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[Lectorog]

Martial arts?
Cooking?
Writing? Art?

Get out of my head! Y U DESCRIBE ME!?

Because you actually get around to doing cool things, while I sit around wishing I was good at something?
Martial arts would be neat, but I'm too lazy, and barely manage my current pitiful exercise.
Cooking always makes me feel like I've wasted my time and done a bad job, and I don't know of anything I ever want to make.
I don't care much for writing; I suggested it because a lot of people do.
I'd love to be a decent artist, but am too ashamed of terrible productions to go anywhere. That's part of what's stalling me with programming, too.

My motivation goes up and down frequently. It's usually down. Probably depression or something. I figure I might have more motivation once high school starts back up, or after high school. Probably won't, though. I never really get around to self-improvement.

[cerapa]

Cooking always makes me feel like I've wasted my time and done a bad job, and I don't know of anything I ever want to make.

Bacon. There is always bacon. Its delicious even if you mess up a bit.(yay for bacon flavoured coal)

[MaximumZero]

Martial arts?
Cooking?
Writing? Art?

Get out of my head! Y U DESCRIBE ME!?

Because you actually get around to doing cool things, while I sit around wishing I was good at something?
Martial arts would be neat, but I'm too lazy, and barely manage my current pitiful exercise.
Cooking always makes me feel like I've wasted my time and done a bad job, and I don't know of anything I ever want to make.
I don't care much for writing; I suggested it because a lot of people do.
I'd love to be a decent artist, but am too ashamed of terrible productions to go anywhere. That's part of what's stalling me with programming, too.

My motivation goes up and down frequently. It's usually down. Probably depression or something. I figure I might have more motivation once high school starts back up, or after high school. Probably won't, though. I never really get around to self-improvement.

There are three words to get you out of your rut and all of them are: Practice, Practice, Practice.

Go to a dojo. If you're lazy there, you get your ass whipped. Ta da, your laziness is gone!
Start from recipes, and then tweak them just a little bit to suit your tastes. A pinch of salt never really hurt anything.
Art and Programming are about learning the rules and then bending them. Once you learn the rules of the game, you tweak them to suit your needs, kind of like cooking.

You just have to start, and your passion will carry you on. You can do it, man.

[Lectorog]

Bacon. There is always bacon. Its delicious even if you mess up a bit.(yay for bacon flavoured coal)

I don't like bacon much. When it's available, I eat one strip. I could start with cooking some bacon, pancakes, and/or eggs instead of my family, perhaps.

There are three words to get you out of your rut and all of them are: Practice, Practice, Practice.

Work takes motivation. I have none currently.

Go to a dojo. If you're lazy there, you get your ass whipped. Ta da, your laziness is gone!

I took tennis lessons last summer, with a similar instructing style. I dropped after the first week. That isn't the type of style that works for me. It doesn't make me try any harder, it just makes me feel bad. Stress does not help me, it only makes things worse.

Start from recipes, and then tweak them just a little bit to suit your tastes. A pinch of salt never really hurt anything.

I know of nothing appealing enough to spend time on. I don't appreciate an hour-preparation meal much more than the sandwich I eat every day for lunch.

Art and Programming are about learning the rules and then bending them. Once you learn the rules of the game, you tweak them to suit your needs, kind of like cooking.

I don't know the rules of art yet. My skills are at zero. I don't get how to best bend the rules, either. I try putting together a program, and it ends up four times worse than it should be, if not full of errors.

You just have to start, and your passion will carry you on. You can do it, man.

This is the main problem, I guess. I don't have any passion, for anything; at least, not now. It makes improvement hard. The last time I can recall having passion was in April, and that was due to rather extraordinary circumstances.

[LordBucket]

I don't have any passion, for anything

So don't do. Be.

Lie down. Do nothing. Don't think. Don't fidget. Don't daydream. Simply lie in place and observe your position in space without coming to judgement or conclusions about it.

[Forker]

Do you have anxiety? I have a hard time leaving the house, but when i do, it always pays off.

[Lectorog]

So don't do. Be.

Lie down. Do nothing. Don't think. Don't fidget. Don't daydream. Simply lie in place and observe your position in space without coming to judgement or conclusions about it.

... Why? I don't find that activity to be particularly pleasant. It's also really hard to do at will - not thinking or moving.

[LordBucket]

Why? I don't find that activity to be particularly pleasant.

The thread title is "The Self-Improvement Thread." Not "how to have a good time."

If you want pleasant, then seek out things you enjoy. Get chocolate. Look at pictures of pretty girls. Go out with friends. Have fun.

[Lectorog]

I don't see how lying in place improves someone.
The "Why?" was to establish that, with the following sentences giving non-obvious reasons to not do it. I guess that isn't very clear.

[Rooster]

I don't have any passion, for anything

So don't do. Be.

Lie down. Do nothing. Don't think. Don't fidget. Don't daydream. Simply lie in place and observe your position in space without coming to judgement or conclusions about it.

I just have to ask this. LordBucket are you some sort of zen master?

[LordBucket]

Why?
I don't see how lying in place improves someone.

There is a certain tendency for people to behave as automated processes. For example, when you brush your teeth are you consciously thinking about brushing your teeth? Or are you running on autopilot? When you drive are you thinking about what you're doing or are you thinking about other things? When you watch a movie or read a book or engage in a hobby, are you self aware and conscious of your thoughts, actions and surroundings? Are you deliberately acting? Or are you lost in your action?

Most people spend a considerable portion of their daily life running on autopilot. It's basically a hypnotic state. It's like walking around in a trance. It's a very different state that being conscious and aware of one's self and one's surroundings. Being rather than doin...deliberately focusing and observing one's self and environment is one way of reclaiming one's consciousness. Being a self aware, conscious entity rather than a robot running around on autopilot.

I suggest that being self aware is an improvement of the self over being a robot.

I just have to ask this. LordBucket are you some sort of zen master?

No. If I were I would have a greater fondness for being vague.

[Lectorog]

Ah, but that is what I do. I think about and manually perform the actions of brushing my teeth. While reading, I frequently get distracted by sounds around me, visual differences, and my divergent thoughts, and notice these things while watching movies and doing similar activities. I'm still rather new to driving (about 15 hours driving total), and all of my focus is devoted to the many things I need to pay attention to. I need to give attention to such routine actions as speaking and basic hand motions; they're not things I do automatically, I have to think about every step (at least briefly) before I take it. When typing this, I create in my mind the general point I want to get across, think up the sentence as I'm going, take the word that I need, get the letters, transfer them into keys, and press those keys with the appropriate fingers (which I know through practice); it may be an automated process, but I'm aware of every step, and notice them every time I go through them, to at least some degree. I don't understand how people do the autopilot thing. I get how repeating actions lets you think about them less, but not how you stop thinking about each one entirely. Blinking and breathing are as much as I can manage there.

I just have to ask this. LordBucket are you some sort of zen master?

No. If I were I would have a greater fondness for being vague.

Don't let him fool you, Rooster, he totally is. He's just too at one with himself to notice it.

[eerr]

@ Araph,

I used to make it my goal to learn one thing at a time, reliably.

Rather than attempting to half-ass everything, it was more worthwhile to do at least a passable job, so I can back shit up in the future.

And by shit, I mean doing stuff I wanted to do.


If I needed to know five things then I didn't do it.

It really was worthwhile not trying to piecemeal every last detail!

[eerr]

I won't be lazy any more!

but I can't be bothered...

It takes a long time to fix that one, unless you know exactly what you are doing.

[Korbac]

I won't be lazy any more!

but I can't be bothered...

It takes a long time to fix that one, unless you know exactly what you are doing.

It does.