THINKDROP 15: Hold the line
- Pierre Stanghellini
- Sep 8
- 6 min read
Updated: Sep 9
> On the Power of Routine — Contre Vents et Marées
🎤 From Me to You
There’s a myth that success is a spark.
An aha moment. A lightning strike. A “10x” growth hack.
But here’s what they don’t tell you:
The real work happens in repetition. In the boring. In the daily. In the quiet.
Founders. Artists. Athletes. Strategists. They all have one thing in common: They keep a rhythm—especially when it gets hard. And that rhythm becomes the architecture of resilience.
This THINKDROP is about routine.
Not as a productivity tool, but as a lifeline. A personal ritual. A defiant act of belief. A way to say, “I’m still in this,” even when nothing else makes sense.
In France, we say “contre vents et marées”—against winds and tides.
When momentum fades. When outcomes stall. When the noise gets loud.
Your routine is the thing you hold on to.It doesn’t have to be pretty. It just has to be yours.
For me, this truth came slowly—and deeply—thanks to my wife, Sarah Stanghellini, an amazing and talented Naturopath, with whom I’ve had the chance to share life for over 25 years.
She taught me the power of simple rituals:
Make the bed first thing in the morning.
Prepare your clothes the night before.
Move your body at least three times a week.
Reading books regularly, a blessing every day of my life.
Taking care of the quality of my culinary habits every day.
What started as discipline turned into joy, into focus, into inner fire.
These small habits changed everything. They gave me energy, structure, and clarity amidst the emotional rollercoasters of building, leading, and simply existing.
This is a field guide for anyone navigating turbulence.
Not with hype, but with rhythm.
Not with hacks, but with habits.
Not with noise, but with discipline.
Let’s talk about routine. Let’s talk about holding the line.
Pierre Stanghellini -
HARi.wtf founder
P.S. And strangely enough, I began to love running early mornings on back roads, shirtless—especially in the rain or cold winter air, to make my body and brain ready for a new day of entrepreneurship.
If you are around Stanley ( Hong Kong ) , around 7:30 am on week days, join me!
⚓ 1. Routine is Identity Maintenance
"The ritual is the raft."
When things get uncertain, the first thing most people drop is their routine. But the ones who last—the ones who actually ship the product, write the book, build the brand—they know that routine is not just about optimization. It’s about remembrance.
Rituals are how you remind yourself who you are when the feedback disappears.
They are a daily form of self-reinforcement.
Every rep, every word, every system you stick to—even when it feels futile—is a signal to your future self: I’m still here. I still believe.
You are not what you think. You are what you repeat.
Try This: What’s the smallest daily action that, when you do it, tells you:"I’m still in the game—even when it sucks."
🌀 2. Boredom Is the Portal. Keep Going.
“Don’t quit because it’s dull. That’s when it’s about to get deep.”
Most people quit routines not because they’re hard, but because they’re boring.
But boredom is the gateway. The filter. The place where magic either fades… or forms.
Greatness is often hidden just on the other side of boredom.
Here are five people who mastered the ordinary until it became extraordinary—proof that obsession with the basics is the path:
Isaac Asimov wrote every single day for over 50 years. His output is unmatched: over 500 books spanning science fiction, history, and science—plus 90,000+ essays, letters, and academic papers. His genius wasn’t inspiration—it was motion.
Seth Godin has written a blog post every single day for over 20 years—without missing a day. Rain or shine. Sick or not. Holidays included. He has published over 20 bestselling books, built one of the most trusted voices in marketing, and has influenced millions—not through virality, but through persistence. His blog is a masterclass in micro-routine with macro-impact.
Teddy Riner, the most decorated judoka in history, built his career on relentless consistency: 2 Olympic golds, 11 world titles, and a 10-year, 154-match unbeaten streak. His training? Repeat, refine, repeat.
Emil Zátopek, one of the greatest long-distance runners of all time, trained in snow, wearing boots, and sometimes while holding his breath to simulate altitude. At the 1952 Olympics, he won gold medals in the 5,000m, 10,000m, and marathon events —in the same week. No one’s done it since.
