Stop talking

Self-control.

You can apply it to positive actions, like getting something done. Or doing the right thing. Going for a run. Cultivating a garden. Building daily habits. The usual suspects.

It feels somehow rarer to hear the subject of self control in a negative setting, and by negative, I mean refraining from doing something. But it's equally important.

If you want to get something done, you must stop doing something else.

If you want to do the right thing, you must not do the wrong thing.

If you want to go for a run, you can't stand still.

If you want to cultivate that garden, you must refrain from doing things that harm it.

If you want to build habits, you must quit your usual routine and rebuild it.

If you want to be cool, you must stop being uncool.

Then you can break the activity that is the opposite of what you want into pieces. Like being uncool - stop acting uncool, stop saying things that make you uncool. What do those actions and sayings look and sound like?

Sometimes you need to quit everything you're doing, because all that everything is the opposite of what you want.

Stop talking. Stop behaving. Just stand there and listen.

That, if anything, takes self-control.