Manufacturing needs for motivation and focus

Manufacturing the need for an activity before we perform it has two advantages:

1. It focuses us on outcomes
2. It creates motivation

Like the student who procrastinates and then crams when a deadline looms, our motivation and focus are significantly enhanced when there's a need to be filled.

But while the cramming student does a poor, passive, dependent, stressful job of it, we can do an expert job of manufacturing needs for excellent performance.

Manufacturing the need to learn math

Math is hard. I didn't set out to learn math at first. I set out to learn AI alignment.

AI alignment is the problem of ensuring AI behaves in alignment with human values. It is hard because AI is hard, and clarifying what we mean by "human values" is even more challenging.

So I bought a book on deep learning, and its first 100 pages were not about AI; they were about math. I thought, "Well, I learned math in college; I got this!" but I was wrong. Dead wrong.

So I bought math books. Not to "learn math" but to know enough math to study deep learning.

After I study math for a while, I go back to my deep learning books and see how much more of the content I now understand.

I also skip chapters on my math books if they're not used commonly used in deep learning.

And when I don't feel like learning math, I pick the deep learning book instead, which quickly reminds me of why I'm studying math.

Learning math to learn deep learning gives me a focus and motivation that I wouldn't have if learning math in a vacuum.

Why you must manufacture your needs

"Dui, I agree, but that's kinda obvious. What's your point?"

Because we often haven't clarified or understood the needs for the activities we perform, these needs don't help us focus on outcomes and don't create motivation.

Many times, for needs to help us focus on outcomes and create motivation, these needs must be manufactured.

Manufactured by us.

For example, exercising. Let's say Bob exercises, and I ask him, "Why do you exercise, Bob?" and he answers, "Because we need to" or "To be healthy."

Now say Bob wakes up one morning to exercise and goes through this mental dialogue we all recognize:

Lazy Bob: Ugh, I don't wanna exercise today. Why do we need to?
Motivated Bob: .. to be healthy! That's why!
Lazy Bob: But can't we be healthy even if we skip the gym today?
Motivated Bob: Err., yes we can.

Or let's say Bob does go to the gym to exercise.

Lazy Bob: Ugh, I hate squats. Can we skip them?
Motivated Bob: Yes, let's just go to the treadmill.
Lazy Bob: OK, but I also hate running. Can we walk instead?
Motivated Bob: Yes, walking is healthy!

And so, if Bob manages to get to the gym, he'll skip squats and walk instead of run, and his need to "be healthy" will give him no help in focusing on outcomes or motivation for doing otherwise.

Alice manufactures a need to exercise

Here's a common manufactured need to exercise: "I'm gonna run a marathon!"

Nobody needs to run a marathon. Running a marathon is good for us in some ways, bad in others, and completely optional.

But once Alice decides to run a marathon, she must train for it.

Here's her mental dialogue:

Lazy Alice: Ugh, I hate squats, and they don't help with marathon running.
Motivated Alice: Yes, let's skip it and go running.
Lazy Alice: Can we skip running too? Running is hard.
Motivated Alice: No, we need to run 6 miles every day this week to run the marathon 4 months from now.

If squats help with marathon running, Alice may have made the wrong decision in skipping it, but at least it's the wrong decision made for the right reason: to focus on the outcome of successfully running a marathon.

Running a marathon will also create motivation to run instead of walking on the treadmill daily – you can't skip running and then run a marathon after all.

Alice's need to train is manufactured, but it helps her focus on outcomes and creates motivation for her training.

Manufacturing needs in practice.

Although they work well, we don't need goals like "run a marathon" to manufacture needs. My "deep learning" interest is not a goal and isn't precise, but it still manufactured my need to learn math.

Manufactured needs explain why and how an activity must be performed by focusing us on their outcomes.

Here are some of my currently manufactured needs:

• Learn guitar improvisation to add a solo to a song I'm writing
• Improve my strength and resistance so I'm never pinned by training partners of my belt level in jiujitsu
• Write every week so I can discuss my writing with mentees, advisees, and friends the following week

And here are some examples of goals or intents that can create manufactured needs for activities you may already be doing:

• Instead of "exercise every day," create a reason based on your training progression, such as "be able to do 3x5 pull-ups, 3x15 push-ups, and run for at least 30mins in a training session."
• Instead of "read more" or "read every day," create an artifact from your reading like "write a 2,000 words summary of my learnings from books read this month."
• Instead of "wake up early," think about what you want to do in the morning, such as "get a whole week of consistent morning routine with meditation, journaling, and breakfast before work."

Let your instrumental activities be instrumental by manufacturing what they are for.

Once the reason for your activities becomes clear, you'll naturally focus on their outcomes and be motivated to perform them.