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I was recently reading the book of Exodus, in particular where G-d tells Moses and the Jewish people about the construction of the tabernacle and the altar. The

I was recently reading the book of Exodus, in particular where G-d tells Moses and the Jewish people about the construction of the tabernacle and the altar. The striking thing about the altar is the description of daily sacrifices that are required. As a metaphor, this resonates to what we're talking about there. The nature of the universe is such that change happens much more through compounding than through one-time miracles (eg, if you want an extra 100K in the bank, the easiest way to do that is to have saved $27 every day over the last 10 years than somehow to wish for the 100K to land in your account in one shot, the way to lose 10 lbs is to cut out 100 calories a day for a year, etc.) Back to Exodus - you can think of "$27/day" or "100 calories/day" as a form of sacrifice. You can always spend that money on something, you an always eat an extra treat - to not do that requires consistent, daily, sacrifice, albeit small. That's why when someone does something consistently, we say he does it "religiously" - religion teaches you daily consistency in many ways. We don't sacrifice on the altar nowadays, but think about daily morning prayer for example - if you can be consistent with that you can be consistent with a lot of other things.

chrisweekly 3y ago
+1, fantastic comment. This really resonates. I was recently looking at the app I use to manage my workouts and realized I've done over 150,000 pushups using the app. I'm pretty strong for a middle-aged tech worker, and it's because of the consistency. Same deal w/ guitar - I try hard to play for at least 10m nearly every day (which sometimes expands to a much longer session) and it really pays dividends.
- mmkhd 3y ago
  No, this is not really a fantastic comment because the comment initially supports the thesis of the article, which is "change is slow progress, not a burst of activity" and it does this quite well with a biblical comparison, but then it veers off to "daily praying, helps with success in other areas", which is a totally different thesis. That's proselytizing instead of commenting on the article. And your "+1, fantastic comment" smells, too; because you do not address the content of the comment, but only the original thesis of the posted article. So it should have been "+1, fantastic article". You don't even say what's so good in the comment that you praise. Is this an attack by missionaries with day jobs in marketing? :-) (And it is not really a fantastic article either, because it has a nice start with the Rocky comparison and a nice ending (sans post script) that fits the start but the middle is a muddle just like this run-on sentence.)
  - xyzelement 3y ago
    (I am the GP whose comment you're criticizing.) I think you're trying to follow the analogy/point so maybe I can be more explicit. Consistency is difficult - everyone knows that you "have to" save money consistently, or cut back on calories, or exercise daily, or whatever. The gap from "knowledge" to "able to do it" is quite big - as evidenced by the fact most people aren't able to be consistent about much in our lives. And that's not because of some sort of "privilege" - people spend time on social media where they could be exercising, they are spending money on stuff they don't strictly need, etc. There's a large cohort of people who (1) know they can make their lives better through consistency (2) have the underlying opportunity to do it and (3) fail to actually capitalize on those opportunities constantly. The connection to religion is that religious practice is by its nature consistent (you go to your house of worship weekly, you pray daily, whatever the case may be) - which is a great exercise in the muscle of consistency. I suspect that if someone is trained in ability to do religious things daily, they are much better positioned to apply this skill to other domains of their life (similar to how someone who is a trained weight lifter can apply their strength to other domains like carrying their kids or physical work.) What takes my comment from "true" to "fantastic" (just kidding) is the connection to the applicability of seemingly arcane religious practice to a very-much-relevant modern day skillset, which I also believe is less available in society than it was previously. You may not resonate with this on a religious level, but perhaps there's some room to recognize ancient wisdom applicable to today, anyways.
    - Citizen_Lame 3y ago
      There is certainly validity in conistency. Some might find it easier with religion. But the main core concept doesn't require any ritualistic pagentry to work.
    - sirspacey 3y ago
      This introduced an interesting concept Any ritual that cultivates consistency is useful So a ritual of saying the day’s name in a cartoon voice Or burning a blade of grass If religion is the indicator, the greater the difference from every day life the better I have actually found that simply making a new choice daily, one that I can’t remember having made before, does wonders for my sense of possibility & curiosity
edgarvaldes 3y ago
Sorry about the off topic, but why the G-d spelling?
- panosfilianos 3y ago
  "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" likely.
- marketerinland 3y ago
  It’s something Jewish people do, and is occasionally adopted by others.

chrisweekly 3y ago

+1, fantastic comment. This really resonates. I was recently looking at the app I use to manage my workouts and realized I've done over 150,000 pushups using the app. I'm pretty strong for a middle-aged tech worker, and it's because of the consistency. Same deal w/ guitar - I try hard to play for at least 10m nearly every day (which sometimes expands to a much longer session) and it really pays dividends.

mmkhd 3y ago
No, this is not really a fantastic comment because the comment initially supports the thesis of the article, which is "change is slow progress, not a burst of activity" and it does this quite well with a biblical comparison, but then it veers off to "daily praying, helps with success in other areas", which is a totally different thesis. That's proselytizing instead of commenting on the article. And your "+1, fantastic comment" smells, too; because you do not address the content of the comment, but only the original thesis of the posted article. So it should have been "+1, fantastic article". You don't even say what's so good in the comment that you praise. Is this an attack by missionaries with day jobs in marketing? :-) (And it is not really a fantastic article either, because it has a nice start with the Rocky comparison and a nice ending (sans post script) that fits the start but the middle is a muddle just like this run-on sentence.)
- xyzelement 3y ago
  (I am the GP whose comment you're criticizing.) I think you're trying to follow the analogy/point so maybe I can be more explicit. Consistency is difficult - everyone knows that you "have to" save money consistently, or cut back on calories, or exercise daily, or whatever. The gap from "knowledge" to "able to do it" is quite big - as evidenced by the fact most people aren't able to be consistent about much in our lives. And that's not because of some sort of "privilege" - people spend time on social media where they could be exercising, they are spending money on stuff they don't strictly need, etc. There's a large cohort of people who (1) know they can make their lives better through consistency (2) have the underlying opportunity to do it and (3) fail to actually capitalize on those opportunities constantly. The connection to religion is that religious practice is by its nature consistent (you go to your house of worship weekly, you pray daily, whatever the case may be) - which is a great exercise in the muscle of consistency. I suspect that if someone is trained in ability to do religious things daily, they are much better positioned to apply this skill to other domains of their life (similar to how someone who is a trained weight lifter can apply their strength to other domains like carrying their kids or physical work.) What takes my comment from "true" to "fantastic" (just kidding) is the connection to the applicability of seemingly arcane religious practice to a very-much-relevant modern day skillset, which I also believe is less available in society than it was previously. You may not resonate with this on a religious level, but perhaps there's some room to recognize ancient wisdom applicable to today, anyways.
  - Citizen_Lame 3y ago
    There is certainly validity in conistency. Some might find it easier with religion. But the main core concept doesn't require any ritualistic pagentry to work.
  - sirspacey 3y ago
    This introduced an interesting concept Any ritual that cultivates consistency is useful So a ritual of saying the day’s name in a cartoon voice Or burning a blade of grass If religion is the indicator, the greater the difference from every day life the better I have actually found that simply making a new choice daily, one that I can’t remember having made before, does wonders for my sense of possibility & curiosity

edgarvaldes 3y ago

Sorry about the off topic, but why the G-d spelling?

panosfilianos 3y ago
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" likely.
marketerinland 3y ago
It’s something Jewish people do, and is occasionally adopted by others.