I'm comfortable with Rust. Why the HW focus? I've heard about FPGAs being used for HFT, but I'm not going for sub-ms frequencies--except if it's unavoidable.
Everyone has their values. It's OK if there's no universal system. I don't want to feel bad if a day passes and I haven't learned or done anything; I trust my intuition and experience to discern between peaceful and warlike periods. I'm all for doing hard stuff when needed; I'm all against the ideal of always; and yes, that ideal is tyrannical.
Life is not binary. Routines are not classified into hippie XOR hardcore. Not feeling bad for not improving yourself is a good sign of having actually improved. But that's just my opinion. Take care.
I wouldn't have commented if the article kept neutral on when to apply its ideas. But the push for daily learning-reflecting-etc is there. Even the segment you're quoting uses days for accounting. You're downplaying one's potential to read something like this on the Internet and try to literally live by it.
As for machines and tyranny, they're terms capturing the Zeitgeist all too well.
It's fine if it doesn't happen every day. Don't be obsessed about this stuff. Forgive yourself if you ever behave sub-optimally. You're not a machine, neither should you be one.