r/getdisciplined Search in r/getdisciplined Log In

r/getdisciplined • 5 yr. ago

NickPlusYou

[Method] I summarized all the top posts of the top self-help subreddits of all
time into a cheatsheet.

THEORY:
(Long time lurker, but this sub is pretty positive so I feel like I can share)

I had a theory.

The theory was that we are surrounded by information. In the sea of information, if we could sort all the
most useful information into one book, we could provide a manual of life changing advice & help into one
brief guide.

But how do we organize what is most important?

What better way to advocate for something being useful than an upvote right?

So I decided to find all the top self-help reddit threads of all time and read through all the top posts of this
year. Then, I combined all the most common advice into a cheat sheet, with the most common advice
prioritized at the top.

My end goal is to one day provide a "Basic Human Needs" course, where I could hopefully pass along all
the useful advice I've collected from the over 300+ self-help books I've read and (literally) thousands of
articles & posts I've combed through over time and form a virtual big brother / virtual mentor created from
the internet.

(I never had a father to teach me stuff. Thanks to you all, I actually feel prepared for life.)

METHOD:
I first went to http://redditmetrics.com/top and combed through the top 800 subreddits that had anything to
do with self-help. These include getdisciplined, lifehacks, personalfinance, startup, and lots more.

I then opened up each subreddit, where I sorted by the top posts over the past year, and began to comb
through each subreddit for common themes. Initial phases were rather difficult, because I had to type up
anything that sounded like it would come up again.

After documenting all the themes, I then grabbed a new document and put together a clean list of all the
things that began to repeat.

Anywhere that you see a x2, x3, etc. That is the number of times a concept is repeated almost verbatim in a
post. Otherwise, it is ranked by how often the concept was loosely repeated.

I am fully aware that this isn't as scientific as I'd like this to be. I plan to do this again for All-Time, attach the
spreadsheet of the data analysis, a list of subreddits analyzed and the posts within. I did not have enough
time to do this over the weekend I could dedicate to this project.
WARNING: This is a prototyper/getdisciplined
and it's ugly. Also, none of this is my opinion - just others. Log In

