Cutting My Workout Short Was The Disciplined Thing To Do

Last week I had plans to go for a 8.5 mile morning run. As I got started with it I could tell my body felt a little off. My breathing was heavy, my legs felt a little achy, and I could tell right away that I wasn’t going to run as fast as I normally do.

Thinking through why that’s the case, I reasoned that maybe I was beginning to get sick. I’d had a long week after some serious travel, and remember feeling a little under the weather the night before.

I faced this dilemma: Do I suck it up and run the 8.5 miles like I said I would, or do what I felt like my body needed and take it a little easier.

I made the more disciplined choice and decided to cut my workout short.

‍Wait Brian… Aren't you disciplined when you do what you said you were going to do?

Often yes, but in this case - No. And here’s why:

Self-discipline is consistently following through on doing the thing that most serves you despite the circumstances. 

This is commonly misunderstood because very often doing the ‘thing that most serves you’ requires that you suck it up and take action even when you don’t feel like it… But it’s all in service of your highest self. 

In this moment the thing that most served me was to support my wellness. Before you can practice true self-discipline you must have clarity of what is best for you, and then you follow through on that.

This is the foundation of intentionality: Thinking carefully to make the choice that most serves you, and following through on it decisively. 

Forgive me as I continue to extend this explanation, but I’m doing so because it’s a critically important point… 

You might think that working out consistently is a disciplined thing to do, and it is because it’s what most serves you. But exercising for the sake of following through on the commitment you made isn’t reason enough. Especially when exercising actually does you more harm than good.

The challenging part is, it’s hard to know with full clarity ‘what most serves you’. It’s very complex and our awareness for how a choice will actually play out in reality is limited. So it’s upon us to accept that we can only do our best, and make our best choice, knowing that we’ll never be perfect. 

Take that spirit into your moment to moment decision making and you’ll find not only that you’ll be holding yourself to a higher standard, but you’ll get feedback on what you actually want, which informs your perspective for future decisions.

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