Navy SEAL veteran Jocko Willink wakes up at 4:30 a.m. every single day. You may have seen his popular video on Business Insider in which he explains the benefits of such an early start and why others would do well to adopt this habit.

“Just on a practical side, if you wake up early in the morning — like at 4:30 in the morning — you’re going to have some free time to yourself to make things happen,” says Willink. “It’s not fun to get out of bed early in the morning. When the alarm goes off, it doesn’t sing you a song, it hits you in the head with a baseball bat. So how do you respond to that? Do you crawl underneath your covers and hide? Or do you get up, get aggressive, and attack the day?”

Point taken.

This routine and mindset has propelled Jocko not only to a decorated military career, but to successful ventures as an author, speaker, and leader in general. To argue whether or not he would have the same résumé if he woke up at 5 instead of 4:30 is irrational. It’s equally irrational, however, to assume that since Jocko’s routine worked for him, it can work for everyone else, too.

Tim Ferriss hosted Jocko on his podcast earlier this fall to discuss the topics of discipline and leadership. It’s a must listen and I highly recommend it. Jocko is one of hundreds of influencers whose advice has been distilled into Ferriss’ mammoth of a book, Tools of Titans. Ferriss has realized a key point, however, that he touched on during his Talk at Google: there is no secret formula for routines. You just need to have a routine – one that’s both consistent and effective.

It seems as though once anyone succeeds at something through a specific process or strategy it’s quickly adopted by others and becomes codified, often to everyone’s disappointment when it doesn’t replicate the same results.

I would imagine that a decent chunk of the people who listened to Jocko’s advice actually attempted to wake up at 4:30 that same week only to find themselves unable to sustain the habit. This is not because of laziness or a lack of discipline, but because waking up at 4:30 isn’t tailored to their specific needs.

The problem lies not in the idea that we are unmotivated, but that we believe there is a blueprint for success, for wealth, for happiness. The author Robert Greene puts it best:

“The world is full of people looking for a secret formula for success and power. They do not want to think on their own; they just want a recipe to follow. They are attracted to the idea of strategy for that very reason. In their minds strategy is a series of steps to be followed toward a goal. They want these steps spelled out for them by an expert or guru. Believing in the power of imitation, they want to know exactly what some great person has done before. Their maneuvers in life are as mechanical as their thinking.”

You’ve seen it before: X celebrity shares their secrets that allow him/her to achieve X, Y, and Z! We follow these steps blindly while ignoring our individual strengths and weaknesses. In a culture of immediate gratification, this kind of static thinking is a recipe for frustration when immediate results aren’t achieved. How much better off would we be if we used these influencers’ advice to inspire our routines as opposed to taking them as gospel?

The opportunists, creatives, and leaders of today stand out not because they replicate formulas but because they are able to focus relentlessly on the present moment – on what suits them best. The greatest routine is the one that produces the best you, no matter what that entails.

As Abraham Lincoln said: “My policy is to have no policy.” Steady yet nimble; disciplined yet fluid.

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Instinctive reactions are kind of like the “door close” button on an elevator: useless.

Not too long ago, I agreed to set up a meeting with someone, only to have him call and cancel as I was pulling into the parking garage. I left class early to make it there on time and I woke up an hour earlier to fit it in my schedule. Was it acceptable to be annoyed and frustrated? Probably. My pouting lasted about an hour, after which I moved on with the rest of my day. I actually forgot about the incident until just now when I needed to think of an example of a useless, instinctive reaction.

But that’s the point.

Looking back, we realize that so much time is squandered giving in to situations and people that have absolutely no effect on our future – we often can’t even remember what we were mad about yesterday. So why do we still let ourselves ruin the present moment? The answer probably lies in some physiological explanation of reactions that I’m unqualified to write about. But there is a tool we can implement to keep our short-term emotions under control.

The 10/10/10 rule asks us to evaluate our reactions using three different time frames:

            How will you feel about it 10 minutes from now?

            How about 10 months from now?

            How about 10 years from now?

I first learned about 10/10/10 through Chip and Dan Heath’s book Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work. And while this strategy was originally intended to help people make better decisions about their health, jobs, and finances, I’ve found that 10/10/10 is equally helpful for less tangible situations. For example: How will you feel about the guy who cut you off in traffic in 10 minutes? 10 months? 10 years?

It may seem ridiculous, but it forces us to look at our daily decisions as investments instead of letting people and events arbitrarily dictate our feelings. It helps you realize how trivial 99% of problems truly are. Realizing that in a matter of days you’ll almost never remember that thing that’s currently draining your energy and wellbeing is an ultimately liberating feeling.

One of my favorite authors, Anthony de Mello, sums up this concept much more eloquently:

 “Life is infinitely greater than this trifle your heart is attached to and which you have given the power to so upset you. Trifle, yes, because if you live long enough a day will easily come when it will cease to matter. It will not even be remembered – your own experience will confirm this. Just as today you barely remember, are no longer the least bit affected by those tremendous trifles that so disturbed you in the past.”

The best part of 10/10/10 is that it’s so dynamic. Considering the three time frames can be applied to virtually every decision. Will you regret spending hundreds of dollars on shoes ten years from now? Will you still be upset about a breakup with your girlfriend/boyfriend in a decade? Is it worth getting mad over a text or Snapchat that you won’t remember in 10 minutes, much less 10 years?

Spare your day’s worth of mental energy for the things you actually value.

Short term emotions are a deterrent to rational thinking. And while conducting a 10/10/10 analysis doesn’t guarantee that the long-term perspective is the right one, it does guarantee that your short-term emotion isn’t the only voice at the table.

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Dominic Vaiana studies writing and media strategy at Xavier University.  His personal articles, essays, interviews, and book recommendations are sent in his monthly newsletter.