Managing Weakness with Compensating Subroutines
Parrish suggests adding routines that reduce the harm from recurring weaknesses, especially when changing the underlying impulse is difficult. The aim is to manage how you respond rather than wait for the impulse to disappear.
THE IDEA
MANAGING WEAKNESS
Life gets easier when you don’t blame other people and focus on what you can control.
—JAMES CLEAR
PART OF TAKING command of your life is controlling the things you can. Another part is managing the things you can’t—your vulnerabilities or weaknesses.
Think again of the computer analogy we discussed earlier. You have the power to change your programming, at least to some extent. In some cases, you can rewrite your existing algorithms, reprogramming how you respond to, say, emotion or social pressure or threats to your ego. Rewriting those algorithms is a great way to build strength.
But sometimes there are harmful algorithms you can’t rewrite. You can’t change your biological instincts, the inborn tendencies that resist any attempt to change them. Just because you can’t change them, however, doesn’t mean you can’t manage them. Doing so is merely a matter of programming new subroutines into your life that help mitigate or contain the harmful effects. Adding those subroutines is a way of managing weakness.
When to use it
An entrepreneur who hesitates over risky decisions uses a consistent risk review to distinguish manageable uncertainty from an unacceptable downside.
A student with a tendency to get distracted by social media installs website blockers and establishes a study routine that includes designated breaks for checking feeds, thus managing the distraction instinct.
A manager prone to micromanaging agrees on delegated responsibilities and a weekly check-in, reducing the occasions for intervening in every detail.
A person with a sweet tooth who can't resist desserts sets a rule to only eat dessert on weekends, creating a subroutine that limits the indulgence without requiring them to overcome the craving entirely.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Managing a Quick Temper
If you often react angrily to provocation, try a routine: when anger rises, take three deep breaths and count to ten before responding. Observe whether the pause helps you choose a response instead of immediately acting on the feeling.
Overcoming Procrastination
When a preference for immediate rewards makes a task hard to start, try a 25-minute work period followed by a 5-minute break. This Pomodoro-style routine structures attention without requiring the temptation to disappear.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
What recurring impulse or habit have you found difficult to change?
How could you design a compensating subroutine to manage that weakness without trying to eliminate it?
When have you successfully added a routine to mitigate a personal weakness? How did it help?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Clear Thinking Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results (Shane Parrish)