the actually challenging work I'm doing now.

Before you tell me to join the army, I was already denied due to my diagnoses (I also have high-functioning ASD). Regardless, I know of many successful tech entrepreneurs are on the spectrum, and some businessmen (like Richard Branson) have ADHD, so I don't think this Fastlane goal is out of the question for me.

I don't think I've had a FTE (though I have had minor moments) because the poor single-parent household I grew up in made me accepting of adversity, so instead of outworking problems, I just cope with them. I don't take monetary pressure seriously enough to light my a$$ on fire. My father, who refused to let me come live back home after dropping out at 19 in hopes of increasing my drive, says he never had an internal motivation to take initiative either, so there's a possibility that I'm genetically predisposed to be more accepting of the present and less ambitious. Between sports and TTRPGs, I've realized that I don't get into the driver seat, even when it's offered. I am determined to change, but I don't know where to start.

---

Thank you in advance!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[otis7]

TL;DR: I'm looking for actionable advice that you have used to become more hardworking, which I hope will be valuable for other members with the same struggles.

---

My Background​

I'm 22 years old and started studying product engineering last year. I joined this forum a few years back, but I stepped away because I realized I need to work on my discipline and gain some skills.

I have struggled to keep up due to a lack of drive and inattentive ADHD. All my life was unmedicated, until last year when I started to try various prescriptions with little to no results. I am currently waiting for my doctor to increase the dosage or prescribe a different medication.

Right now, I will literally be on amphetamines, yet hardly reach the normal productivity baseline. However, I realize hard work is a non-negotiable pre-requisite for running a business (or just getting by, in general), so that's why I'm doing my best to learn to consistently do my best. Before college, I would sometimes hyperfocus and crunch all my homework in one run without sleeping or taking any breaks, but I haven't been able to achieve that state with the actually challenging work I'm doing now.

Before you tell me to join the army, I was already denied due to my diagnoses (I also have high-functioning ASD). Regardless, I know of many successful tech entrepreneurs are on the spectrum, and some businessmen (like Richard Branson) have ADHD, so I don't think this Fastlane goal is out of the question for me.

I don't think I've had a FTE (though I have had minor moments) because the poor single-parent household I grew up in made me accepting of adversity, so instead of outworking problems, I just cope with them. I don't take monetary pressure seriously enough to light my a$$ on fire. My father, who refused to let me come live back home after dropping out at 19 in hopes of increasing my drive, says he never had an internal motivation to take initiative either, so there's a possibility that I'm genetically predisposed to be more accepting of the present and less ambitious. Between sports and TTRPGs, I've realized that I don't get into the driver seat, even when it's offered. I am determined to change, but I don't know where to start.

---

Thank you in advance!

I resonate a lot with what you're talking about. I used to have a very low attention span going from one task to another without any clear purpose/plan. This may sound cliché but the "Pomodoro" Technique really helped me start doing tasks that I once would put off or wouldn't feel like doing. One of the best advice I received was never to wait to feel like doing something because that usually means never. After doing 25-minute sessions I'd take 5-minute breaks. I hated the 5-minute breaks. After a few days, I increased the sessions to 50 minutes and then I'd take 10-minute breaks. It was hard at the start but I got used to it over time. Now I do 1 hour sessions and then take 10-minute breaks for a specific activity I've been doing for a while. If I want to start doing something new I just schedule 25 minutes for that specific task and increase the minutes gradually from there.


TL;DR Just plan out in advance the activity you wish to start doing and do it for a minimum of 25 minutes. You could also start with 50 minutes if you want but it would be hard to sustain that in the beginning. This is why I would advise starting with 25 minutes. It’s a good start and you can increase the duration from there.


Sorry I’m being repetitive

 

[Trismigistus]

There should be a gnawing part of your brain or voice in your head that is constantly reminding you of the things you know you should be doing. It is just a matter of will power, next time you walk past your computer or laptop or MJs book, some part of you should be saying I should really research my business idea, or i should really be trying to find ideas, or I should read the rest of MJs book. Then the lazy voice gives you all sorts of excuses as to why you should not do it right now. You gotta say F*ck you to your lazy voice and power through to perform the task you should be doing. Like the book said "do what you hate". Theres no secret to working hard, you just do. It eventually becomes a habit the more you do it, like working out. Pointing your efforts in the right direction is a different question all together.

 

[Johnny boy]

You can have whatever you want
But you cannot decide the cost
Many men thought himself exempt
Time passed on
And both were lost

Ambitious men find
Themselves disturbed
Frustrated and defeated
After all this time
Only to learn
You can’t have your cake
And eat it

For good and bad, this is sure
I promise to you my brother
Everything to be had shall be paid for
One way or another
______


You must understand the real and tangible trade that happens each decision you make.

Then you can calm down, and accept that you are just purchasing your dreams with the necessary work.

So when you smile during the work, you have won twice. Because the reward will make you smile as well, because it was paid for with work. Like chopping wood that warms you twice.

To hope for a goal without the work is foolish and doomed to fail, there is a price that must be paid.

When you have adhd like me you’re creative, ambitious, you think the rules don’t apply to you. You think you are exempt. You think you can have your cake and eat it too.

You cannot. You are not special or all that smart. It takes humility to work because you must accept that you are not above it. You are just another shit muncher like us other entrepreneurs who have to work to make things happen.

This is the deep emotional change that I feel will help get you to work harder.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.