People always say the military kicks your ass into shape and teaches you discipline, but is there any evidence of that? Clearly it teaches you how to follow orders, but does it teach you actual self discipline? Self discipline is very different than just doing what you are told.

Of course it does.

well we can sure close the book on that one amirite

At the very least it will make you dream of fruit and wipe your ass in an unusual way.

QFT. I used to smoke weed all day, everyday, and accomplish nothing. Now I smoke weed once or twice everyday with 10 classes to go until I finish a shiny new degree. fear is the #1 motivator. If you're unmotivated all you need to do is throw yourself down to rock bottom, self realization will do the rest.

asdfgh

bumping this thread because i recently got this book



and after 50 pages or so, i'm really really really glad i got it.

I GOT AN IDEA HOW BOUT YOU STOP BEING A LITTLE BITCH

Says the homeless man to the guy shooting for $18,000 a year.

Solid advice imo.

What happened to OP?

Damn. This OP sounded exactly like me (minus the fact I never got my degree). Anyways, I'm pretty much, as anacardo put it, now a push button monkey. And, it sucks, but not as much as being flat broke, or worse, relying on poker when you hate it. I hope to get back to college, but without grants or financial aid - I just finished paying of that **** - it's a little daunting. I should, though. I'm not as depressed as I used to be. Really, I'm a completely different person, and I'm pretty sure I would breeze through school now.

So, I don't know how things are going for gisb0rne. Hopefully better. But, if you're still a little lost, I recommend just doing some crappy job while you figure things out. Make a little money, and if you're lucky like me, you'll at the very least get along with the people you work with.

Move away from Alaska. Seriously.

That would force you to establish yourself in a different environment and motivate you into at least survival mode,since I am assuming you have little or no funds.

This may or may not alter your current perspective on your existence, but if you are entertaining thoughts of suicide a change of venue is a must!

gl man..depression is a big ugly byatch that can cripple the best of us.

Gisborne, I'd like to first thank you for making this thread and hope you’re checking back to reply.

Secondly, I'll preface my post by saying that I don't play poker, and have nothing to do with this community. I sincerely apologize to the moderators of this thread if it is considered to be abuse of these forums, but I am extremely happy to have found this specific post and you can see why below.

This statement alone can easily sum up the difference between having this “condition”, or “disorder”, and not. To all of you who share the view above, simply be grateful the decision to write the paper, or not, is that easy for you, and try to go easy on us: We REALLY DON’T WANT TO BE USELESS WASTES OF MATTER, and in fact I think Gisborne himself will agree, if it’s going to adversely affect you personally that we are – as in you need our help to complete a task at work – we would most likely strive to be exactly the opposite.

A desperate Google search brought me here in hopes of finding a solution, or even a starting point to work with, for something that plagues me every day. The inability to motivate myself has already caused me to miss out on many big opportunities, like that of attending college and obtaining a degree, and has put a hold on the future prospects of any personal or professional growth. I work as an Assistant Accountant for a private University, a job that I hate more and more every day, but relative to not having a job in this economy, I am only that grateful for the paycheck to support myself with. I am fully capable of doing the work and more, yet I have no motivation to exceed any expectations and do only the bare minimum. I was given the position based on perceived intelligence and talent with room for promotion, with no degree, yet daily it shows (and I know it does), that I simply do not care. Some of you reading might call that lazy, and even I would too in many circumstances of my life, but even the lazy can somehow be persuaded to get off the proverbial couch. This job drives me to insanity more and more every day because I know I’m in the wrong place, not using my abilities to the fullest. My dream job involves evoking some sort of emotion in a target audience through interactive storytelling (I’m thinking videogames), yet I can’t motivate myself to send out my resume, let alone finish writing it. We only get by at what we do because we can. We will destroy ourselves and any future we have because we just don't have the motivation to do what we know in our "intelligent" brains is the right thing to do.

Gisborne, I wish you success in your search for a cure, or solution. If you do find something, please reply knowing that many have read your words and feel the same desperate desire to combat this debilitating lack of motivation, even if they haven't replied.

If you were wondering, I’m 21.

Ironic you are posting this on an online poker forum.

