Day 3 Discipline

Do the Hard Thing First

Stoic Slap

"Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life."

— Seneca

Today is a whole life. Don't piss it away on easy shit.

You wake up with full willpower. By lunch it's half gone. By 5 PM you're running on fumes.

That hard thing you keep dodging? It doesn't get easier at night. It gets heavier.

Here's the Thing

Do it first. When your tank is full. Before the day bleeds you dry.

Today's Work (10 minutes total)

1. Reflect (2 min)

What's the one task I always push to "later"?

2. Write (5 min)

You know what it is. You tell yourself:

  • "I'll do it after email"
  • "Once I finish these quick wins"
  • "This afternoon when I have energy"

But you never get that energy. You get less.

By "later" you're too drained to do it right. So tomorrow. Then next week. Then never.

See it now? The hard thing doesn't soften by waiting. It calcifies.

Write it down: What am I dodging? What happens if I keep dodging it?

3. Act (Tomorrow morning)

Tomorrow morning, do the hard thing FIRST.

Not after coffee. Not after email. Not after "warming up" with easy wins.

First.

That's the whole game
  1. Tonight: Name the ONE hard thing for tomorrow morning.
  2. Tomorrow: Wake up. Do it. Nothing else gets touched.
  3. No exceptions: No email, Slack, news, Instagram. Just the hard thing.

It could be:

  • Making the call you're avoiding
  • Writing the difficult email
  • Starting the project that scares you
  • Having the hard conversation
  • Deep work that moves the needle

Do it first. Before willpower evaporates. Before the day takes you offline.

Proof of Work
  • Named the hard thing I avoid
  • Identified my excuse pattern
  • Wrote down tomorrow's hard thing first
← Day 2: System Beats the Goal Day 4: Consistency Over Intensity →