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Yo homies it’s been a while.
This isn’t going to be some preachy post about how we should all be more disciplined, but rather an exploration into the roadblocks we collectively face when it comes to being disciplined.
Firstly, what exactly does it mean to be disciplined? Essentially it is the delay of short term pleasures for long term rewards. Examples of being undisciplined would be being prone to procrastination, skipping work outs or meals, staying up late when you have an early start. Basically all the stuff we all do all the time.
Discipline isn’t a black and white matter, we can have a lot in some areas of our life and lack in others. Meaning, one has to reflect on their life and patterns in their life to be able to assess where we could be more disciplined.
I know a lot of people who want to have a better diet, myself included, or be healthier in general, have a better sleep cycle or routine, and these are all things I yearn for myself. So, why is it so difficult to actually do these things? Why can’t we do what we want to do the most?
Part of it will be purely habit, we have acted a certain way for so long we are in the habit of doing so, and its hard to change habits. Also, when it comes to attaining discipline, the modern world makes it easy for us not to. We can order food at the push of a button, find things out we don’t know in a second, and have endless distractions around us all the time in the form of technology. It all keeps us from being our most disciplined selves.
One thing I have noticed, which I think is going to be a total bitch on this journey, is that I almost never want to do helpful things. I put them off till tomorrow, “I’ll start tomorrow” I say. I feel uncomfortable, "what’s the point”, frustrated feelings when I go to meditate or something. So, I realised I need to push through these feelings and do the helpful things anyway.
Well, shit.
That will be extremely hard. Those negative feelings put me off doing the helpful things, but I think it needs to be done, the pushing through. Cause the helpful things (such as meditation, stretching) will ultimately help me feel better in the future. So I not only want to do helpful things, but other things instead of having to force myself to do the bare minimum to survive in the modern world and then “chill” the rest of the time. So therefore, logically, there’s a reason to push the negative feelings NOW so I can experience better feelings later. I still find it hard though, and where to even start?
I have thought about this, and I really want to start with physical discipline, looking after my body. I believe that if I feel better within my body I will naturally want to work harder. That’s the theory anyway.
I didn’t know where to start with practice, so I started really easy: simply making sure I eat breakfast every day. Maybe y’all aren’t total messes like me, but in my life up until I started doing this, breakfast was a rare occurrence. So, to build discipline and health I have been having it every morning. I read once that eating breakfast helps to balance hormones within in the body, so I believe it will holistically help my body in loads of different ways. I have been doing this almostttt everyday for about 3 weeks now, and genuinely can notice a difference in my energy levels. Thanks breakfast!
This has given me hope on the journey to being more disciplined. Now, I just need to apply the same attitude I have given to breakfast to pretty much everything else in my life (lol). Wish me luck!
Peace n love,
El x
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