Why discipline is important - and how to increase your own

Discipline! Motivation! Hustle! Grind Culture! Let’s do this!

You can never be doing enough!

Someone else is doing more! They’re further along than you! With better health, and a better career!

If only you were more disciplined! That’s what would fix… well, everything.

And a shame spiral begins. Your lack of discipline is indicative of your inability to succeed, to stay focused, to complete things on time in the right way. Or, you’re avoiding taking action completely because of this whirlwind.

Any of this feeling familiar?

If not, dang, tell me more! I want to know what you’re doing!

According to the broinfluencer’s on LinkedIn and Instagram, I’m very aware of exactly why discipline is important to them.

Their 5am ice plunge (no thanks), followed by half-marathon (I’m fine), then 3-hour monk mode block (when is nap?), and by then it’s probably time to have a raw vegan yet paleo snack. And it’s not even 11am.

Why “discipline” is important to them (notice the bunny ears?!) is because it demonstrates just how good they are.

There’s the underlying intention of making you feel like you’re not doing enough - so you should probably listen to them. And likely pay them some cash.

I’m. Not. Buying. It.

So am I saying discipline isn’t important?

No.

I’m saying we need to rethink how we think about discipline.

Game to talk about it?

What is discipline?

Discipline, in it’s simplest form, is the act of completing activities that we normally would struggle to complete. So if you’ve had a hard time with procrastination, setting or meeting goals, establishing new habits, getting motivated… this one’s for you.

I have a new definition for you, that I’m pretty into:

Discipline is the act of removing distractions to allow yourself the time and space to complete activities that are important to you and your values.

At it’s heart, discipline is a tool that we can leverage, and it’s expertly utilized when we realize our output today does not have to match our output from yesterday. We can become more disciplined when we become realistic about our current limitations, energy levels, and plan accordingly - similar to mental contrasting.

How does that work for you as a definition?

Why is discipline important?

My bro-influencers would want you to think that discipline is important because without it you’re a lazy slob that will never achieve greatness and will be deeply left behind. It screams “should” vibes, and ultimately, has this desire to be insanely productive.

Why is discipline important?

It’s important because without accessing it, we will get distracted by all the little things. Our brain prefers to stay in this moment, in the minutia of tasks. But with discipline, you’re placing effort into playing the long game. That’s hard!

And, if you’re clear about your goals, and why they’re aligned with your values, it may make it easier to access your own internal discipline. (If that’s tough for you - let’s talk about it!)

I’m sold on why discipline is important, but, how can we increase our own discipline?

Great question! You may have thought that you’re simply not a disciplined person.

That’s because the narrative around discipline is based on a narrow view that it’s around hacking your life to be mega productive and always be crushing. Sounds like a one way ticket to burnout!

In James Clear’s Atomic Habits, they found that it’s not about being more disciplined - it’s about reducing distractions. People who already have incredible self-control will seem disciplined. But for the rest of us (raising my hand since I’d easily fail the marshmallow test) it’s actually about taking the effort and time to remove the things that distract us.

In addition, I love to talk about the hustle and bustle of discipline. Most of us see discipline as being extremely consistent, every day.

That can turn into an all-or-nothing mentality, and perfectionism will rear it’s ugly head. If we can’t follow our routine perfectly, why bother at all?

Instead, I”d encourage your to think about increasing your own discipline as being directly correlated to what is possible right now.

In the world, there are seasons. Some months we’re blooming and harvesting, other times, we’re lying fallow.

Recognizing that you can’t bring the same level of discipline when you’ve barely slept, are totally overwhelmed, and just remembered you’re out of milk, as when you’ve rested eight hours, feel lovely and productive and the sun is shining.

Being disciplined, is also about being realistic. What can get done today? Amazing. Let’s do that.

Balance is over time, not every day.

Give me some more tips though! I want more than being okay with going with the seasons!

Okay okay okay… I have more tips for you!

Tip 1: Time block your activities
Also known as the “pomodoro” technique, or working in “sprints” this can be a helpful tool to keep yourself on task when your brain wants to wander. I love to set a timer which I may restart if I hit a zone, but, I can also glance at and remind myself, “only 3 more minutes!”

Tip 2: Task block your activities
A shift going task over time - if you’re trying to get something done, let that be the hold over you. Think of it as when you couldn’t move on to the next step in a complicated homework assignment until you had completed this one, first.

Tip 3: Shift from a daily to a weekly to-do list
Balance is over time, not every day. Rather than expecting to handle each day perfectly, give yourself flexibility over the week to complete tasks. You may discover that one day is more apt for deep-thinking whereas another day you really need to wrap admin tasks mindlessly.

Tip 4: Go fullscreen
Kelly Nolan who runs The Bright Method, dropped this doozy. When you’re in a task, enter fullscreen to avoid the distractions of other things!

Tip 5: No notifcations
Those fun dings may make you feel more productive as you multitask, but in reality, it’s making you operate as if you’re drunk. True story. So, turn off notifications as you’re working. Better yet? Get your phone in another room! Maybe even go analog for the deep thinking and brainstorming!

Tip 6: Celebrate when you get stuff done
We suck at celebrating. We only want to celebrate at “the end.” But then we move the goal post anyway. Celebrating your accomplishments along the way will help you get reinvigorated into your goal!

Tip 7: Get a buddy
An accountability buddy or partner may help you get done what you want. In a world of remote work or solopreneurs - it’s helps to have someone pushing you to get done what you want to get done

Tip 8: Hire a coach
Want to get better at running? Speak Spanish fluently? Figure out what you want next from your career? But somehow… you never have the time? It’ll help to invest in yourself by working with someone who’ll let you outsource that effort and excitement.

Tip 9: Stop comparing
We’ll never have the whole story. That person who’s showing off just how organized and ahead they are? We do not know what privileges and/or hardships they’re experiencing to present this for you. You don’t need to compete with them.

Tip 10: Take a break
Seems counterintuitive, but, in order to have discipline, we also need to to rest. So go ahead, sit down.

What would you add to the list?

Good luck!