The Deception of Discipline For Peak Performance
A widely held misconception in today’s society is that an individual needs discipline to accomplish their
goals. When in fact, motivation is the ultimate key to getting anything done in life. Being disciplined requires a person to be able to abide by strict guidelines or rules. On the other hand, being motivated requires a person to really want to do something because they enjoy it, instead of doing because they are trying to follow a set of rules. For example, most mornings I like to wake up early and run.
Most people will perceive this as being disciplined, but that couldn’t be any further from the truth. I run because I truly enjoy doing it. I exercise because of personal satisfaction, not because of self-discipline. If you ask most people what is the difference between motivation and discipline, they will say that motivation is pushing yourself to want to do something. While discipline is pushing yourself to do something you really don’t want to do. My response to this is any action you take towards a goal is fueled by motivation.
For an individual to effectively reach a goal or form a habit, they need to want to do it. Forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do will not yield positive results. This is why self-discipline is a myth. For several years now, I have challenged people to come up with disciplined actions that are not driven by motivation and I haven’t gotten an answer yet. That is because being disciplined sounds good on paper, but in practice it is a flawed concept. How can you practice being disciplined when you have no discipline? How do you force yourself to do something you don’t want to do without any incentives or motivation? These are all valid questions that poke holes in the logic behind discipline.
Take for example an induvial in the army. If a sergeant in the military, follows a strict diet and exercise regimen everyday. He or she is a symbol of discipline, but I say it is motivation is the driving key behind his discipline. Four important factors of keeping yourself motivated include full commitment, positive thinking, strong reasons, and friendly competition. First, an effective sergeant is fully committed to the job he or she signed up for.
Meaning they will take all the necessary steps to ensure their work is of the highest quality. Second, a good army sergeant is not always pessimistic, he is optimistic about his job. In the military, you are held accountable for your actions and expected to complete many difficult tasks. Always thinking negatively would be counterproductive in this line of work because you will always be doubting your ability.
Third, friendly competition is a powerful motivating factor within a military. Army men are in competition with one another to see who can be more disciplined and physically fit. Fourth, an army sergeant has strong reasons to motivate them to stay discipline. Reputation and moving up the ranks are to critical factors that motivates a sergeant to stay on top of his or her game. Reputation, rank, optimism, and competition are the four most important factors that create discipline in the military.
Discipline
So, if you’re serious about sticking to a habit or completing a goal, you must keep the following things in mind:
- Pinpoint your goal and commit to it.
- Ignore all distractions and focus on your goal or habit.
- Configure a plan to achieve your goal.
- Create an environment of motivate to keep yourself on the right track.
- Be proud of your success.
In conclusion, I created this article to disprove the myth of discipline to free individuals from the guilt of not being self-discipline. My main goal is to encourage people to go after their desired goals without attempting to rely on a mythical discipline to push them forward. Motivation is the greatest asset you can have in life. Having the willingness to want to achieve something will keep you from procrastinating or completely giving up. Also, motivation makes you complete tasks faster and more efficiently. Having enthusiasm and excitement when completing a task goes along way towards forming a lifelong habit. Keep all this in mind the next time you want to make a certain action a habit.
