Discipline, Not Such a Bad Word

For many the word discipline reminds us of those days as kids when we broke Mom’s dish or punched our sister and you know what happened. You got punished or disciplined, sent to your room, stuff taken away, and that really bad word…grounded. I still remember some of those punishments that I very much deserved. My favorite recollection was the discipline I got as a result of the police coming to my parent’s house and catching me in one of the all time dumbest lies ever. It just so happened that it was on October 30th, many years ago.

While these memories remind us of how much we disliked the discipline we received, they also reminded me never to do that again, shaped my future a bit and guided me on a better path (thankfully the cops never came to my house again). As we get older our parents are not there to discipline us when we go off course, it is now up to us. But let’s dive a bit more into what discipline actually is.

Discipline as described above covers this act of training for obedience. Now as you get older discipline becomes more of what you do that keeps you on the right path the right track to succeed. For instance, a few months I realized I got out of the action of blogging weekly and I committed to doing that once again. I had to create some discipline in my life that said on this day every week I’m going to write a blog post. About 20 years ago I decided that I needed to get in shape and start working out again, it has not become a discipline that shapes who I am.

Jocko Willink is one of my favorite authors and leaders, if you are not familiar with him, he is a Navy Seal and Leadership trainer. He is known for his time in Benghazi and his leadership in the War in Iraq. His books cover many of the disciplines of the Navy Seals and their plans to ensure that their missions are successful. His books are easy to read, especially if you like to hear how his war missions lead to what he teaches in leadership. One of his books, Discipline Equals Freedom, is up there as one of my top books to read. Why? Because it is simple. The more disciplined we are the more freedom we have to get things done.

Wait, I know that sounds polar opposite. If I am so Disciplined that I wake up at 4:30 everyday, then I no longer have to debate about whether I’m going to get up. If I’m now up at that time, I have time to get my workout in, get dressed and get to work by 7:30 or 8AM. If you are so disciplined that these are the meals you are going to eat everyday, then you are not going to be tempted to stray and eat that junk food or go to the restaurant. You see, my choices are already made for me, so that I can have the freedom to do the other things in my life that are more important at other times.

Discipline plays out in all aspects of our lives. I just kicked off a Virtual Financial Peace Class last night. Our video 1 to watch together is all about budgeting. Most people hate budgeting. I know I tried it several times and continued to fail until this past year. Now I’ve been managing a budget for over a year. One of the takeaways from the lesson is that a budget actual gives us freedom to spend. It puts guardrails around our money, but allows us to spend it accordingly to where we want it to go. Without the guardrails we might go ahead and spend 7-800 a month eating out. Or go buy that new fancy phone that just came out, when really we cannot afford it. The discipline of budgeting gives you freedom to get control and stay on the right path with your finances.

I know I rambled a bit through this, but the key message is to embrace discipline, see where you need it in your life, whether it is your finances, your work, your sleep or workouts. It will help you control what you can control and free you up to do more.