The paradox of freedom

I'm re-reading the famous book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by the late Stephen Covey, and I never cease to be amazed by the valuable knowledge packed in that book.

Granted, it's not exactly a short book, but it still has the most "value per word" that I've ever seen in this kind of book. In fact, if someone asked me for a recommendation of the single most important book that they should read, I would most likely recommend The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Discipline and effectiveness

One of the most valuable lessons I learned from this book is the value of discipline. There is a famous quote that is attributed to a handful of people that goes something like this:

"Only the disciplined are truly free"

Regardless of who said that it is something I try to live by.

I like to joke that I don't have many talents in life, but I do have discipline. Lots of it.

As an engineer by training and project manager by trade, my professional life relies on strict discipline, and after many years on the job, my highly disciplined manners started to trickle down into my personal life, too.

Discipline and the paradox of freedom

In my case, being disciplined is not a gift; it's a necessity.

I have a full-time job, I'm building my own business, I'm a moderator of the Brazilian community on Hive and I also have a personal life and, to me, the only way I can keep all these plates spinning is by being very disciplined.

I scheduled my days in 15-minute increments, and I'm not talking only about my 9-5 working hours but every single 15-minute slot from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep. My ultimate goal is to know exactly what I'm supposed to be doing at any point in the day.

That works very well for me. It has for many years. But when I share my way of life with other people, they are usually shocked.

"But you then you never have free time!"

That's a common reaction and I find it funny because it could not be farther from the truth.

I have to get back to the quote, "Only the disciplined are truly free."

I do have free time, but the only difference is that I'm very intentional about it.

There is a concept called decision fatigue, which is one of the biggest energy-consuming and time-consuming habits that people usually have. I won't go into detail here and may cover this in a different article, but in essence, people usually have the illusion that free time is equal to the time that you don't have anything planned but, again, that's wrong.

If you are not intentional with your free time, then your time is not really yours because you will most likely be caught up with the draining trap of decision fatigue, or you will be drawn into someone else's plans, making your "free" time subject to other people's schedule. There is nothing wrong with that, really, but that's just not being free.

I make sure to have enough slots in my schedule that are meant for me to do whatever I want, but I still plan something for those slots because I don't want to waste a single minute of this rare and expensive time trying to decide what to do.

Even if it's a very mundane activity, such as lying on the couch watching TV, I make sure to have a damn appointment on my calendar. It may sound intimidating and emprisoning to most, but I guarantee it's the only way to achieve real freedom.

Final thoughts

Discipline is a superpower that sets highly effective people apart from those who just get on with their lives. Having a clear plan on how you want to spend every hour of your day and being intentional about it is the only way to actually take control of your time.

It may sound intimidating at first, but if you are not laying down the plan, someone else will be doing it for you. Only the disciplined are free.

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