I’m a fan of Jocko Willink, especially the idea he espouses that “Discipline equals freedom.”
In this context I’m not thinking about discipline as a form of punishment, reprisal, or consequence. It is more akin to self-control and personal mastery. It is the use of willpower to exert a sense of order onto the presence of chaos in our lives.
Here are just a couple of examples using some “if, then” scenarios:
- If I exercise daily, then I will have the freedom afforded by strength and flexibility.
- If I abstain from smoking, then I will be less likely to suffer from lung diseases.
- If I eat an appropriate diet, then I will have the energy my body needs to function.
- If I avoid sugar, then I can live free of diabetes, insulin resistance, and metabolic dysfunction.
- If I write every day, I will move towards my goal of writing a book.
- If I say no to frivolous spending, then I will have more resources in an emergency or crisis.
- If I stop mindlessly scrolling on my phone, then I have more free time to allocate to things that matter.
This is a simple dichotomy. If I am disciplined, I will have more freedom from adversity and more autonomy to act in accordance with my purpose. Just because it is simple doesn’t mean it will be easy… and like Jocko says… “good.” It’s alright that it’s hard, because when we do hard things, hard things get easier.
