Discipline

I’m always very intrigued by the concept of discipline. Self-discipline, I should clarify.

There’s something inspiring about observing people who are exceptionally disciplined, and it seems like an elusive “life skill” for many people. An area people commonly wish to improve on.

Cal Newport’s podcast yesterday focused on discipline with his guest, author Ryan Holiday. (I did not actually finish the episode yet, but a few things stood out so far.)

Some notes I jotted down:

• Discipline is “popular” right now. (i.e. people doing discipline challenges. I can’t remember the examples he listed, but things like clean eating challenges, the 75 Hard challenge, ice bathing, ultra marathon training, etc. come to mind.)

• Discipline is a transferrable skill.

• Quote from Seneca: “The body should be treated rigorously, that it may not be disobedient to the mind.”

• Ryan Holiday, talking about transferring discipline: “If you’re the kind of person that can, when you’re in the middle of a run and your body is tired, and your body is saying, “You should stop, this is hard”…. and you have the ability to override that? I think that is a skill that then when your phone says, “Hey, you should pick me up and tune out the world for the next 45 minutes,” ideally you have cultivated the ability to say, No, I decide what I’m going to do, not the impulse, not the urge, etc.

• More from Seneca (paraphrasing): “If you want to have the virtue of generosity, you get that by being generous. It’s a thing that you do.” Likewise, with discipline, if you want to have more discipline, it starts by being disciplined. Insisting on discipline, making discipline a habit. What are you going to quit? What are you going to push yourself to do?

• The author’s mantra= “Persist + Resist“. (I like this! Sometimes you need to persist– stick with what you said you were going to do. Sometimes you need to resist– step away from the thing you said you didn’t want to do.)

I only made it through about half of the episode so far, but I liked the discussion around discipline! (I know Cal can be controversial in that not everyone loves him. Personally, I find more value in his work than not and greatly enjoy it, so, I choose to continue listening to him.)

My favorite line was the one above that says, “No, I decide what I’m going to do, not the impulse, not the urge.” I thought that was a very powerful way of looking at things. And I could see that being a helpful reminder, when maybe willpower is feeling weak, or you’re reaching for a 3rd cookie. lol. I decide. I am in control of my actions, not some all-powerful invisible “urge” or desire. I am not a puppet.

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for my Under Armour gym bag. It’s a small backpack type bag, and I love the small outside pocket for storing my keys, air pod case, etc., plus it has a separate inside pocket where I always put my sunglasses. I carry this bag around with me in the weight room actually, and keep my progress notebook in it or will stick my hoodie in there when I get hot. I’ve had it for a few years now, and I just really like it.