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September 3rd, 2021

Joy in breaking routine

How periodically scheduled rewards can remove cognitive load

lack of reward is not punishment

create rules for yourself so you can find the joy in breaking them, create rules for the purpose of breaking them

This is something I take a lot of enjoyment from: Setting up rules or games for myself, bowling bumpers for my life, that I follow religiously. If I'm doing it right they're harmless and arbitrary (wake up early, don't eat mangos, walk on this side of the street not that one) and quickly become routine. After a while I allow myself to slowly break a rule and it imbues those moments with a sort of raucous joy. The same sort of excitement you have as a child breaking a rule and getting away with it.

Something I've wanted to look into more deeply is D.I.S.C Theory. My limited understanding is that D.I.S.C. is a behavior assessment tool that deals with a person's personality traits and associated actions. There are supposedly a lot of problems with D.I.S.C theory but the quote below (from its creator) feels uncomfortable & true to me and I think applicable to many other areas.

> "A person is most happy when they are willingly submissive to a loving authority" .float-right William Moulton Marston

By bifurcating yourself into the authority and rebel you can express into both of those roles and find joy in the unique aspects of either.