How Discipline Connects To Clarity

Many of us have a strong desire to be more self-disciplined. The best version of ourselves is more consistent, less willing to make excuses, and more capable of taking positive action even when we don’t feel like it. Discipline has many different elements to it but today I want to talk about one that is very overlooked - Clarity.

Something our minds naturally do is try to take the path of least resistance. It’s hardwired into our minds that we should try to do things with as little effort and energy as possible. This means that when it comes time to be disciplined, we’re fighting against an unconscious force to 'not take action' and it makes things feel so much harder.

Your brain will try to tell a logical story that convinces you that the lazy, unproductive, energy-saving decision is the right one. This becomes problematic when there’s any gray area because it gives your unconscious mind space to draw its own conclusions.

This is where clarity comes in. The more clear you are on your standards and expectations, the less room you leave for interpretation. It’s by having a clearly defined action plan that you can quiet the voice in your ear seducing you to be less disciplined.

For example, exercise. Let’s say you want to workout 3 times a week. When you’re deciding if you want to work out, your brain might try to convince you to save energy by considering that walk you took around the mall as a form of exercise. But if you have clear expectations and specificity on what your exercise activity involves, like a planned 30 minute walk without stopping, you can overrule the emotional bias and follow through.

Or how about eating dessert. If you have clearly defined standards that you eat no more than 2 scoops of ice cream, when you feel tempted to have seconds you can make the right decision and resist instead of succumb to that voice that says “just this one time, you’ve earned it, it’s not a big deal.”

While we more naturally think of self-discipline as pertaining to our health behaviors, it all translates into the way we spend our time as well. And this applies not only on a daily basis but also on a monthly basis. If you have clarity on your goals, deadlines, and intentions for the month, you’ll be that much more likely to follow through on the behaviors required to achieve them.

And that’s something I want to share with you. On Monday May 1st, I’m hosting a free workshop where I walk you step-by-step through a monthly review and goal setting process so that you have full clarity on your focus points for May. This clarity will help you feel less busy while getting more done, and getting the results to show for it! If you want to attend this free live event, reserve your spot in the May Momentum Workshop.