Self-Improvement

A lot of people like to suggest that willpower is 100% mental and you can pull yourself up by your bootstraps in the worst condition. They’re dead wrong. We’re only mortal, and our our bodies are the very means in which we act in this world. How can you act when you’re badly out of shape?

Click To See Full Entry

I’m not saying that willpower is 0% mental, either. (It’s probably not even a straight ratio so much as a boolean AND operator to produce the action: Able? Yes. Willing? Yes. Go!) My point is that it’s absolutely pivotal to acknowledge that the challenge of engaging one’s mental willpower is related to their physical condition. You can be skilled at overcoming the challenge, but the one’s physical condition, the very launching pad for action, is always a major factor.

No duh? Well, this is one of my “seemingly-simple-yet-profoundly-deep-and-life-changing-in-its-details” observations. Think about this – what I’m talking about is the very foundation from which all self-improvement arises, nothing less. You cannot act with a broken-down body, and so that’s the first thing you improve. It is an observation 2000 years old and still true: a healthy body is a healthy mind. Whether or not that was what the original quote intended, it should refer specifically to willpower.

My major discovery lately has been that, instead of avoiding exercising because I feel tired, I should exercise more because I’m tired. Exercising results in my feeling less tired later. Not exercising because I’m tired just leads to a catch 22 where I get progressively more tired. Having exercised a bit lately, I recently looked down upon my Blog and said, “okay, I can see there’s work to do here.” Keep this up, and who knows what I’ll do?

So, about those Blog changes…

Currently, I have this public blog and a private blog. In terms of being a public blog, I’m not sure this one really appeals. On one level, that’s just fine – I’m not here to dance for the peanut gallery, popularity isn’t a factor. However, lately I’ve been trying to foster a capability to contribute productively, as a kind of mental self-improvement.

To these ends, this Blog could be a means in which I practice. About 90% of this entries of this Blog can be described as, “Me talking about what I’ve been playing lately.” I do that because it’s easy and interests me. However, I think that the only person who cares about that is me, so I might as well put such daily event logging on my private blog.

Instead, I’m going to challenge myself to try to use this space for some of the following:

• Genuinely interesting observations into life and gaming. I’m no rocket scientist, but I know some of the stuff I think about is pretty far out of there.
• Actual unusual gems of gaming I encounter. As I mentioned before, I’m no gem-seeking bounty hunter, but I will happily publicize a good game I stumble across that isn’t getting enough attention.
• Fiction. Things I write myself for entertainment. Looking back, those weren’t as god-awful as I remembered they were, and I think they’re really good creative practice.
• Music. Pieces I actually sequenced myself for entertainment. Again, good creative practice that produces a generally entertaining product.

Things like that. If you (the reader) have a better idea, drop me a line. I won’t write about absolutely anything, but I will write up things I think I could do well.

The thing is, I’ve got a big, lazy brain that should start pulling its weight, and am looking for insight as to how to best make that happen. That’s why exercising has been a real boon for me lately, and also why I’m heavily revamping this Blog. It’s a whole mind/body improvement routine for me, and excellent Blog posts for you.