Loading...
Effort has four directions
Prevent, abandon, cultivate, maintain. Pick the one that matters most today.
Four short screens, one choice, one target typed.
The four right efforts (also called the four right exertions) are the Buddhist teaching that effort has four directions, not one: prevent a harmful habit before it starts, abandon one already running, cultivate a helpful state on purpose, and maintain one that's already here. This short practice asks you to choose the single direction today calls for and name one concrete target.
Morning, or before starting work.
About 2 minutes.
Choosing a single self-regulation target beats broad resolutions — attention is a limited resource, and single-target intentions outperform multi-goal willpower in trials.
The Buddha's four right exertions: two for weeds, two for what you want to grow. Effort is a garden, not a grind.
This is an intention-setting practice, not a calming one — if you're agitated or overwhelmed right now, a minute of slow breathing first will make the choosing clearer. It also works best when you pick one target and stop; naming four at once is the scattered willpower it's meant to replace.
A teaching from the Buddhist path: prevent unarisen harmful states, abandon those already arisen, cultivate helpful ones, and maintain the good already present. Two directions tend the weeds, two grow what you want.
Attention is limited, and a single clear intention tends to outlast a list of resolutions. Picking one direction — and one target within it — is the whole point of the practice.