If you do these 3 things, you have self-discipline, according to a psychology PhD

The useful part

We all know people who work out at 5 a.m., eat only healthy food, and floss after every meal. Other people who sleep until the afternoon, chomp on untoasted Pop-Tarts, and then head out to have fun with their friends. If you measure your own self-discipline on this spectrum, you may be on the wrong track.

How it works

• They all align with what research tells us about how to best care for our own brain health.
• As Boyes notes, maintaining relationships over time takes some self-discipline.
• To keep friends in your life over years or decades, you need to maintain contact and keep commitments.
• When I'm visiting family in his region, he makes the effort to travel by train or car for several hours just so we can spend an afternoon together.

Details worth keeping

These three seem especially relevant to me: 1. He makes sure that we get together by Zoom on a regular basis. This kind of thing is why we've been close friends since we were both 11.