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- The Beauty of Forcing Functions
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I’m going to share a vulnerable truth with you:
I’m a lazy person.
Some people have the valuable trait of being inherently self-motivated.
While I’m working to cultivate this ability, I’m currently not wired like that.
And if you’re like the vast majority of people out there, you probably aren’t either.
Meanwhile, the rare breed of self-disciplined people will tell you:
“You can do anything you set your mind to!”
But here’s the problem — this is misleading advice. It doesn’t share the full story.
Because here’s what they don’t tell you:
This mindset relies on motivation. And the reality is — your motivation will fade away. Accept it. It’s inevitable.
So how do you see your goal through to its end when all your motivation has evaporated?
Well, my friend. That’s the beauty of forcing functions.
Forcing functions are the reason an inherently lazy person like me was able to scale my online writing business to 5-figure months (in profit) within 165 days.
As a full-time student. And while working a part-time job.
Forcing functions are also the key to actually getting what you want out of life.
Let me explain…
Pressure Makes Diamonds
“If more information was the answer, we’d all be billionaires with perfect abs.”
Literally all of the information you could ever need to become wealthy, healthy, and happy is out there on the internet.
The blueprint to achieving your dream physique is out there.
The blueprint to cultivating your dream social circle is out there.
The blueprint to scaling your dream business to $100k/month is out there.
You have the Library of Alexandria times a million available to you at all times at your fingertips.
All for free.
So why haven’t you achieved your dream goals yet?
You already know what you need to do to live a good life:
Wake up early
Exercise
Meditate
Pursue fulfilling work
Cultivate deep relationships
Love deeply
Get good sleep
So why don’t you stick to these habits? What’s holding you back?
The answer is simple:
You can’t rely on self-discipline.
Because even if you love what you do, motivation and inspiration come and go in waves.
You’ll have off-days.
You’ll go through creative ruts.
You’ll inevitably find yourself burnt out.
“However long postponed, everything composed must decompose.”
Self-discipline isn’t there for you 24/7.
If you’re like most people, it’s simply not enough to help you achieve your goals.
Enter forcing functions.
Forcing functions are relatively self-explanatory:
They force you to do things even when your motivation and self-discipline disappear.
I’ll give you some current examples from my life:
I use an app-blocker on my phone to stop me from scrolling Twitter
I hired a coach to help me create and launch my own mentorship program
I place my phone out of reach from my bed to force me to get up in the morning and turn my alarm off
Do you see the common pattern here?
Prior to setting up these forcing functions, my inherent lazy nature prevented me from sticking to these habits.
My lack of self-discipline led me to fall victim to:
Mindlessly scrolling Twitter in my free time
Working on my mentorship offer for only a week before getting distracted and falling off
Waking up in the mornings and hitting snooze on (literally) 5+ alarms
When it comes to installing healthy habits in your life, forcing functions are there for you when discipline is not.
This is crucial for actually sticking to the habits that’ll take you to your health, wealth, and relationships goals.
They are the most valuable type of system you can cultivate.
But what makes for a great forcing function?
After reflecting on my experiments, I’ve discovered there’s a science to it…
Great forcing functions must induce pressure.
They must be designed in such a way that the idea of not doing the task is simply not an option.
When I solo-traveled Japan for a month when I was 19, the idea of spending the entire month alone was simply not an option. So I did something my typical lazy self wouldn’t normally would do — I went out to bars and concerts by myself and introduced myself to strangers.
Booking that solo trip to Tokyo was a great forcing function for meeting new people.
When I woke up this morning to the dreadful sound of an iOS alarm, the idea of letting it ring for hours on end in my closet was simply not an option. So I did something my typical lazy self wouldn’t normally do — I got up out of bed at the first alarm and started my day at 7am.
Placing my phone in the closet was a great forcing function for waking up early.
When I spent $2,000 on Twitter coaching last year, the idea of letting all of that money go to waste was simply not an option. So I did something my typical lazy self wouldn’t normally do — I wrote 5 threads every week and became obsessed with building my online business.
Purchasing a Twitter mentorship was a great forcing function for writing consistently online.
I think you get the picture.
But there’s an important caveat here:
The pressure of the forcing function must be painful enough. It can’t just sting — it has to hurt.
For example, earlier this year I invested $100 into an AI course pre-sale.
When the course released, I never even opened the first module.
Why?
Because $100 out of my bank account simply wasn’t enough pressure to get me to go through the course.
Sure, it might’ve stung a bit. But $100 out of my pocket didn’t hurt enough.
Side note: This is yet another reason why its important to raise your prices. Besides raising perceived value, you want your customers and clients to (literally) feel more invested.
You have to design your forcing functions so that it hits a significant pain threshold.
The most effective ingredients for this include:
Peer pressure
Financial investment
Environmental setups
Team up with a workout buddy.
The peer pressure and guilt of not showing up to the gym will force you to go and get in shape.
Pay significant money for your own education.
The financial investment and thought of not getting your money’s worth will force you to go all-in and learn new skills.
Lock your phone in a separate room from your working space.
The environmental setup and friction associated with having to get up to check your notifications will force you to enter deep work.
Most people don’t realize it, but achieving your dream lifestyle is really just a game of implementing optimal forcing functions in your life.
Forcing functions drive relentless consistency in habits.
And if healthy habits are the key to happiness, then you could argue happiness is simply a byproduct of quality forcing functions.
It’s like throwing your backpack over the fence.
Once its on the other side, you have no choice but to go and get it.
P.S. If you want a forcing function to actually grow and monetize your Twitter and newsletter audience in an authentic way, I’m taking on 2 more 1:1 clients for my writing mentorship program.
Matt’s Discoveries
My 3 favorite finds this week:
Paul Graham is one of the greatest writers in internet history. And this piece on Cities and Ambition is one of his best. What does your city whisper to you?
This video with George Mack, Dickie Bush, and Nicolas Cole is a masterclass on Twitter thread writing.
With over 17 million subscribers, Marques Brownlee is the top tech YouTuber in the world today. But after posting his 100th video, he still only had 74 subscribers. One of my favorite examples of creative perseverance out there.
Thanks for reading.
Have yourself an inspired week.
Matt Mic
I’ll see you next Monday. In the meantime, catch me over on Twitter.
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