Discipline

How do we get more discipline? Stop trying to summon more willpower…find more love instead. I’m pretty damn disciplined with the things that matter most in my life. The catch is it doesn’t really feel like it. With the vast majority of my “disciplines” I’m incredibly drawn to them. I love to get up early and do some reading and writing. I love prepping for my clients, my workout routine, the daily walks with my family, etc.

I’m incredibly drawn to them and so it rarely if ever feels like much of a lift. Hasn’t always been this way. I had way more dead weight for awhile – stuff that I was trying to be disciplined on but didn’t enjoy. I cut most of it out. There are a few that I don’t love. For instance – the discipline of keeping my office tidy. I don’t love it. But what I do love is the non-cluttered head space resulting from a tidy environment. So I marry the mundane and tidy my office regularly. Some willpower gets exerted. No big deal though, because it’s one of very few things that feels like a heavier lift, like drudgery. Worth it, but extracts a small toll…and I get a big energy boost on the other side of it when I settle in to a clean space.

What’s extracting too big of a toll? How can you weed it or change it to become more of a love to? What do you need to cut out? What do you need more of? Life’s an energy management game, remember?