A New Way Of Thinking About Discipline

Something that so many people desperately want more of, knowing it would dramatically change their life, is to be more disciplined. And for good reason - Some of the most disciplined people in the world have the health, businesses, influence, and impact that we aspire to have in our lives. We figure if we were consistent like them, that if we stopped making excuses and just followed through on the things we know we need to do, we’d achieve that level of success too.

You might think that too and if so, you’re not wrong… But you’re not seeing the full picture. 

Fundamentally discipline is about doing today what you know is best for you tomorrow or further into your future. It’s choosing to take action on things that are in your best interest in the long term. That doesn’t require having superhuman will-power or incredible self-control. You can use those things to make yourself be disciplined, but they’re not required. Discipline can be easy when you set it up to be. 

Your behavior is much more about the conditions you’re taking action within than it is the action itself. You more consistently get to the gym in the morning when you have a personal trainer or workout partner there waiting for you. Going door to door selling something happens way more consistently when you have a hungry family at home depending on you to close a deal. The action doesn’t feel so effortful because it’s a byproduct of the condition.

Mental toughness, resilience, and grit still have a role to play - but now it’s meant to be as a supporting cast. The reason we default to using self-control to take action is because it feels more rewarding. We’ve been taught that something is earned when you work hard for it, and it means less when it’s handed to you. But that’s not a requirement, and that line of thinking causes us to make things way harder than they need to be. 

I encourage you to consider this new perspective to self-discipline anchored around making a positive choice and not fulfilling a difficult action. In that way, being disciplined is a vehicle for living intentionally. That’s the North Star in my life, one that doesn’t need to be hard to achieve, and I hope you consider it to become the point of your pursuit too.

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