“It’s a beautiful day outside, I can’t wait to go for a bike ride today.”
“Awwww….it’s raining, I don’t want to run in the rain. Treadmill here I come. Gotta get it in.”
“I’m so excited to hit the weights today, I benched my max last time!”
“It’s Monday, gotta do legs.”
Revisiting these four statements again, two of them are about discipline rather than motivation. In this case it is the second and fourth statements that show a disciplined individual who is willing to exercise when their motivation might be lacking. Why does it seem that some people are more disciplined than others? How does a person become disciplined? How can I maintain my discipline once I have it? In today’s post, we will be discussing discipline!

First, what is discipline? It is easy to know motivation, it is our willingness or enthusiasm to do something or behave a certain way in the case of health and wellness. Discipline has many definitions and in the sense where we use it here, it means a controlled behavior that an individual does whether they are motivated to do so or not. In other words, doing an activity (going to the gym, going for a run, etc.), even though it is something you may not want to do. Has you ever been in that situation?
For me personally, it is going to the dentist. I won’t lie, I hate going to the dentist. I frequently have issues with my teeth and when I am done at the dentist, my gums hurt and I feel lousy. However, I know that for my general well-being, it is best for me to go to the dentist and take care of my teeth even though it is painful, uncomfortable and unenjoyable. That is the essence of discipline.
This type of behavior can be very challenging for some people! Doing something that you DON’T want to do, especially one that is uncomfortable (or even painful) is difficult and requires discipline. Exercising can be the same for some people--- it can be uncomfortable and very difficult to do. Pair that with getting up at 530 AM to go to the gym, then shower and go work a full day, this can be very challenging and requires discipline! Especially if you are doing this day after day, week after week, and so forth. Again, it is important to recognize that.
Discipline is a great complement for motivation and the two go hand in hand. If an individual is disciplined and motivated that is the best of both worlds! It is much easier to achieve your goals when you are motivated to want to achieve your goals and you are disciplined in your approach and actions to achieve them.
As we discussed last week, motivation can come and go as an individual’s situation changes. Once you achieve a goal or an event passes, your motivation may be diminished. For many people, discipline is a skill or behavior that is learned over time like motivation, so your level of discipline may ebb and flow over time as your situation changes.
How do I become disciplined? As we stated at the beginning, some individuals are naturally more disciplined than others, just like some individuals are more motivated than others. It is a skill set that is intrinsic to their behavior and personality. However, even if you are not disciplined, you can learn to become more disciplined. How do you do that?
If you feel that you have no discipline, there are several ways to help improve it. And you will find that there are similar to ways to motivate yourself. The first thing is to establish a routine, and that does not simply mean an exercise routine, but a routine around your workout. That would include something like this: get up at 600 AM, eat a protein bar and cup of coffee, grab gym bag, go to gym by 630 AM, workout 645 AM to 745 AM, shower, get to work at 845 AM. (This is just an example, but it illustrates what a disciplined schedule would be like- you could workout after work too.)

The point is you know what you are going to do when, so you don’t have to think about it. It does require preparation (more discipline) as you will need to have your workout bag ready to go the night before, along with work clothes, shower stuff (if you shower at the gym), and so forth. The more you do this over and over and over again, the easier it will become. This will build discipline.
Another way to give yourself discipline is to workout with a friend, in a class, or with a personal trainer. By doing one or more of these, it forces you to have an “appointment” on your calendar that you need to keep. This also gives you accountability to a personal trainer, or your workout buddy or the other people in your class. In a nutshell, it forces you to be disciplined.
As we discussed with motivation, setting goals is a great way to help with your discipline. Having a goal is great motivation (whether it is an event or time/volume based goal), but it will also make you more disciplined. You may arrive at a workout one day and not feel motivated on that given day, but if you can stay focused on the goal, the discipline can take over to get you through the workout.
Another important thing to do to build discipline is to track what you do---write it down! Does this sound familiar? Just like this helps with your motivation, this will also help with your discipline. Writing things down gives you accountability to yourself. How does this make you more disciplined?
Let’s say you have a time based goal of getting 20 workouts in for the month of December. It’s December 15th, and you only have 6 or 7 workouts completed. You still have plenty of time to get your workouts in as you are only halfway through the month. You will have to plan out the next 16 days and be disciplined to achieve your goal. If you don’t write it down, that degree of accountability is lost.
The key thing with discipline is building it over time. It may start with something small--- just getting a membership to a gym, trying a yoga class or getting a notebook to track your workouts is a start. The more that you do and the more you practice with your discipline, the easier you will find it to be disciplined.

Like motivation, discipline is a difficult thing because it can come and go over days and weeks and months. Discipline is a deliberate, conscious decision that is made every day to commit yourself to an action. It is not easy! Be sure to recognize this. Reward yourself for being disciplined with a self care activity. If you can combine discipline with motivation, you will have the best of both worlds and a great path to success.
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