The "why" is often summed as "will this make my life better and by how much?" I agree that "grinding it out" doesn't apply to creative work. You can have a tim

The "why" is often summed as "will this make my life better and by how much?" I agree that "grinding it out" doesn't apply to creative work. You can have a time block dedicated to writing and produce nothing because you feel the activity is pointless/meaningless. If you don't see how the end result will make your life better, you will never make progress. Worse, you will get depressed by the meaninglessness of it all and be tempted to self sabotage existing efforts. Long term goals are an existential crisis because every fiber in your body just wants to say "Fuck it", give up and indulge into immediate unfullfilling gratification. Intentional self destructive behavior is pretty much any activity that says "Fuck you future self". Often, it requires reflection on your attitude and outlook on the future.