RESULTS:
Success:
1. Optimism makes people perform better. Most importantly, the optimism that literally anything can be
defeated with enough effort. Every obstacle is merely a challenge, not a threat. x 8
2. Habits are what form and deform your life. Humans are short-sighted. Build a ritual that will, much like
compound interest, build an amazing life. x6
Working out twice a day for a week won’t do much. But a year could make for a transformation. Failure
is not one dramatic fall, but a series of small failures, compounded over a longer period. X 5
3. Scale slowly. An overnight success still had 1 step up goals every hour. A billion dollar company once
only had a goal of a million dollars. Set numerous small, achievable, bite sized goals - as opposed to a
few, huge chunky goals. X 4
4. Authenticity is king. People enjoy authentic people, respect authentic people and welcome authentic
people. x 4
5. Common sense beats all rules, stipulations and otherwise. You likely know most of what you learn, it’s
simply being reorganized to fit your mind better. When it’s time to take action, trust that you know what
you’re doing and focus solely on moving. x 3
6. Success comes from trying something, failing and modifying the action - Thousands of times. No
amount of preparation (beyond the basic) can prepare you for the first day with sharks. ACTION +
MODIFICATION = RESULTS x 3
7. Show small amounts of gratitude every day. Make it apart of your ritual. The gratitude forces you to
focus on the things you are happy about. Small gratitude is low commitment and high reward. X 2
8. Establish 3 to 20 second barriers between bad habits. Take batteries out the remote. Put junk food in
trunk of car. It won’t stop you completely. But it will decrease significantly. Make positive habits easier.
Pack a healthy lunch. X 2
9. A huge part of succeeding at something is simply showing up. Even if that means you just walked in
the door and back out. If you show up, the math says you’ll succeed, eventually. X 3
10. Go 150% + beyond what you are expected to do. This is a 100% way to gain immediate traction.
Applied with consistency can skyrocket results. x 2
11. Practice task isolation. The only thing that matters in that moment is the task at hand. Work on that
task only until you are ready to stop. Nothing else matters until. X 2
12. Constantly be evaluating yourself. Every year, every month, week, day, hour. - Do this 100%
objectively and healthily. The more you look at yourself objectively and decide what you’re doing right
and wrong, the better feedback you can use to improve. X 2
13. If you are always the smartest person in the room, you’re probably in a room full of idiots or you’re
lying to yourself.
14. Double down on your strengths. Neutralize your weaknesses. Make them just capable enough to swim
still water.
15. Adaptation is the key to survival. You cannot run over a jungle, but with the right small, frequent
adjustments, you can run through a jungle.
16. Discipline is not just following a plan when you need a plan, but following the plan when you’ve
succeeded. Make a plan and follow it, regardless of your emotions.
When you first wake up, try breathing faster and faster until hyperventilation. It makes your body kick
 17. When you first wake up, try breathing faster and faster until hyperventilation. It makes your body kick
into awake mode quickly.r/getdisciplined Log In
18. Try fasting from a bad habit completely. Replace it with something less bad. Over time, you can
replace a lot of small bad habits with less bad habits and get big change.
19. Organization, habits and the process of planning is actually all simply tools to clear space in your
brain. You cannot use a car efficiently if it is jammed to the ceiling with clothes and furniture that
belong in your house. And the furniture and clothes can’t be used correctly either.
20. Take stock in the understanding that 90% of successful people are doing a lot of hustle underneath the
glam and money. They wake up early, they skip parties and they work - A LOT.
21. Automate literally every task you do not enjoy. It will make your life focus on the things you do enjoy.
22. Most habits can be changed by finding the belief rooted to it and finding all the evidence you can to
break it. - “The gym is a chore.” *Watch documentaries about people who love the gym* "I love sugary
foods" *Watch documentaries about sugar causing disease* - You are what you subscribe to.
23. Tell no one your goals. Talking gives you a rush of endorphins and dopamine. You “dope yourself out”
on talking and never get anywhere.
24. No amount of regret can bring back the dead. Love immensely and give your friends and family what
they deserve as soon as possible and as often as possible.
25. Chain together successful tasks and create the illustration of commitment, thus reducing your
likelihood to miss out. - Crossing off days on a calendar chains a habit and thus reduces the chance to
break it.
26. Stage every commitment so you only give what you get back, and scale it slowly. Put in 1 cent, if it
gives back 1 cent, then put in 5 cents. If it gives back 5 cents, continue. Never Give 100% to an idea
you haven’t tested at 10%, 25%, 50%, 75% etc.
27. Never show your cards first in a negotiation. The offer they have in mind may be much higher than
you’re thinking.
28. In a dispute, ask for proof of everything. Make the process draining for the other party if you’re in the
right and they are forcing you to wade through mud.

Finance:
1. Every successful person saves money. EVERY. SUCCESSFUL. PERSON. SAVES. MONEY. Save, at
the very least, 10%
2. Every successful person invests. Invest in a bank, invest in real estate, invest in yourself. No matter
how you invest, it’s the only way to grow. Spend your money on things that grow. - This includes your
health.
3. Do not skip on insurance. The peace of mind that disaster will not ruin you is worth the duty paid.
4. One of the most common failures in business & personal is the mismanagement of funds. Be very
meticulous with how you spend your money.

Social:
1. Listen to people. Ask open-ended questions to get someone to talk. Why, what and how questions. To
enhance listening, look for a one sentence life lesson to take from every story / interaction. x 4
2. You are upset because no one calls you to do things. So is the person who didn’t call you. Initiate
activity. This is a solid way to be invited to more things, meet new people and have fun. X 2

1. Group activities are always more comfortable.

2. Have a specific plan in place of who, what, when, where & why.
3. Sometimes the event will fall apart. This is common. Do it anyways. It’s worth it.
 Sometimes the event will fall apart. This is common. Do it anyways. It’s worth it.
4. Social people invite others out when they feel lonely. Antisocial people wait for a phone call.
r/getdisciplined Log In
Antisocial people have a higher probability of being lonely.
3. Traveling & expanding your social circle makes you more confident in who you are.
4. Be 10% more excited than the person you are talking to in positive conversations.
5. You have value to add to every interaction. Whether it’s with a CEO or a janitor. No matter your past -
If you’ve burned many bridges, at least you had bridges to burn.
6. If 10 people in a row reject you as a friend, that’s only .000000015 percent of the world’s population.
You’ve got a whole lot more to choose from.
7. Small talk is the door to deep friendship. You must make small talk first. You first said “Hi” to your
significant other, you first had an interview at a company. People need to know you won’t stab them
before they want to hang out.
8. Letting go of the thought that people have to like you is the best decision you will ever make. People
would have liked or disliked you regardless of how lightly you tread.
9. Talk to people’s emotions. A metalhead and a classical music lover can connect on how emotional
they get during a raw, deep piece.

