Routine is the death of progress

RU_Crazy · 2015-07-29T06:31:46+00:00

I disagree in the sense that routine can be beneficial and also detrimental. It all depends on your routine.

The man who wakes up at 6:00 am every day, hits the gym, prepares himself a nutritional breakfast, and spends 10-15 minutes meditating or reading something of intellectual value before heading to work has a positive routine.

Likewise the man who has a routine for all the necessary repetitive tasks required to sustain basic existence (cleaning, cooking, laundry, errands, etc.) such that he minimizes the time spent on those activities is freeing up significant time for other endeavors.

On the other hand, the man who's routine consists of several hours of television, beers, and masturbation each day is clearly doing himself a disservice.

As with most other things, there is no absolute. As for me routine is crucial to obtaining long-term success.

johnnyinphilly · 2015-07-29T03:49:27+00:00

I read a great quote on here a few weeks ago that goes to what you're saying.

"Growth happens at the edge of your comfort zone."

MofkinBootlegFworks · 2015-07-29T04:13:43+00:00

I spent a semester abroad during my junior year of college and when I returned to my American Dream suburban home with two cars and a yard, I just.....deflated.

This is why everybody should, at least once in their life, go fucking travel somewhere. Helpx is a good site for volunteering abroad in exchange for free meals and accommodations. Haven't used it yet, but still vouching for it to get the ideas flowing in your head.

OP hits the nail on the head here--Life in the States is a continuous cycle of rinse and repeat, routine and boredom. Once you return from traveling for an extended time, you notice it. You notice your mind atrophy, and notice how all your peers and family compounded this process over 25 years and call themselves happy. Fuck that. Discover something new, do something new, fucking be someone new.

briggs-D · 2015-07-29T20:20:37+00:00

I disagree with your post, but I understand what you are trying to say.

Routine is not the death of progress. Progress is built upon habits and consistency. Routine is the basis of this. You cannot achieve the success of goals without routine. Think of going to the gym and breaking a PR, this requires consistently going and maintaining a commitment. This consistency, commitment, and habit is the routine.

Not having goals combined with not setting a routine will result in not progressing. When someone works out for a year and starts to stagnant in the gym, they have failed to identify their goals within the routine or failed to consistently maintain that routine. Switching programs may be a vital part of achieving ones goal, but switching programs is not breaking the 'routine' of going to the gym. The gym is the routine.

But I agree with your post - occasionally you should push yourself beyond boundaries, do something which scares you and take a break to get a different or fresh perspective.

I think a better understanding of this post would be from the perspective of determination, motivation, willpower, etc.

ledbed · 2015-07-29T04:45:24+00:00

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" -Emerson

Nieben · 2015-07-30T03:50:20+00:00

You're mistaking routine for complacency.

/thread

S74RK · 2015-07-29T21:48:11+00:00

I realized that once I landed in my hometown after an epic camping trip or a boozy, rowdy week across Europe and I returned a monster. I handled every opportunity with enthusiasm and poise and knocked every girl I met head over heels.

You mean to tell me that you're more likely to be socially excitable being away from a dead-end office job, while catching up on sleep and partying? Sorry but this is painfully obvious and not very insightful. What's more insightful is finding out a way to add value through one's career and balance social growth without running away and partying/traveling/riding the CC like a fuck. Not that one shouldn't try that out once in a while ;)

I like keeping my routines to a macro level, rather than hour-by-hour, item-by-item. A good day is: gym session, some contract work, developing my own business, reading, cooking. A good week is: a bunch of days like that, plus going out a few times to game women. I adjust accordingly though. If my game is feeling weak and I'm in a slump, I put more effort into that. If the bank account is getting low, more contract work. If my business is stagnating and I'm missing deadlines, that's where my focus goes.

Routine, namely consistency, is the key to Mastery. If you want to get world-class at anything, which many would agree is a worthy Red Pill pursuit, you need those 10000 hours. That's 3 hours a day for 10 years. You need some semblance of a routine to make that happen. Same for improving in the gym over a long period of time. You can't fuck around and #YOLO through life if you want to achieve worthwhile long-term goals.

Take a minute and think about all the shit you do on a daily basis. What do you eat, drink, how do you get to work, what radio station do you listen to, what kind of books do you read, how do you greet people, who do you hang out with? Take one of these things and CHANGE IT.

Come on man, what are you, Shia Labeouf?

What if someone's already developed really good habits, and they need that time and consistency to see them through to Mastery? It only makes sense to change these things if there's a specific reason they might be doing them wrong. And for that discussion you have to get specific, and maybe even technical with respect to an endeavor (example: you talked about weight training, but with no analysis of why one may plateau in strength).

Note: I'm being critical of your post because the title is one of those annoying imperatives we try to avoid, and frankly I found the body to be lacking nuanced discussion. Hope this feedback helps out.

Yrenq · 2015-07-30T00:01:17+00:00

I disagree. Routine can be either stagnant or progressive, but routine itself does not inherently lead one or the other.

In your edit you say stagnancy is a better word than routine, but then stagnancy is the precise opposite of progress.

I do understand the point you are trying to make though. Routine in itself doesn't lead to progress; progress can only be achieved in the framework of a routine by ensuring that the routine maintains the correct level of difficulty, ie make shit harder when it gets easy.

I would say that a completely STATIC routine is the death of progress.

[deleted] · 2015-07-30T20:29:37+00:00

I routinely hit the gym, back and Biceps today baby, im 175 with <10% bodyfat, trying to hit 200. Tendinitis holding me back though.

Pray for me brothers.

Title	Routine is the death of progress
Author	Laptopbutt
Upvotes	18
Comments	12
Date	July 29, 2015 3:46 AM UTC (11 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/TheRedPill
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/comments/3ezj4b/routine_is_the_death_of_progress/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/TheRedPill/routine-is-the-death-of-progress.35074 https://theredarchive.com/post/35074

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