Check out this article about a web surfer’s death in China:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8185412.stm
It’s about a teenage web surfing addict who got beaten to death while getting treatment for his addiction.
First of all, it’s a totally senseless death. But secondly, I just can’t help being shocked at this line:
However, there is little consensus on how to treat the addiction. In July, China’s Ministry of Health formally banned the use of electroshock therapy as a treatment option.
One of my favorite human performance books is Red Gold by Grigori Raiport. Chapter 5 deals with self-control. The first heading in the chapter is “Self-Control: The Secret of Success.”
That chapter quotes Lev Albert, a chess grand master: “Most human problems seem to be tied to self-control. Everything points to this common factor. Whether you’re jealous, afraid, timid, or drink too much, the common link seems to be an absence of self-control.”
The point is that self-control is a skill. It’s not a mystical quality, it’s something you develop through using willpower at first and then relegating it to habit—the habit of self-control.
There’s even an exercise at the end of the chapter called “The Useless Routine.” Everyday you do something inessential, useless, like putting a sock on a lamp. The point is, you do it consistently to “strengthen your pillars of self-reliance.”
The developed world is living in a time where we have access to a lot of good, quality information about how to take care of ourselves. Yet, the quality of this information is irrelevant if the general public is too undisciplined to follow it.
Do you think there are areas in your life where you are undisciplined? Identify them, become conscious of them, and strive to eliminate them, especially if they are doing damage.
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