Routine defined my life at the start of 2023.
That can happen after a decade of reading productivity books and listening to Gary Vee's podcast. Exercise at the same time each day. Run the same miles. Write 1000 words before 8 am. Block out the same time for cold calls.
Machine work.
Discipline in routine was kind of my motto last year. Why? Because routine equals freedom. Or so I thought. A simple equation to get lost in. There’s consistency in routine. A sense of control. Ok, a false sense of control.
Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, Emerson liked to say. In other words, life thinks very little about your routine. In 2023, I didn’t foresee evolving interests, flip-flopping goals, and new people who I wished to spend more time with.
But that’s what happens. Each year. Without fail. You can’t predict the who or the what. But shit happens.
New jobs.
New friends.
A new pandemic.
New wars.
A new election.
My routine changed a lot in 2023, which caused me a lot of mental distress. I thought I was failing my routine. But that’s a backward mindset.
Ryan Holiday suggested in an article back in 2020 (when everyone’s routine got unraveled) that instead of following routines, we should focus on practice.
“Practices are things you do regularly—perhaps daily, perhaps not—but in no particular order. They are things you return to, time and time again, to center yourself. To reset. To reconnect. To focus.”
One is about daily rhythm. The other is about a lifelong pursuit.
One is made to be broken. The other bends and flexes.
I like to compare the routines of two successful people who couldn’t be more different. The comedic writer BJ Novak and the Navy Seal Jocko Willink.
Jocko wakes up at 4:30 am most days, works out for 2 hours, meditates, journals, and walks his dog.
BJ Novak, on the other hand, hits the snooze button a few times, walks about a mile to the local Starbucks, drinks coffee till his hands shake, journals, and starts writing when inspiration hits.
The point is, who knows which routines will make a person tick. The writer Austin Kloen (Who’s from Austin, TX) says studying the routines of successful people is like studying a people zoo.
BJ and Jocko are opposites, but their practices are pretty damn similar.
An exercise practice, a journaling practice, a mediation practice.
Those practices are always there. They can fall back on them no matter how crazy things get in the world or changes in their lives.
Practice. Not talking about a game. Not talking about a routine. In 2024, I’m talking about practice.
We talkin about practice?