The Principles of Discipline
Disciplined Doesn't Mean Perfect.
Being disciplined doesn't mean being a soldier who never takes a day off.
It doesn't mean you can't enjoy a delicious cheat meal. I enjoy a cheat day every Saturday. In fact, this last Saturday I had a decadent baklava waffle - completely destroyed it.
Every system, from computers to cars to smartphones to people, needs a restart every now and then.
Pro athletes have rest days from practice and sometimes even from games.
Employees receive paid time off.
People who routinely wake up early might sleep in on a weekend or holiday.
Taking a break from a rigorous routine is not bad. It's actually healthy.
Do what you need to do, recharge your batteries then get back to it.
If you're trying to force yourself to be disciplined and it feels more like punishment than progress, that's because you're forcing it.
Discipline is much easier when there's something pulling you towards disciplined action (and being a disciplined person) rather than the friction that happens when you push yourself to do things that you don't want to do.
I call it push and pull energy. Do you have to push yourself or do you get pulled?
Where does that discipline come from? And how can you become a disciplined person if forcing it doesn't work?
The answer is in having discipline "anchors."
Your anchor is the answer to this question:
What do you care about or desire enough that you are willing to be disciplined in order to get it?
The anchor question, when answered truthfully, helps you overcome common discipline challenges.
Common Discipline Challenges 👇
Boredom: Doing the same thing all the time is not exciting and becomes monotonous
Avoidance: Dodging any situation that may stir up uncomfortable emotions.
Hope: Wishing that certain things will (or won't) happen.
Embarrassment: Doing stuff consistently without tangible results makes you feel stupid and useless.
Your Comfort Zone: It would be easier to do other things that you're more comfortable with.
Opportunity Cost: What about every other thing that you could be doing with your resources?(time, money and energy)
To acquire or keep anything worthwhile in life, you'll need to handle all the six common discipline challenges by using a combination of the five forms of currencies in life.
The Five Forms Of Currencies In Life:
1. Time
2. Energy
3. Attention
4. Money
5. Focus
What do you care enough about getting, that you're willing to spend these currencies to deal with the six discipline challenges.
When your goal is more important than:
The boredom of the work
Your desire to avoid discomfort
The boredom of repetitive actions
The embarrassment of not having achieved it yet
The opportunity cost for everything else you could be doing
The discomfort of doing something new
.....Then you'll find your discipline. You may even call it "motivation."
Motivation turns to discipline when the long term drive is stronger than the short-term emotion.
That discipline overcomes the 6 objections.
Discipline anchors are not created through hyping yourself up.
Anchors are created by asking the right questions and executing on the answers.
The “ HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?!?!” type of motivation works for short term motivation. Once the motivation fades, that’s when discipline kicks in. That’s where you make meaningful progress.
