You wanna have a sexy body.
But you don’t feel like going to the gym.
You wanna read more books.
But you keep getting distracted by your phone.
And you wanna take a cold shower.
But you’re too afraid of the cold.
What’s the real problem here?
Is it a lack of motivation?
Discipline?
Or a mixture of both?
I don’t think you lack motivation.
You already know what you want.
What you lack is discipline.
Motivation and discipline are not the same things.
They are two different types of energy.
And they each serve a distinct purpose.
Motivation comes from a specific mood or a particular mental state.
Whereas discipline separates actions from how you feel and makes you resilient to adversity over time.
If you wait until you feel like doing stuff, you’re never gonna get anywhere.
So you can’t rely on your feelings to get to the next level.
Because motivation is situational.
This is why you need discipline.
Discipline helps you choose between what you want now and what you want most.
Discipline gets sh*t done.
Discipline conquers fear.
And discipline keeps you going when your curiosity, motivation, and excitement fizzle out.
Discipline gives you a superpower to stick to rules which you’ve set for yourself, even if no one else is looking.
Now I know it’s hard, and it’s not something that just comes easy to everyone.
But I’ll tell you what.
Discipline is like a muscle that needs to be worked on.
And eventually, it will become stronger and easier to use.
You will go to the gym when you don’t feel like going to the gym.
You will finish reading that book even if it takes all night.
And you will hit the cold shower even if it makes you shiver down your spine.
Motivation is saying you’ll wake up at 4 in the morning tomorrow.
And discipline is actually waking up without giving a f*ck about your feelings.
I know it’s hard in the beginning.
And your brain will resist those abrupt changes.
So start by taking baby steps.
You can’t reach perfection overnight.
But you can make a small change and let your brain accept it as the new baseline.
This will make the next step easier because your baseline has shifted, and you’ve raised the bar for yourself.
Success is the result of many small efforts.
Small changes that you stick to and follow every day add up to surprisingly massive results.
So make discipline your daily habit.
Skip that burger for a salad.
Leave that party early to get a good night’s sleep.
And make time to work out no matter how busy you are.
Because you don’t know what you’re capable of until you do.
