In a world and culture of expediency and victimhood, discipline has become a lost characteristic that few possess. Success and discipline have a direct correlation. Where you find one, you’ll find the other. This is true for anything and everything. Discipline is like a muscle. If you don’t use it, you’ll begin to lose it. Also, like muscle, the more you use discipline, the stronger it gets. This is why it’s important to implement some form of it in every area of your life. This will help you make better decisions, hold yourself and others more accountable, and have the ability to stick things out even when times get difficult. Every aspect of your life should be monitored by some sort of discipline.
The routine
One key area of discipline that most people severely overlook and neglect is that of your daily routine. Two specific examples of what this encapsulates, both literally and metaphorically, are the times in which you go to sleep and wake up. Having a routine in place, regardless of what day of the week it is, will program discipline in a vital part of your life, your sleep schedule. Sleep has a vital role in how you perform every day both physically and mentally. Erratic sleep-wake schedules can be harmful to healthy sleep and impact your daily performance. Having the discipline to put the phone down, turn off the TV, and go to sleep at the same time every night, or at least every night where it’s possible to do so, is a great stride to not only a healthy sleep schedule, but also adding more discipline in your life. The same goes for awakening. All our lives we’ve heard about the wonders of sleeping in and how much everyone can’t wait to do it on the weekend after a late night of partying. The truth is, this can be a detriment to your sleep-wake schedule and impact your performance. Having the discipline to stick to a routine in this regard is very difficult, but extremely rewarding.
Another great practice is to have time slots for everything you do throughout the day allocated to specific activities. For example, having a time where you go to the gym, when you eat your lunch. what times you’re working, along with other daily activities will hold you accountable to completing what is necessary every day. Staying true to this kind of routine takes discipline, and that discipline allows for your use of time to be concise in a way that ensures what you need to get done is getting done.
The physical activity
When the year begins, so many make their New Year’s Resolution to get in the gym and become fit. This fad results in a spike of gym memberships for the month of January, and not long after, the number of people in the gym decreases back to the median. This is because going to the gym consistently and working out takes extreme discipline. There will be a lot of days where you won’t want to work out. Your body might hurt or you may not feel your best. It takes discipline to ignore how you feel and do what you need to do in the gym anyway. This is how one loses weight and becomes fit. For me, going to the gym has been a daily ritual since I was 14 years old. It became such a habit that it no longer took much discipline for me to go. It’s just something that I do without question. Recently, I wanted to add a layer of discipline to my regimen. I asked myself what I dislike the most in regards to physical activity. The answer was clear, running. It took me a few months after this realization to get myself mentally prepared for what I knew would come next. About a month and a half ago I signed up for my first marathon and started a vigorous running, strength, and mobility program to help me reach my goal. I have been running long distances 5 times a week and lifting 4 times a week with hours of stretching in between since. This has been a huge test of discipline for me as most days I rather not stick to my routine, especially when it calls for running 6-10 miles and then going to the gym for a lift after. That isn’t something I generally enjoy and it takes a huge toll on my body. Still, I don’t love to run. I actually don’t like it very much at all. However, I appreciate the change that it is allowing me to go through in my life. I am growing because the activity of running is allowing me to do so in a way I never would have experienced had I not decided to pursue this challenge. Challenge creates growth and that is my main goal with this marathon.
The point of this section is not to tell you to go sign up for a marathon. It’s to merely tell you to do something difficult regularly involving physical activity. Flex your discipline muscles and it will transform you in every area of life. Challenge yourself and you’ll find that even something you may not like in the beginning, or throughout for that matter, may result in growth beyond what you ever thought possible.
The diet
When I say diet, I don’t mean a fad diet like keto or another extreme diet that is going to be impossible to stick to long-term. What I mean by diet is to add some discipline to what food you choose to put in your body so that you can modify what you’re eating to still enjoy your food, but do it in a way that is good and beneficial for your body. For me, I am in the middle of marathon prep. I have calorie restrictions and macro restrictions because I have a target weight in mind for optimal performance. I feel like the diet I am now following is something I can sustain even after my marathon training is over. That is because it’s not structured in exactly what I can and can’t eat. I still enjoy my food on a daily basis. I regularly get Chipotle and Qdoba for lunch or dinner and eat other foods I enjoy. The key is that I stay away from the obvious junk food and things that are processed. This requires a level of discipline. Of course, I’ve been tempted by food I know I shouldn’t eat but I manage toI keep myself from eating it because I know how it’ll make me feel if I give in to the temptation.
Now, I am not saying you can never eat ice cream or pizza ever again. Of course, I still eat these foods! Once a week I get to pick a meal or dessert that is a “cheat meal” of sorts. I look forward to this time of the week because I view it as a reward for all the hard work I put into the week prior. Every weekend, it is truly a special feeling when I get to eat a whole pizza, or a giant ice cream sundae, or something else delicious! Not only do I not feel guilty about “going off my diet”, but I feel really good that I am able to reward myself with a tasty treat I can really look forward to! Implementing this principle in some capacity in your life will help you refrain from over indulgence and have a meaningful level of discipline when it comes to your diet so you can make better decisions and make food feel rewarding!
Career and finances
This is perhaps an obvious one. Even though this realm can feel overwhelming, the path to success through discipline remains relatively the same as the above sections. For me as a real estate investor, the path to success is quite simple, but in no way is it easy. I need to find properties that fit my buy box, call sellers, raise money, and build a team around my operations so that I can build a real business. Doing all of this requires extreme discipline through consistency. Regardless of failures or obstacles you or I may face, the only way forward is to push through the turmoil no matter how difficult it gets. The formula for success in most instances is laid out for you to follow. This blog alone contains dozens of guides and walkthroughs on how to improve your finances and advance your career or business. There are limitless resources out there to help guide you to accomplish anything you wish in this realm for whatever niche you wish to pursue. Having the discipline to stick through something even when times are tough is what separates those who succeed from those who don’t.
Living a disciplined life
A disciplined life is filled with growing pains. You will put yourself through many things you don’t want to go through. You will question things when they get difficult. Quitting is something you will contemplate, sometimes often. However, discipline during these struggles results in immense reward and growth. Under any circumstances for any given goal or objective in your life, instituting a high level of discipline will make you that much better!