Manufactured Incompleteness
why do I sabotage a routine the moment it starts working
Manufactured incompleteness is going looking for a new tool, upgrade or protocol right when your plain, boring routine starts actually working — not to improve it, but because a system that already works with no extras removes your excuse for never having really committed. You need it to feel unfinished so quitting still has an alibi.
A plan with no missing pieces has no room left for an excuse. So you go find it a missing piece.
What to do about it
Add ten more boring minutes to the exact thing you are already doing — no new gear, no new research, no purchases.
Books that work on this
Each is a 90-day programme. Start with the first — later books assume the work in the earlier ones.
The Iron Routine$6.99
No One Cares$6.99
The Legacy Routine$6.99
Faith In Work$6.99
The Discipline Blueprint$6.99
Discipline Over Motivation$6.99
Crushing Soft Habits$6.99
The 5AM Tax$6.99Part of the Discipline series.
How people say it
Nobody looks this up by its clinical name. These are the ways it actually gets said.
- right when something starts working I want to upgrade it
- I keep adding new tools instead of just doing the simple thing
- why do I sabotage a routine the moment it starts working
- I need it to feel more complicated than it actually is
- I can’t just stick with the boring version that already works
- I keep needing one more thing before I really commit
- I add new steps right when the simple version was working
Written by Brian Spiker, who has run Spiker Carpet and Tile Care since 2013 — the receipts. More terms in the encyclopedia.