Novermber 25

The worddisciplineis polarizing. To some, it implies the grind. It means sweat, grit, blood, and sacrifice. To others, it sounds like obligation. It’s something I ought to do but probably don’t want to. It’s guilt inducing.

I’d like to simplify the word for all of us. Discipline simply means to make an agreement with yourself, a promise to yourself, and then keep it. If you agree that you’re going to run for two minutes and you do it, you are disciplined. You did what you said you would. You don’t have to

run a 5K; you just do what you say.

If you say you’re going to write fifty words a day, or two hundred, or

a thousand and you do it, you are disciplined.

We get into problems when we make promises that we can’t or don’t

intend to keep. We say, “I’m going to write twenty-five hundred words on Tuesday,” then something comes up and we only write a few hundred, and we feel terrible and undisciplined. The reality is that we set unreal- istic expectations.

To be disciplined, set realistic expectations of yourself, then deliver on them. Always do what you say.

Discipline simply means to make an agreement with yourself, then keep it. Don’t make agreements you don’t intend to do every- thing you can to keep.

QUESTION

What agreements do you have with yourself right now? What does discipline look like in your life?