Health:
1. Get 6-8 hours of sleep. It can cause huge detriments to your wellbeing to get less. X 3
2. Go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. X 2
3. Sleep is one of the more important aspects of health, right beside nutrition and exercise. Master these
three and you are doing well.
4. Optimum sleep temperature is 61-64 degrees F. Optimal sleep warm up is 1 hour before bed to begin
process attempting sleep. - No screens, no exercise, no stress.
5. Meditation provides a range of health benefits.
6. Exposure to nature prevented hay fever and other illnesses in cavemen.
7. Stem cells regrow the body.
8. Alcohol consumption linked to many diseases we didn’t think - such as Alzheimer's, Dementia,
Cancer, etc. Alcohol companies are funding research to make alcohol okay or “healthy”. X 2
9. Not exercising is worse for your health than smoking, diabetes and heart disease.
10. Tobacco use linked to a quarter of a billion life-years lost vs. illegal drugs accounting for only tens of
millions.
11. Education linked to better health than income. Intelligent people make smarter health decisions that
prevent the need for reactive, potentially too-late healthcare.
12. Dropping smartphones from evening activity led to 93.6% of participants opting to keep their phones
off at night. - Increased happiness, focus & wellbeing.
13. Dark chocolate is a superfood. Good for health and mind.

Business:
1. WHO matters most, then WHY, then HOW, then WHAT, then WHEN. Hire the right people with the
right motives who follow a great plan and what you do and when you do it should work out on it’s own.
x2
2. Facebook, Uber, AirBnb, eBay - All got their start connecting two people together who could help each
other. None have inventory, shipping centers, etc.
3. Buy low, sell high. Every business is in the business of buying something cheaper than they sell it.
Simplify your business by asking what you’re buying for cheap, and selling for more.
 4. Personal letters are the only way to get through a noisy world today. Find a way to personalize every
communication you send.r/getdisciplined Log In
5. The product will sell itself. Build a product that people will talk about.
6. Test EVERYTHING. We live in a hyper-feedback world. Run test after test and build on what works.
Methodically test every single aspect of your business.
7. “Big Picture” thinkers don’t work well in a startup. You need detail oriented thinkers to calculate every
move and thought.
8. Ideas are like treadmills. It can be a catalyst to something great, but will require you to execute
methodically and frequently. A treadmill without work is worthless.
9. One of the most common failures in business & personal is the mismanagement of funds. Be very
meticulous with how you spend your money.
10. The best marketing is word of mouth. Talk to the loudest birds and get noticed effortlessly.
11. Know your worth. Ask for that raise. It costs money to replace an employee, and it could be a
significant amount.

Im not sure if I can post links here, but if someone wants it, I have a printable Google Doc of the cheat
sheet. I read it once a week or so.

I also did this with most sold self-help books of all-time if anyone is interested.

6.6K 217 Share

Sort by: Best

Add a Comment

FlockaTV • 5y ago

You are the King of Reddit!!! :D, this is amazing saved this post hardcore

399 Reply Share

evilgiraffe • 5y ago

Absolutely interested in the book summary! And to reiterate: you are now reddit royalty. Excellent.

87 Reply Share

Escalante1 • 5y ago

Same saved this! Amazing post great advise in all areas in life.

31 Reply Share

1 more reply

[deleted] • 5y ago
[deleted] • 5y ago r/getdisciplined Log In
This is incredibly helpful, and you should be commended.

This will be one day the top post on self-improvement

101 Reply Share

2 more replies

Eviesmummy • 5y ago

This is amazing thank you! I often search by top post of all time in an interesting subreddit but this is
exactly what I didn't know I needed!

