No evil propensity of the human heart is so powerful that it may not be subdued by discipline.

— Seneca

RESILIENCE

WHAT THIS MEANS

No impulse is beyond management, though management rarely looks like the heroic resistance people imagine. What actually subdues a strong tendency is structure: distance from the trigger, a rule made in advance, other people who know, a replacement for whatever the impulse was doing for you. Willpower in the moment is the weakest tool available and the one everyone reaches for first.

Take the pattern you keep losing to and change the conditions rather than your resolve. Move the thing, tell someone, set the rule when you are calm. Then judge yourself on the setup rather than on the moment.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

Which impulse of yours has weakened because you kept refusing it?

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