Understanding the Completion vs. Maintenance Mindset

Introduction

• Life often feels tedious because many adopt a completion mindset rather than a maintenance mindset.
• Example: The speaker started a YouTube channel in 2023 without focusing on views or subscribers and shifted focus after setting a goal of 100,000 subscribers.
• Achieving this goal led to feelings of loss and depression, highlighting the pitfalls of a completion mindset.

The Illusion of Completion

• Completion mindset: Belief that once a goal is achieved, the task is complete.
  • E.g., getting a perfect physique, resolving all relationship problems, achieving perfect mental health.
• Completion is an illusion and leads to dissatisfaction.
• Maintenance mindset: Life involves continuous maintenance rather than completion.
  • Focus on maintaining habits and processes rather than reaching a perceived endpoint.

Lifestyle of Maintenance

• Create a lifestyle that focuses on daily habits you are happy to maintain indefinitely.
• Distinction between a lifestyle of maintenance (joyful ongoing habits) and completion (relief at finishing tasks).
• Example: Maintaining a healthy relationship involves continual effort rather than achieving a fixed goal.

Insight from Literature

• "Atomic Habits" by James Clear: Critiques goal-setting and advocates for a maintenance mindset through habits.

  • Key points:
    1. Winners and losers have the same goals.
    2. Achieving a goal is only a temporary change.
    3. Goals restrict happiness.
    4. Goals conflict with long-term progress.

• Zen Buddhism: Emphasizes doing actions without a "gaining idea" to truly engage in activity.

Practical Steps

• Introspection: Reflect on pursuits believed to be completable and consider the impact of this belief.
• Questions to Consider:
  • How would my relationship with this activity change if I knew it couldn't be completed?
  • How can I incorporate achievement into daily life?
  • What lifestyle and habits do I want to maintain every day?
  • What beliefs keep me trapped in a completion mindset?

Mindset Awareness

• Recognize the mind's natural inclination towards completion.
• Focus on maintaining continuous improvement rather than reaching a finite goal.
• Key question: How can I maintain this aspect of my life, not just achieve it?

Conclusion

• Shift from a completion mindset to a maintenance mindset creates a life you are happy to live continually.
• Recommended Reading: "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" by Shunryu Suzuki.
• Additional resources include habit-setting guides and summaries of "Atomic Habits".

Stay disciplined, playful, and focused on the journey rather than the end goal. Embrace the maintenance mindset for a fulfilling life.