Yes, I said it – you don’t need discipline. If you’ve ever struggled with staying consistent at something or practicing discipline in your day-to-day life, then read this post, I’ll show you that you don’t need discipline to start to take action.
We are in such a very peculiar digital age in which information is readily available to everyone about anything and at any time. Unfortunately, this available information or knowledge can only be useful to you only when you apply them.
So, irrespective of how much knowledge you are able to gather or how fast you gather it, if you cannot put that knowledge to use, it becomes a total waste. Sadly, a bulk of the problem we face today comes from a mass inability to apply knowledge.
How so?
Discipline. Not many people who have access to the available information are disciplined enough to do what it takes to utilize the knowledge they acquire.
And the reason is clear. Discipline – also known as willpower – isn’t something you pick from outside. ChatGPT doesn’t give discipline. You engage it from within.
So, even after prolonged exposure to light and information, it now becomes your responsibility (and your responsibility alone) to take necessary action in line with what you’ve learned.
Also, here’s one of my bathroom thoughts. With the recent advancement in technology and ease of access to information, traditional education systems should have been obliterated by self-learning and personal transformation. But that is not what we see today.
Why?
Discipline. The formal education system creates a platform that encourages immediate application after learning. But with personal transformation… well, this is why we are here.
Unfortunately, too, a lack of discipline is usually the reason most learning cycles end prematurely – people find it so hard to consistently put in the work.
You’ve just learned about the importance of having a productive morning routine. You probably watched a dozen videos, and each of those videos highlighted valid and super important points that can really help you start a productive morning routine. O boy, you can’t wait to put this into practice.
But hey, by the next morning, you find yourself falling back to your old, unproductive ways of running your mornings. The worst part? You can deliver a perfect speech around creating a productive morning routine even while in the midst of your chaotic morning.
Clearly, knowledge is not the problem. Discipline is. But what if you don’t need discipline? What if you’ve failed to build discipline all these years because you’ve been focusing on the wrong thing?
I’ll show you two things you can do so you won’t need discipline, but still get stuff done when they need to be done.
Make Your Identity Very Clear
Can I tell you something?
Whenever you know something really good and life-changing, yet you find it nearly impossible to take action around that thing, then you have a problem with your identity, not motivation or discipline.
It is either you are not yet clear on your identity, or that action – although a very good and plausible one, does not align with your identity. And in most cases of discipline, the first is usually the case.
When you are yet to be clear on your identity, you will most definitely permit anything – including the things you don’t want to do.
But when you become clear on who you are and who you want to be, there’d be many things you’ll hate, and inaction will be one of them.
Please, note that being clear about your identity does not necessarily mean having a title. I am also not talking about what you do for work or the bios you put up on social media.
When I mean your identity, I am talking about the manner of person you want to become. This identity always comes with a portion of accountability that can keep you on your toes well enough.
When you have determined who you are and who you want to be, you’re going to make that identity clear and present by associating it with the action you want discipline for.
So, if you want to build enough discipline to start a productive routine, then this is what your identity clarity should look like:
I am a mom who is present for her children, and a morning routine keeps me organized and grounded enough to be this mom.
The longer you take action towards becoming a present mom, the more grounded you become as a present mom. And the more grounded you get in your identity, the easier it gets to take actions that enforce that identity.
The future of that identity
Another thing you want to do with making your identity clear is reminding yourself of what the future of that identity would look like if you consistently take or do not take action.
So, as someone who wants to be a present mom, if you follow a productive morning routine for 6 months, what will that do for your ability to be a present mom? Of course, it will help you be more present and grounded as a mom!
Now, if you don’t take action for 6 months and you continue with your current chaotic and exhausting routine, what would that do for your identity in 6 months? Well, you might as well forget about being a present mom because we all know that the way your mornings go set the tone for the rest of the day.
Now, do you see that you really do not need discipline? Just begin by clearly stating the identity you want to have and then always remind yourself of what will become of that identity if you fail to take action for a long time.
Reshape Your Environment According Your Identity
As soon as you’ve settled your identity, the next thing you want to work on is your environment. The truth is that you can never rise above the limitations of your environment.
So, even if you succeed in gathering some kind of supernatural ability to be disciplined, and you fail to optimize your environment to help you take specific actions, you’ll soon get pulled back to your default state.
What does optimizing your environment for the right action look like? It looks like:
- Strictly removing things that do not align to your identity and the specific action you want to take.
- Ensuring that the only things present in your environment are the things that align to your identity and that action you want to take.
So, using our example of being a present mom as the identity, and sticking with a productive morning routine as our specific action, here’s what optimizing your environment should look like:
- Removing everything that contributes to unproductivity in your mornings.
- Limiting access to your mobile devices or certain apps that distract you from doing what you need to do.
- Leaving your phone in another room till noon or till you’ve completed your routine.
- If reading is part of the routine, ensure you always have a physical book or your bible by your bedside every morning.
- If exercise is part of the routine, place your fitness mat and weights where you can see them once you wake up.
- Wake up earlier than everyone else so that there are no distractions beyond your control within that timeframe (remember you’re a mom).
You can optimize the above list according to your unique identity and corresponding action.
Conclusion
I do hope you now understand that you do not need discipline – whatever it is you understand as discipline.
What you truly need to do the things you should be doing is to be clear on your identity and the action you need to take, and then optimize your environment for that identity.
