Recently, the word discipline has been coming up a lot for me. I downloaded the Headway app a few weeks ago, and I’ve been listening to a lot of self-help books (and I’m not afraid to say that). One of the common themes mentioned in most of those books is the idea of self-discipline.
I spent nearly 7 years in the armed forces, and while I was there, I was expected to be disciplined in many aspects of my life. Exercising on a regular basis, making my bed, practicing good hygiene, getting my hair cut, and being ready at all times–these were all areas of my life where discipline played a role. Looking back, I was in the best physical shape of my life while I was in the military, and I was very proud of the person I had become. Academically, I was probably at my best in high school graduating first in my class and holding multiple club officer positions in FBLA, National Beta Club, Chess Club, and even Bible Club. I didn’t perform well in all of these areas by just going with the flow. I put in the extra hours, pushed myself to my limits, and did whatever it took to be successful in whatever I was doing. But after graduating high school, and leaving the military, life seemed different. Harder in some way. I just didn’t have that motivation to perform anymore. There for awhile it felt like life started to slow down for a bit. I became used to my environment, and comfortable. Eventually I stopped reading as much as I had, dropped out of collage, and even stopped eating right and exercising. In the military we have a word for that–complacency, and complacency kills.
Earlier this year I came to my own realization about discipline. I won’t go into how arrived there personally, but at some point it dawned on me that most of my success in life had come from trying to live up to other people’s expectations and were often short-lived. Though I usually met or exceeded those expectations, it was physically and emotionally draining, and at the end of the day, my successes weren’t really my own, because I only responding to external motivations. Once I finally reached a point in life where I didn’t have others pushing me to push myself, I stopped pushing altogether. After making that realization, I made a commitment to myself to become a better me for my own sake. Since then, I have continued my education and professional development, and even began losing weight by making healthier eating decisions. I am now down 28 pounds in the past 9 weeks, and I feel the best I have since leaving the military in 2018.
The secret to my recent success has been self-discipline. I have logged and counted calories of every meal for the past 70 days, and I’m doing it with the intent of being a better version of myself. Believe me, it hasn’t been a cake-walk (pun intended), but getting to this point has been much easier than I expected it to, and I contribute that mostly to the fact that my motivations have changed.
The coolest part about all of this is that my recent successes have driven me to seek improvement in other parts of my life as well. I am now on a more stable sleep schedule, I’m starting to work out regularly again, and I have become more dedicated to improving my performance at work. I know that I don’t have it all figured out yet, and that I’m no Supply Chain Guru, but I am happier. I do love and respect myself a little more now, and I have a much brighter outlook of my future.
So, yes discipline is important, but what’s equally as important is making sure you are doing things for the right reasons. And if you’re someone like me who has spent so long trying to please others, do more things for you. Become a little more selfish if that’s what you want to call it, but know that until you change your motivations, you will continue spending all of your energy on someone else’s idea of success. Be successful for you. Be disciplined for you. Be self-disciplined.
Thanks for allowing me to share this with you, and I hope you gained something from it. I’d like to hear feedback from anyone willing to share, but I’m perfectly content just having this posted before midnight because I said in my previous post that I would have it up today. Until then, all the best, to all the best.
A Poet’s Qualm 