Discipline can seem like a weird concept to someone who lacks it. But the truth is that discipline is what creates the life you actually want. As Jocko Willink says, “Discipline equals Freedom”. It could seem like freedom would be the absence of discipline and restriction but that couldn’t be more opposite from the truth. Structure is necessary if you want to build something. If you want to drift around, expend energy and get no return on your efforts, then yea, you don’t need discipline.
If you want financial freedom, you need discipline. You need to learn what those who have it did (and do) to create it. If you want to become strong, you need discipline. You need a plan and then you need to execute it with discipline. Otherwise you will never reach or sustain your goal. Discipline is the gift to grow and progress. If you want spiritual strength and maturity, you need discipline to learn, read, study and then to use what you learn. If you want more time to do the things you want, then you need discipline to use your time instead of letting time use you.
John Maxwell says, “Commitment will get you started but discipline will keep you going”. If you want to become more healthy and you stick to your plan for one day and then fall back into your old habits, did you create the life you wanted? No. Why? Because of the lack of discipline. Self discipline is defined as: the ability to control one’s feelings and overcome one’s weaknesses; the ability to pursue what one thinks is right despite temptations to abandon it.
When you know what you want to do and you create a plan to accomplish it, discipline is the building tool that puts your plan into action and creates steady progress. The only way to create and sustain progress and growth is the discipline of action with consistency over a certain amount of time. If I want to write a book and I only write when I feel inspired, at the end of the year I might only have five pages. But let’s say I want to start and finish the book in one year and I commit to writing five pages, five days a week whether I feel like it or not (discipline). At the end of 52 weeks I would have written 260 pages. Discipline upholds my commitment and creates the desired progress. Discipline enables me to create what I actually want. Discipline really does create freedom.