In an empty room with nothing but a wooden chair, simple desk, and the Internal Revenue Code.
Sooner or later, that book becomes the most interesting thing there is…that is, after you’ve counted the number of holes in the ceiling tiles.
A little skeptical? Give it a try, I don’t recommend it though–but it will hold true.
With a lack of external stimuli, you will seek it in any way possible, even if that means thumbing through the IRC.
Would you give up that book if now there suddenly appeared an iPad with the full series of Mad Men on there?
The same applies to this city of New York.
The entire world is at your finger tips, lying between where you are and where you’re going. And even if you’re staying inside, now it can be delivered to you…typically for free, instantly.
Case in point, last week I did comparison shopping for my groceries (compared the corner market with Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s) to see where I was going to go and how much it all would cost (I’ll go at a later time into a cost benefit analysis of having your kitchen stocked/preparing most of your food).
On my way, I decided to check out the gyms and yoga studios to develop those intentional habits of exercise, breathing, and meditation. I cross the street and find a Dance Shoe store. Well, I wanted to salsa dance and what better way than to buy new shoes to ensure I go.
Harmless right? Except for the fact that I initially had set out to go find the best food and come back to start studying. Take a guess at what….yep, accounting.
So $80 in the hole, a set of brand new shoes, and 4 hours later I returned.
I know better than to try and argue logic in my decision. Yes, everything was based on establishing good triggers, norms, and routines for the future. But, emotionally I know I wanted to explore, to not sit in a room and study.
Because the truth is, New York City is the exact opposite of an empty room, it is #AtTheCenter, it is an adult Disneyland.
As the week progressed, you can add in the numerous groups of people I met at orientation, at the yoga studio, blend in my old friends from high school and college, and top it off with the jampacked schedule of orientation (let’s see how these newbies handle themselves the next morning after booze and late night partying).
The resulting smoothie provides brain freeze with the after effects of exhaustion.
So as the weeks add up and school gets going, not only do you have the full academic, career, and social load inherent to business school, but also you have the environment of every possible distraction in your backyard and at your fingertips pulling you in hundreds of different ways until you lay exhausted oversleeping on your downtown brunch with 4 other peers.
And so this behavior is clearly what Napoleon Hill discusses as drifting:
- Drifting is procrastination, for it is any habit which causes one to procrastinate–to put off reaching a definite decision–leads to the habit of drifting
- Drift in one direction and soon one will be drifting in all directions.
- Drifting is the most common cause of failure in every walk of life
The antidote according to Hill involves 7 principles used in a “hypnotic rhythm” (what many might call a routine, or subconscious triggers).
- Definiteness of Purpose
- Mastery over self
- Learning from Adversity
- Controlling environmental influence like your Associations and where you are
- Time spent focusing on positive rather than negative thought-habits to develop wisdom
- Harmony of action with definiteness of purpose to become the dominating influence in your own mental, spiritual, and physical environment
- Caution to think through the plan before acting
And so when applied appropriately and intentionally, these distractions represent something far greater than a way to drift into complacent oblivion for 92 weeks, they become opportunities & resources.
The challenge lies therein. May I absorb all that is contained in the books while surrounded by–and playing in–adult Disneyland.
How would you recommend I navigate the playground?