Directing Discipline
where strictness allows for opportunity
Discipline is not only about being strict with oneself. It is an enabler for living your most desired life.
As Mike Tyson once eloquently put it, “If you ain’t got discipline, you ain’t nobody”. Discipline means showing up for yourself everyday. It means no days off. Not letting your feelings dictate your decision-making. Having the grit to go through with whatever needs to be done, regardless of how you feel.
Discipline requires willpower and a deep understanding of oneself. When you know who you are and what you want, discipline can be the vehicle for bridging the gap. So how do we cultivate discipline in our life? The first step is developing a consistent daily routine. Decide when you want to wake up and go to bed and then commit to it. Make sleep a sacred ritual and protect it at all costs. From there a foundation has been formed that can be built upon.
Ask yourself, when am I most productive? Do I like working in those quiet mornings when the world has not awoken yet and a peaceful stillness permeates the air? Or am I more of a night owl that thrives in the dark? Focus your energy on doing your most important tasks (if possible) during these windows of flow. Here knowing yourself and how you tick is essential. I find meditation to be a useful tool for understanding my inner machinery.
Another important component to discipline is saying no to the non-essentials. The world will be consistently vying for your time, efforts, and energy as you progress through life. Shut all but the most vital opportunities out. Do not let yourself become diluted by menial tasks. Your time is limited. Time is our most precious resource. It is the great equalizer for the human species. Preserve it or perish.
Being disciplined should become a way of life if you wish to optimize your well-being. Everything from diet to exercise to financial health to mental wellness sits on discipline. If you begin with crafting discipline, everything else will follow. Start today and see it as a lifelong practice. Direct discipline with a gentle, yet firm hand and see who you become.