Becoming Addicted To The Process

[sleeperstakes]

Work ethic is important. Probably the most important skill to have in general in life. How do I cultivate it?

[SFRL]

It ties together with building momentum. 

Start building momentum by doing small little tasks and completing them and then taking on more and more and also bigger tasks. 

[hinawashi]

Not sure if I'm commenting on the title of the thread or the content, but here am I giving unwarranted advice again.

Work ethics is great, but there is always the trap of being addicted to the progress. Here's a quick litmus test. Ask yourself, if you have nothing to do, perhaps on one of your off days, do you feel that you need to work harder in order to feel good, or be validated, or whatever. Do you ever have the fear of being viewed as lazy, lacking proper work ethics, or just insecure in general? Are there strings attached to your work ethics? Do you feel empty inside without anything to work on?

As for setting up good ethics, like @SFRL said, start with small chunks first, then look for a pattern in the small chunks. Use that pattern on bigger chunks and you'll find a bigger pattern and so on. When you're starting, it's actually beneficial to ignore the big picture for the time being because the big picture can be so overwhelming that it could instantly crush your motivations.