Habits, Discipline, Passion

The Real (?) JoeAm Teaches Discipline

I don't do resolutions. I do principles.

This article overworks the pronoun "I". This is brought on by the normal tendency to self-reflect as we migrate, or are dragged, one year to another. Please excuse the self-absorption.

How does one rise to a higher plane of living, where one is claiming one's own place in the surrounding social chaos? The opposite of strong is weak, the opposite of clean is unclean, the opposite of ambitious is lazy, the opposite of successful is weak, unclean and lazy.

My boss at the Big Bank in California during a period when the British owned us was a gentleman by the name of Ernie Field. Ernie was brilliant and the opposite of shy. He trained in South America where he was the banker to Panama's dictator Manuel Noriega whom he would visit in jail to take his banking instructions. He made me a better executive during one afternoon's casual chat when he advised me to develop a set of principles and stick to them.

I did, and still do.

You see, there are habits and there is discipline. Habits are what we learn to do because it is convenient or familiar or safe and secure. There are good ones and bad ones. Getting up as soon as the alarm rings is a good one, versus lollygagging in bed for 5 to 60 minutes. One is precise and reliable and strong. The other imprecise and unreliable and weak. And easy.

Therein lies the main distinction between a bad habit and a good habit, or an act derived from principle: the discipline to do that which is not easy.

What is discipline? It is one part knowledge, knowing what to do and why, and one part will power. Will power is the determination to do what is right, what is good, what others do not always do.

Will power is a passion not to let the bastards get us down, where the bastards are within (sloth, self condemnation, self delusion) and without (critics, naysayers, stupid people).

Should one require a new year to resolve to do that which is not easy?

I think not. One of my principles is not to make New Year's resolutions. They are not serious enough, not reflective enough of the determination it takes to do that which is not easy. It is too faddish for me.

One of my principles is to read as if my knowledge and insight depended on it.  Here's my reading pattern:

1. One book every two weeks.
2. A daily morning sweep of the news, repeated in the evening:

• Rappler
• The Philippine Blog Center
• Raissa Robles
• Google custom-tailored news focused on the United States, the Philippines, Business, Politics, Science and Technology

3. Selected readings from: the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, New Yorker, Time Magazine, and Los Angeles Times.

I follow live telecasts of Philippine Senate and House proceedings when they are available. I seldom watch any other television. Maybe a part of a Laker game until that ball-hog Bryant starts dribbling all over the joint.

Another principle is to work diligently on my chosen craft of writing for power. The power of literate expression. The power of understanding the land I have chosen as home. The power of learning from the wisdom and experiences of others who contribute to this blog. The power of reaching people who can make a difference as the Philippines emerges as a bright star in Asia.

• I crank out six blogs per week. That is part discipline and part style. I don't do the research and interviews that a journalistic blogger like Riassa Robles does. I simply leverage my experiences and readings and observations, and, yes, ignorance, about the Philippines to craft cross-cultural understandings. Or misunderstandings, as I sometimes discover.

I'm an idea-monger. There is no end game in sight. The journey is the enrichment.  The power is the antidote to growing narrow and intellectually inflexible.

I have other principles as well, dealing with money and family and religion. But there is no need to go into those. They pop up now and then in these blogs.

Now about passion . . .

That is the emotion one puts behind one's discipline and dedication. Frankly, for me, it can be a negative if I get too angry. So I have brought Angry Maude onto the writing team to deal with the harder views. She allows me to remain LESS passionate and retain the balance that is important for a respectable overall presentation. Man she is one dogmatic battleaxe. How did Ben Kritz describe her?

• "Oh, and by the way Maude, despite striking me as a hormone-addled dipshit at the beginning of your rant, your three points you gleaned from my article are exactly the points I was trying to make. . ."

Ahahahaha. Ben K is one sweet and lovable guy. He has his passions, for sure. I think he is secretly hot for Maude.

Well, passion is important, you know? Filipinos have it in spades so I need not elaborate further on that point. You understand.

The end of the year approaches. I'll end this year's writing with a few thank yous tomorrow.

I'd like to extend good wishes to you as you exercise your own commitments for the next year. I hope you decide to develop principles that will hold you in good stead. Not flimsy resolutions, for show, but deep commitments to do the hard, fulfilling things that will help you, those close to you, and the Philippines grow richer.

Here's to discipline and passion and the ability to do that which is not easy. And to the principles that become your very own personal style.