November Schedule for Extremists Being Awesome
Product doesn't just happen, people!
November’s Inner Growth Theme:
“Seek discipline and find your liberty.”
Frank Herbert gave us Dune, sandworms, the concept of hallucinogenic space travel, and the Bene Gesserit prayer, for all of which we are ever grateful. But he also had a few potent things to say about liberty.
I really love this quote. It makes me think about how the way we experience the world often comes down more to how we manage our own thoughts, behaviors, and affairs than what the Powers That Shouldn’t Be are doing at any given moment.
Now, there are two types of discipline, two ways of defining the word in the common parlance. There is discipline imposed from outside in the form of one-size-fits-all rules—think of a schoolmarm rapping her pupil’s hands with a ruler when he fails to learn the day’s lesson to her satisfaction. And then there’s self-discipline, which arises organically from the core of your being, out of a desire to live as well as you possibly can, to provide yourself with the guidelines that will bring out the authentic best in you.
Clearly, self-discipline > authoritarian-imposed discipline. For one thing, it actually works. And for another, it doesn’t leave an ocean of suffering in its wake.
The thing about self-discipline is it’s intensely individual. One person might discipline himself to wake up earlier each morning in order to get more done, and another person might discipline herself to spend more time in relaxation in order to replenish her reserves of energy. Two opposite approaches, but both lead toward the same result of greater individual effectiveness.
Calling upon your inner authority, you can apply discipline where and how it’s needed for you, in your life. No more, no less, and no different than what evokes the authentic best in you. If you do it well and consistently, it gets you as close to anarchy (self-rulership) as you’re ever likely to come in the current reality.
How can you apply stronger and more individualized self-discipline in your own life? When do you follow the productivity and better-living advice of the masses and when do you dispense with it because it doesn’t serve you? How does discipline help you find liberty? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Moving on…
Radical Productivity in November
The new schedule we implemented in October has been working out so well that no changes are needed for session times. For November, we’ll stick with the same weekly schedule with the exception of the week of Thanksgiving, when we will take a little break.
Weekend Warrior will be on Saturday, November 12. This is a great time to experience massive gains on whatever project or goal tends to elude you due to time constraints or life distractions. Just devote four hours on a Saturday to progressing on that vision and see how much you can get accomplished. (Hint: it’s a lot!)
Morning session: M-F 10:15AM - 12:15 AM (Come at 10 if you want to participate in daily meditation.)
Afternoon session: M,T,F 12:30PM - 2:30PM
Evening session: W,Th 6:00PM - 8:00PM
Weekend Warrior: Saturday, November 12 from 12PM - 5PM
NO MEETINGS ON WEDNESDAY - FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23 - 25
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I'm so happy to have found another Frank Herbert fan here on Liberty Substack!
Self-discipline is definitely a big theme in "Dune." When Paul is tested to see if he can hold his hand in the "agony box" that feels like it's roasting the flesh from his bones, the goal is to determine whether he is "a human or an animal," with the clear suggestion that self-control is the defining characteristic of humanity.
It's worth noting that, earlier in this same chapter, Paul reviews a "mind -body lesson," which states in part, "one does not obtain food-safety-freedom by instinct alone." Indeed, one does not!
In contrast to the disciplined Atreides family, the Harkonnens are depicted as grossly self-indulgent, with Rabban even nicknamed "The Beast," in what I presume is a reference to the "human or animal" dichotomy.
There's so much more ...Herbert was both ahead of his time and timeless.
I feel seen... :D