33 Reply Share

IvanMIT • 5y ago

Hey, it’s amazing. Could you pm me a link to the google document, I’d also really like to read one
about self help books.

32 Reply Share

14 more replies

1TacoCat1TacoCat1 • 5y ago

r/bestofreddit

34 Reply Share

PeaceH • 5y ago

Appreciate the post, if only for the fact that with all this distilled wisdom, we surely know "how". It's
time to put to use what we read in self-help books and articles.

If you want to share another link, I recommend doing so in the comments. The spam-filter does not
like posts with more than one link.

40 Reply Share

TotesMessenger • 5y ago • Edited 5y ago

I'm a bot, bleep, bloop. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:

• [r/bestofnopolitics] NickPlusYou's Results Lists in "All the top posts of the top self-help subreddits
of all time in one cheatsheet" [xpost from r/getdisciplined]
• [r/entp] [Method] I summarized all the top posts of the top self-help subreddits of all time into a
cheatsheet.
• [r/toppostofthemonth] [getdisciplined] 04/05/19 - "[Method] I summarized all the top posts of the
top self-help subreddits of all time into a cheatsheet." by /u/NickPlusYou
• [r/u_ankurvky] [Method] I summarized all the top posts of the top self-help subreddits of all time
into a cheatsheet.
• [r/u_improvemove] [Method] I summarized all the top posts of the top self-help subreddits of all
time into a cheatsheet.
 time into a cheatsheet.
• [r/u_intoxicatedweasel] [Method] I summarized all the top posts of the top self-helpLog
r/getdisciplined subreddits
In of
all time into a cheatsheet.
• [r/u_mhe17] [Method] I summarized all the top posts of the top self-help subreddits of all time into
a cheatsheet.
• [r/u_puremonk] [Method] u/NickPlusYou summarized all the top posts of the top self-help
subreddits of all time into a cheatsheet.
• [r/u_slothnamedshotgun] [Method] I summarized all the top posts of the top self-help subreddits
of all time into a cheatsheet.
• [r/u_thenightmare91b] [Method] I summarized all the top posts of the top self-help subreddits of
all time into a cheatsheet.

If you follow any of the above links, please respect the rules of reddit and don't vote in the other threads. ( Info /

^Contact)

21 Reply Share

great_josh • 5y ago

Welp, time to save this and never open it again

20 Reply Share

NickPlusYou OP • 5y ago

SPECIAL DELIVERY:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AIL7JrOIt7bb0-LOKwOLiPdMDuIZm9ZA/view?usp=sharing

Feel free to go right to the last page for the one page cheat sheet, use the printable guide in between
and there's even a letter specifically to you guys (my Reddit friends) at the beginning.

And one more time, thank you. For everything. My purpose in life is to build people up and make them
the best version of themselves. So thank you.

- Nick

17 Reply Share

1 more reply

curly_peppa • 5y ago

Not the hero we deserved, but the hero we needed! Thank you for your service, sir!

14 Reply Share

BROTALITY • 5y ago

Amazing post! Saving this for later!

13 Reply Share

stndrd_issue_throwaw • 5y ago

This is truly excellent work. Thank you! May I get a link to the Google Drive version, please?
 This is truly excellent work. Thank you! May I get a link to the Google Drive version, please?

10 Reply r/getdisciplined
Share Log In

MK__23 • 5y ago

Saved the post to read it later, you see that's my fuckin problem.

9 Reply Share

eg14000 • 5y ago

Set numerous small, achievable, bite sized goals - as opposed to a few, huge chunky goals.

I'm only going to read 3 things at a time so I remember them better.

9 Reply Share

starrynightgirl • 5y ago

Great lists!

7 Reply Share

View more comments

More posts you may like

r/Leadership

Books on Building Strong Teams

6 upvotes · 3 comments

r/softwaregore

Facebook and I have very different ideas about what constitutes "great times".
imgur

678 upvotes · 23 comments

r/Autism_Parenting

What's the best piece(s) of advice you've ever heard about parenting an autistic child?
59 upvotes · 54 comments

TOP POSTS

Reddit

reReddit: Top posts of April 5, 2019

Reddit
 Reddit

reReddit: Top posts of April r/getdisciplined

2019 Log In

Reddit

reReddit: Top posts of 2019