Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c1173IR // #c1173Synthesis

"He then called his servant, Joseph, to his help, and promised him the reward of a crown every time that he succeeded in getting him up before six." "he was accustomed to say that he owed to Joseph three or four volumes of his Natural History."

— In our words · Source: Self-Help (Samuel Smiles)

[Use when]

You keep breaking a resolution you've made to yourself many times.

[Why it matters]

Willpower alone failed. Buffon paid for each success, and Joseph earned his pay by ignoring protests and threats, once with a basin of ice water. The precommitment worked where resolutions hadn't.

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