MIND
Read. Think. Sharpen the blade.
I made this app because I went through some really hard times years ago that turned me into a pathetic man. I was drinking a lot, smoking, and just had bad habits. I couldn't wake up on time. I stopped working out. I wasn't confident in myself. I felt like I had lost my way and didn't know who I was anymore. I couldn't trust myself.
So one day I got a notebook and I decided I was going to set goals for myself. The first goal I set was just "wake up at 8am," and I put a little checkbox by it and wrote the date above it. That was it. The next day, I failed. I didn't get up at 8am, which should have been such an easy goal, but I was so messed up in the head I couldn't even do that. So I crossed it off as a failure. Then I did it again. I made the same commitment, and the next day I kept it. I checked it off.
I slowly made it harder. I told myself I would wake up at 7am, then 6am. This forced me to stop drinking so much and staying up so late, because I wanted to hit that goal. Then I wondered if I could get myself back in the gym with the same method. I started broad and easy — "work out for 30 minutes" — that way any kind of workout would count, even just walking, even just being in the gym for 30 minutes doing nonsense. But that slowly compounded.
What I found was that if I picked something — the smallest something — that I could accomplish, and kept my word to myself, I built confidence that I did the things I said I would do. I could take control and stop being controlled by my impulses. Next thing I know, I'm adding reading for 10 minutes a day, then praying and meditating. After a few months, I quit drinking entirely, stopped smoking, and stopped treating myself terribly.
I left that notebook out on my desk every day where I could see it, and crossed things off as I did them. If I didn't do something, at the end of the day I would ask myself why not. I would hold myself accountable and write that down. Then I would make the promises for the next day and repeat. This slowly turned my life around.
Now, I wanted to bring it to everyone for free. The same system that helped me so much is free for anyone to use in this app. I truly believe that the foundation of glory is a life full of micro-promises kept — actions that show ourselves and others that we are who we say we are. We can achieve greatness by focusing on the daily actions of greatness, instead of on some grandiose image of greatness.
— Phillip Dougherty
