Discipline... does it scare you or inspire you? This word seems to be the theme for my life over the past year or two. I know a handful of disciplined people who I’m inspired by... but the word “discipline” itself is not very inspiring. It’s a heavy word full of commitment, work and dedication. You can’t be disciplined without having a commitment to be dedicated to working it through.
Successful people have one thing in common - they are a disciplined people. They had a goal and worked diligently towards that goal whether it was convenient or inconvenient, hard or easy. They knew that in order to be successful for the long-run, they had to make short term sacrifices.
Sacrifice. Another scary word. Who likes to deny themselves anything? After all, we deserve to have anything and everything we want when we want it. Right? That’s why our culture is obese, diseased and in debt.
I’ve heard it said that you can either discipline yourself, or let the world do it for you. A year ago I sat down and made a list of areas in my life where I felt out of control. The circumstance was in control of me - not me in control of the circumstance. The list was overwhelming to look at and it was hard to not be so critical of myself. As I reflected on all the things I wanted to change a verse kept running through my mind, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11)
So there I had it... it won’t be pleasant, it will be painful, but I can look forward to a harvest of righteousness and peace. I wanted to beat my body into submission like an athlete in training as Paul talked about in 1 Corinthians. I made a choice to be inspired to take my first step, rather than get overwhelmed by my list of undisciplined areas. A step in the right direction is still a step forward, right?
Discipline is like a muscle that needs to get worked out. In the beginning it’s awkward, the movements don’t feel right, the muscles are sore.... but through daily dedication to work out that muscle; the task becomes less labor-some. It becomes more routine and natural. Like second nature.
If you follow my blog you’ve seen my journey of disciplining my eating habits, disciplining my financial habits (still have a rough road ahead of me on that one I feel), and as of late I’ve begun tackling the discipline of fitness. The last entry I wrote was the day before beginning my 60 Day “Insanity” Challenge. I am now on Day 38! Can you believe it? This self-proclaimed couch potato has kicked that couch to the curb! It’s become my new routine... working out is just a part of what I do, like brushing my teeth or eating three healthy meals a day. Of course I still go through periods of fighting it... but what a reward I’m experiencing from my due diligence of working out despite how I feel.
True discipline is just that. Doing it despite how you feel about it. We are too easy on ourselves... we don’t like to experience pain, we don’t like to be deprived, and so we keep ourselves stuck in our own misery. We hate feeling fat, yet we enjoy the sugar rush and so we cave in. We hate racking up the credit card debt, yet we love the instant gratification of having it NOW. We hate robbing peter to pay paul, yet we rather sit on the couch eating bon bons and complaining about our situation - than getting to work. We’re great complainers. We’re great excuse makers. We’re great about talking about it without going about it. We’re great starters but very few of us are great finishers.
My challenge to you is to join me. Get so sick and tired of being sick and tired that you’re ready to get busy doing something about it. That rut that you find yourself in, it’s time to change it. Decide to make a list today of all the areas you lack discipline... and then select one of those to tackle like a dog on a bone. Commit to see it through. Commit to “work out” that area of weakness. Workout is work; if it were easy it’d be called Easyout.
So as my friend Shaun T says... I’m not here to kill you, I’m here to motivate you. Get fit or get out. Dig deep and go!!!
