Monk Mode, and what I learned from 3 years of it

In this era, it's becoming more common to find people who are very unproductive. As life gets easier due to technology, more & more effort gets automated. After 3 years of monk mode, I can see how this happens.

We've reached a point where people are so lazy, they want the result without having to put in the effort to achieve it. This is very evident in the rise of quick-fix solutions in niches such as weight loss and finance.

The prevalence of modern-day conveniences has made men weak. Rather than go out & conquer their challenges, they rather be absorbed into a virtual world where their progress disappears once they shut down their devices, or over-indulge in comfort like junk food.

Monk mode is the solution to this laziness. Monk mode makes you lower the instant gratification so you can actually get work done. After being in monk mode for just over 3 years now, here's what I've learned about productivity & tips for getting started on your own monk mode journey.

1. Add more Good instead of removing all the bad

Due to my upbringing in a very catholic family, I was conditioned to remove the bad if it made me do bad, whatever it was. Even though I would do this, I still wondered why I was struggling with porn & video games. I see now that removing the bad itself does not fix the problem.

Modern solutions to problems revolve around the logic of, "Just remove the thing causing the problem, duuuhhh!" It makes sense. It makes too much sense. And that's the problem.

In theory, removing the immediate source solves the problem. In reality, it only solves it temporarily. 

Taking away my video games didn't teach me to value other things, it taught me to resent other things. Restricting my porn consumption didn't cause me to watch less porn, it only made me want it more.

By filling my schedule with other tasks that are enjoyable, productive, and sufficiently draining, I was able to overcome both of these vices. In the case of video games, I swapped it out with working out, and in the case of porn, I swapped it out with reading & self-study.

The real way of overcoming your vices isn't by directly removing them, it's by crowding them out with other things you want to do so they get removed over time.

2. Monk Mode is all about progression

Growing up, I had little to no work ethic. School was super easy for me, I was really good at thinking outside the box, and overall nothing really challenged me. That is until I hit senior year in high school.

Everything was suddenly harder, homework took more effort, and I soon found myself in over my head. I still ended up passing, but this question stuck with me: why did I suddenly lose my drive to perform well in school?

If you're anything like me, you probably never had a sense of progression in your work at all. Either everything was too easy or too hard, with no in-between. I took this to mean something was wrong with me, but I see now that that's simply false.

Monk mode taught me how to pace myself at a pace that kept me engaged, while simultaneously showing me where I was lacking. This combination is still in my daily schedule today and keeps me going with no burnout.

I now realize that the reason I struggled in senior year was that I had no sense of progression throughout high school. Entering monk mode taught me the importance of progression when it comes to developing as an individual & learning what you actually want to learn.

In order to properly do monk mode, you must progress at your own pace.

3. Hold yourself accountable

It's hard holding yourself accountable in this era. I mean, why do it when everybody else is doing it for you?

I never really held myself accountable throughout high school. Teachers, fellow students, parents, and natural talent made sure I didn't have to hold myself accountable for my school work. You can now see why I ended up dropping out of college in my first year.

This point goes in tandem with the last point but is significant enough to be its own. 

To be properly productive requires you to hold yourself accountable to yourself, even when you are the only one you can hold yourself accountable to.

When I went into monk mode, because it was at my pace & I learned what I wanted, I only had myself to answer to at the end of the day. If I didn't get something done, it was my own fault and nobody else's.

The difference here is that I wasn't beating myself up when I didn't finish my tasks. Because there was no more direct punishment for not doing my tasks, I could define my own relevant consequences for not doing my tasks. This led me to want to be more on top of finishing my tasks.

People these days struggle with self-accountability because they're so used to others taking accountability for them as well as being punished for not being accountable for their own work.

If you want to be more self-accountable, hold yourself to that standard but don't beat yourself up if you don't reach it.

Discipline is the fruit of Monk Mode

To put it all into one word, monk mode helps with the development of discipline. By going monk mode, you are committing to developing yourself in as many aspects of your life as possible.

The discipline I developed from monk mode came about from the three above lessons I've shared here. Implement them and I have confidence you will see satisfactory results.

- Karl