The Power of Discipline

It is not your lack of motivation that is holding you back.

More likely, it is a lack of discipline.

Change is tough.

Growth is challenging.

Making progress in our lives requires taking action (you already know this).

Motivation makes everything feel easier.

When we are motivated, we challenge ourselves, work harder, and overcome obstacles.

But if we only do things when we feel motivated, we will always leave our potential unfulfilled.

Motivation comes and goes.

Motivation is a feeling.

Discipline is a trait.

Discipline keeps us going through the motivational doldrums.

It is a skill we can build, and today I want to teach you a few strategies to help you stay disciplined.

Learn and apply these skills and you will be able to take consistent action regardless of how you feel.

Building Discipline in 3 Steps

We can learn to be disciplined.

If the military can teach 18-year-old boys discipline, then you can learn it too.

I do not share the honor of shaving served, but we can take a few principles from military training and apply them to our lives.

At a minimum, there are three principles, or three steps, we need to build discipline:

1. Build your code of conduct
2. Build your SOPs
3. Build your accountability

Let’s start with #1.

Build your Code of Conduct

Who are you?

Are you the kind of person who cheats and lies, or are you honest and true?

Are you a hard worker or lazy?

Are you outspoken or quiet?

These are questions about your identity.

Your identity (or self-image) determines how you act. For example, if you see yourself as a healthy person, you behave in ways that align with that image. You exercise, eat well, etc.

A part of your self-image is your code of conduct. This is specific to how you behave.

You already have a code of conduct, but it may not be intentional. Let’s change that.

Here’s how to identify or create your personal code of conduct:

1. List your values - write out 5-10 of your values and select your top 2.
2. Identify your principles - what are your guiding beliefs?
3. Establish your standards - at what level are you willing settle?

When you answer these three questions, you create an image of you are and how you behave. Recognize that these are core to who you are… they do not require motivation for you to act in alignment.

Your code of conduct who you are and how you show up regardless of how you feel.

Build your SOPs

Standard operating procedures are routines.

These are systems and behavior patterns you execute on specific tasks.

They are very useful because we execute routines like a habit, without the need for emotion.

I bet you make your bed the same way every day. You don’t need motivation to do it.

I bet you put your pants and socks on in the same order every day, without motivation.

I bet you brush your teeth… and on and on.

Where we get into trouble is when we think we need motivation to do something when in reality we just need a SOP.

Want to eat healthier? Go to the store with a SOP:

• Eat something high protein before going to the store
• get fruits and veggies first
• go to the meat section for protein
• Circle back for healthy carbs and grains

The same goes for exercise. You can create a SOP of putting your short on, then your running shoes, then going on a walk.

Standardize your routines and recognize that you don’t need to WANT to do things in order to do them effectively.

Build your Accountability

Discipline is for you.

You choose to be disciplined or not.

You have established your code of conduct and your SOPs.

But… we are social animals.

It is still true that we will often rise to the expectations of others more than the expectations of ourselves.

While this is a bigger topic for another day, we can leverage this principle to build discipline in our lives.

Just consider, if you do not take disciplined action, who suffers?

You may suffer, sure… but who else?

Think of your core relationships (your family) and how they are impacted by your disciplined or undisciplined actions.

If you do not take care of your health, your family suffers.

I know women who could not have their father walk them down the aisle at their wedding because they had died from a heart attack.

If you do not show up for work, your family suffers.

If you do not practice integrity, your family suffers.

It is not hard to consider how your actions impact the ones you love.

Sometimes this accountability is all you need to practice discipline.

And guess what, leveraging accountability actually instills a little motivation. We don’t want to let other people down.

The Wrap Up

You can learn discipline.

It is a skill, and it can be practiced.

First, identify who you are with your code of conduct.

What are your values and standards? Create clarity and choose to embody them.

Then create your standard operating procedures.

Routines and systems can be executed without motivation. They are habits. Build them!

Finally, recognize who you are accountable to. Accountability actually creates a little fire of motivation.

That fire can keep a low burn if you pay attention.

Remember, motivation is a feeling.

Discipline is a trait.

So keep going, and crush it!

Clark