I relate to these three points. The answer is to grow up. We're the only creature capable of overcoming our basic impulses - we can identify where we are going wrong, and we can fix it. That's part of the reason we've taken over the planet. I don't care if it's hard, if you've failed in the past. Try hard, try harder, keep trying every day. You are not the only lazy smart person around, yet ex-lazy smart people are now leading productive lives.

I'd say that it foces you to get into habits, and when you realise how easy things are once they're a habit, you can apply that to other areas of life. (not that I've ever been in a real army)

this is very true
i never really did much in school, was always in the gifted classes, went to one of the 3 specialized high schools in NYC etc
The only class I ever did work in was spanish because I was terrible at it and my constant scores in the 50s weren't gonna make me pass (with the lower standards we have now they would)
I tell my grandmother now that i should have had a teacher kick me in the ass once in a while but it never happened- If im gonna score in the high 90s on whatever regents they give me (except spanish- and even that was a joke as I got an 85 when I failed most spanish tests )

She tells me Im just lazy etc but the truth is if I was dumber I would have tried harder- what was my motivation- do nothing and get low 90s or bust my ass for a few extra meaningless points

I read quite an interesting news story about the idea that you should reward pupils for work, not for the results. So you praise people for putting a lot of work into something, not for getting the answer right. Seems sensible to me.

it makes sense the problem is the logistics of it
you have kids struggling to pass and a few banging out 90s not paying much attention, but as long as they dont cause any trouble you focus your effort else where

my girlfriend is a junior hs math teacher and puts in more work than 99% of other teachers for her students- and even she struggles with this

I had teachers in junior school (7-11) who literally just ignored me. I'm sure that this strategy worked best for the class as a whole, but kind of sucks for the people on each edge. Contrastingly, it's hard to imagine anyone can work harder than anyone else when it comes to a one hour lesson - you either work or you don't. I haven't really thought about this in too much detail, but I imagine it'd require a lot of lesson restructuring (and governmental policy changes)

The piece I read on this said that intelligent people often consider it an insult to their intelligence to have to work to answer something, so they just don't bother rather than confront that problem. So instead of rewarding people for being smart - which they have little control over - you have to reward people for working hard, which everyone can control, bar mental disorder. Which I'd need a lot of persuasion to believe is OPs problem.

you are such an ass dragonystic. why would OP paint such a dismal existence of himself?

i really ****ing wonder about you.

adderall sounds good. however, the OP may have something that i struggle with.... i call it "fear of success". i've been known to work, work, work, excel, excel, excel, and then . . .. just when it's time to cash the chips.... just stop. i see this tendency in my boys, also.

the thing that kicks you in the ass, of course, is RESPONSIBILITY. when you're staring down the barrel of foreclosure, starvation, homelessness for yourself, it's no big deal; but when 4 children, a wife, a dog and 5 cats are relying on you.... different story.

not that i recommend getting married...

try at least this: how would your life be if you sincerely endeavored to overcome by hook or by crook the thought patterns that trick you into being a loser? contrive different thought patterns, motivations, whatever works for you.... ( for example: I WANT THAT STUPID AWESOME CHIP SET available through pokerstars Gold FPP status!!!! ) There's a bunch of stuff I also want. these stupid little things keep me motivated, and allow me to be okay with success, when/if i actually get there.

and i hate to say it -- but we sound very similar. pm me if you want.

I found that didn't work for me. There's only so much stuff I want (I don't want a house, I don't want an expensive car) that after a while I had everything already from poker winnings.

It's better to set yourself a target like "I want to keep a hot girlfriend" or something, because it (generally) requires several things to be working in your life, which you'd need to sit back and think about properly to achieve.

OMG QFT....

in the IT world, this disease runs amok. AMOK AMOK AMOK.

"i'm so smart -- i'm working on SOMETHING ELSE other than my assigned tasks because ~I~ think it's more important. ( or nothing, whilst i BAMBOOZLE anyone dumb enough to be BAMBOOZLED ( which is a large %-age of managers. )) if you want me to work, you must DANCE!! DANCE, I SAY, DANCE, YOU FOOLS!!!"

...get friends?