#45: The danger of discipline
And why you should take it easy from time to time
Hey friends,
Welcome to the 45th edition of the “Level Up Ladder” newsletter.
This week’s action tip: this weekend, do something that you love, take a walk, read a book, or enjoy a cup of coffee in your favorite cafe.
1/ A few updates from my side
I had a very relaxing weekend. I had dinner at a Georgian restaurant with my cousin and her husband, whom I hadn’t seen since my wedding.
On Saturday, we went out to a nice bar downtown where they serve lots of things with shrimp, and on Sunday, I went out to a wine bar with my college roommates.
Oh, and I did a very intense workout with the guys who are preparing for Hyrox.
I only have 1-2 free weekends every month, so I try to make the most of them.
I am also very excited, as I got a “Top Leadership Voice” on LinkedIn based on my contribution to LinkedIn articles, so I’m quite proud of that. And I’m on my way to reaching 3000 followers soon.
Other than this, of course, I work on my Digital Transformation project in the mornings, go to work, then go to the gym, and do a bit more work after dinner. The usual stuff.
A few people responded to my latest email asking for my goals system, and I’m preparing a Notion template for this soon.
Unfortunately, I don’t have as much time as I would like to for my online “gig”. But I’ll get it done soon.
By the way, thanks for replying to these emails/substacks, it means the world to me.
As I plan to change the format of this newsletter shortly, it would really help if you could let me know what type of content you want to see more of.
2/ The danger of discipline
As some of you might already know, I think discipline is one of the most important things in our lives.
As someone who lacked discipline for most of his life, I now have all my meetings and important tasks on my calendar. On Sunday evening, I go through all of them and schedule my week.
I track my weight, my body fat, my average sleep time, how many times I work out, and so on.
This has helped me develop consistency and reach my goals a lot easier.
Motivation is not always present, but discipline helps on those occasions. That’s why, unless I was on vacation or sick, I’ve never trained less than 4 times per week in the last 6-7 years.
I know people who train regularly for 6 months, then go on vacation for a couple of weeks, and it takes them 3 months to get back on track.
Not me; I have it on my schedule, I put my clothes in my backpack, and I go. Not thinking about how I feel or if I am tired, and so on.
It’s like eating.
I do it every day, even if I’m not always hungry.
But, of course, there is a but.
This discipline can be overwhelming sometimes. Having it all planned out is a strategy that works for me in the long run.
But it can also come with setbacks and frustrations.
I am not as flexible as some of my friends.
Not that spontaneous.
If someone would tell me at noon: “Let’s grab a beer tonight”, I’d probably say no.
It’s not only the gym; I also have my daily writing and my daily tasks, which are stepstones helping me reach my goals.
And I’ll admit it, that means I have become pretty boring.
As I was thinking about this a few days ago, I understood I should somehow adapt my schedule so that I don’t accumulate more frustration from living this “robot” life.
And the solution I came up with is “no plan Saturdays” and “no plan weeks.”
For a while now, I have taken one day each week when I don’t have any plans, and no tasks to fulfill. And for me, it’s usually Saturdays.
So, on Saturdays, I wake up and just do what I feel like the whole day. I really take the day off.
And this year I’ll go even further and take “no plan weeks.”.
I plan and review my goals yearly, quarterly, and weekly.
So, at the end of each quarter, I will take a week off from discipline. This doesn’t mean I won’t do anything productive that week, not write on LinkedIn every day, and so on.
It means that I will be more spontaneous and flexible with my schedule.
If I don’t feel like going to the gym, I won’t go.
If I wake up and instead of writing, I feel like playing on my PlayStation, I will do that.
And so on.
I will try this in the first week of April, when the first quarter of the year ends, and let you know how it goes.
If you are someone who has this level of discipline and it’s irritating sometimes, try to incorporate this type of freedom into your schedule.
Again, I am 100% sure that without discipline in my life, I would be in the same situation I was in 10 years ago.
Unfit, unhappy in my personal life, and frustrated about my job.
I prefer to be annoyed by my discipline, sometimes.
But let’s take some time to chill too.
3/ Recommendation: Navalny
Last night, I came home from the gym, and I was zapping through Netflix. I was planning to go to bed early, as I was quite tired after a gruesome workout.
Here’s the workout, if you want to try it :)
10 rounds of:
Min 1: 15 calories on the ski erg.
Min 2: 5 wallballs + 3 handstand push-ups + 1 power clean
Min 3: 13 calories on the ski erg.
Min 4: 5 wallballs + 3 handstand push-ups + 1 power clean
Anyway, nothing was interesting on Netflix so I switched to HBO Max, and I saw I started “Navalny” at some point but didn’t finish it. As he died last week, I thought it would be a good idea to finish it.
My plan to go to sleep at 10 went bust.
Mostly because I couldn’t sleep after seeing it and went on a spiral to check on his death, reactions, and stuff.
The documentary is so good but terrifying. It won the Oscar for Best Documentary last year, by the way.
The story follows Alexey Navalny, Putin’s biggest internal rival, as he uncovers the plot behind his assassination attempt in August 2020 while planning to go back to his home country.
I won’t get into more details, as you might want to watch the movies yourself.
The ending is not a surprise, though, as it was all over the news. Alexey Navalny died last week, in a Siberian prison, in “strange” circumstances, after serving only 2 years of his 30-year sentence.
But this poses a moral question: did he do the right thing, going back to Russia?
And the obvious answer is “NO”. He understood the risks, there was a high chance of him being put in prison or even killed.
Yet, he did it anyway.
It’s interesting, though, because I am sure this perspective would have been a lot different 30, 40, or 70 years ago.
In my country, as in most countries from the communist block, people would protest in the 80s, knowing that they would be thrown in a jail cell.
In the 1950s, hundreds of people who didn’t agree with the communist regime chose to spend the rest of their lives in the woods and mountains. Knowing that it was only a matter of time until they would get caught.
We now live more comfortable lives, most of us in civilized countries, with no real threat to our existence.
We are warm, well-fed, and scrolling through our social media while drinking a latte.
Navalny could have done this too. He could spend the second part of his life in Berlin. He could have been reading the news in a coffee shop right now.
Instead, he spent the last couple of years in a cold Siberian cell, away from his friends and family.
Is this leadership, or pure madness?
Was his martyrdom justified? Will it bring Putin down?
Probably not.
Will his example bring out the spark that will make more people realize the evil that some people bring to the world?
Maybe.
And maybe, one day, the world will be a better place.
Because in the end, “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”.
Thank you for reading, and let me know if you liked something in particular in this newsletter.
I hope you have a great weekend, friends!
Leo
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