Their power came from doing what most people quit—long after it stopped being exciting.
Try This: Where do you usually stop?
What if that’s exactly where your transformation would begin?
🔁 3. Routine Creates the Conditions for Flow
Structure is not the enemy of creativity. It’s the container.
We romanticize spontaneity, but ask any serious creative and they’ll tell you:
Flow is not born from freedom. It’s born from rhythm.
You can’t access deep focus, clarity, or creative breakthroughs without setting the stage for them. And the stage is set through consistency.
Routine isn’t rigidity—it’s the design pattern that frees your mind to do its best work.
It removes choice overload. It reduces friction.
And eventually, it becomes a kind of quiet infrastructure that catches you when nothing else is working.
It’s not about doing more. It’s about reducing internal chaos.
Try This:What part of your routine protects your creativity from your own anxiety?
✊ 4. Ritual is Rebellion
“In a world obsessed with disruption, showing up every day is radical.”
Routine is not glamorous. It won’t go viral.
But it’s how you build anything meaningful.
In a culture of dopamine loops, quick wins, and digital hustle theater, the act of keeping your word to yourself—even when no one is watching—is a kind of quiet rebellion.
You write the line.
You sketch the design.
You send the email.
You sit in the silence.
You keep doing the thing. Because you believe it matters.Because it’s who you are, not what the market demands.
Routine is how you protect the thing that hasn’t fully bloomed yet.
Try This: What’s your “storm-day ritual”—the one thing you’ll do, no matter how off track the day gets?
>> QUICK RECAP: 5 ROUTINE TRUTHS
Routine is Identity Maintenance → It reminds you who you are when the world forgets.
Boredom Is the Portal → Stick with it—beyond the dull is where greatness begins.
Routine Creates Flow → Discipline builds the stage where inspiration can perform.
Ritual is Rebellion → In a world of noise, showing up daily is a radical act.
Try This prompts → Small actions, repeated consistently, beat bursts of motivation.
🪞 FOOD FOR THOUGHT
"When everything feels like it’s falling apart, routine is the proof that you’re still intact."
Your routine is not a performance. It’s not content. It’s not optimization.
It’s a boundary. A lighthouse. A mirror. It’s the rope you throw to yourself in the dark.
Routine doesn’t just build things—it holds you together while the world pulls you apart.
It’s how you navigate the void, the silence, the chaos.
It’s a promise to yourself that you won’t drift too far from the edge.
And here’s the part no one talks about: you won’t always see the results right away.
But over time, the invisible layers stack. The repetition becomes confidence.
The confidence becomes identity.
As Isaac Asimov once said:
“It’s the writing that teaches you. It’s the act that creates the inspiration.”
Not the other way around.
So keep doing the thing.
Even when it’s hard. Even when no one claps. Even when it doesn’t look like progress.
Over time, repetition becomes memory. And memory becomes character.
It says: I’m still here. I still care. I haven’t given up. Not yet.
What you repeat becomes what you remember.
And what you remember becomes who you are.
Hold the line.Contre vents et marées.
Pierre Stanghellini
→ Let’s connect at www.hari.wtf or drop me a line directly at pierre@hari.wtf .
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About the Creator
Pierre Stanghellini is a creative strategist, systems thinker, and curator of mental rabbit holes. He created Thinkdrop Weekly to feed the brains that don’t want the same old Business advice. If you’re building something bold, beautiful, or strange—this is your corner of the internet.
About HARi.wtf
HARi.wtf is a creative strategy studio for businesses that hate business-as-usual.
Born in Hong Kong in 2017, we work with restless founders, operators, and teams who’d rather break things thoughtfully than grow them blandly. We don’t do generic decks or bloated strategies—we build clarity, guts, and traction.
From street-level restaurants to global brands, from Asia to Europe, we help shape ideas that move fast when it matters, and slow when it counts.
→ Explore more at hari.wtf
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