So, there’s this exercise I do weekly.
I pick one virtue every week, study it and grow mindful of it.
Now, except in significant life-altering events, you can’t imbibe a virtue under one week.
But for this exercise, my goal is to build a consciousness. And if that’s all you can achieve, it’ll work wonders for you.
That week, the virtue was Discipline.
I listened to one of Jim Rohn’s audios about discipline on constant replay; so much so that I could mime it. Yeah! That’s how stars do.
After listening and reading on the subject, I learned two underrated secrets to a disciplined lifestyle.
First, let me say that discipline “is not as boring” as most people think. It can be boring. But not that boring.
If you’re disciplined, it means you’ve developed the uncanny ability to do what you say you will do at the time you want to do, however you feel at that moment. And you’ve learned to do this “most of the time” not “100% of the time”. You’re human.
This learned behaviour is perhaps the most transferable skill there is.
What I’m saying is, if you learn to act promptly or delay gratification when you need to, not just when you feel like it, you’ll have an unfair advantage over millions of your peers.
Now to the lessons…from US Navy Seals
In their training, there’s this period they call Hell Week.
Here’s how it goes: You wake up on a Sunday morning (to the sound of gunshots). You suit up (within seconds), rush out and begin a streak of nonstop exercise until Friday, with only 2-3 hours of sleep daily.
Hell Week tests physical endurance, mental toughness, pain and cold tolerance, teamwork, attitude, and your ability to perform under intense physical and mental stress, and sleep deprivation.
It’s the toughest training in the U.S. Military.
According to studies, Hell Week is where many talented SEALS fall off the hallowed list. It’s where you separate the top 5% from the top 20%.
Surviving Sunday and Monday is not a challenge.
Tuesday morning is where most people give up.
Why Tuesday? Why not Thursday?
You see, after waking up to gunshots on Sunday morning. You jump out of bed running around. Your senior commanders are barking fire and brimstone at you.
You’re doing at least 100 pushups daily, carrying logs of wood, scaling walls and holding your breath underwater for minutes. This continues all day into the night.
As the rest of the world lie still in their beds and warm duvets, you’re out there in the cold exercising, pumping your muscles and mind and getting booted for not finishing the 100th pushup.
On Monday, your muscles ache from the rigour of the previous day. But you have no choice.
The drills continue!
As millions of civilians take their morning tea and watch the news, you’ve lost track of time. Pain is all you know now. When night comes, the cycle repeats.
Then comes Tuesday morning. You’ve gone two full nights without sleep.
Your body has endured the biting cold, deep stress and all the unpleasantness. You’ve never been this tired in your whole life. Then you remember it’s only Tuesday. There’s still Tuesday night, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday morning and night.
That’s when you start to think, “My goodness! It’s only Tuesday and I feel this tired already. How am I going to get through till Friday?”
SEALs who think like this are more likely to quit.
Those who succeed are only concerned about the next task. They develop this minute-by-minute thinking.
They don’t worry about the next few days. They focused on each exercise, one at a time.
As much as being futuristic is great, it can be daunting to try to figure out everything at once.
Take it one step at a time; one day at a time.
You can apply this to many aspects of your life.
If you are undertaking an enormous project, take it one piece at a time. Studying a book? Take it one chapter or page at a time.
Sometimes it helps to intentionally scale back your vision and limit your focus to what matters now.
It helps you manage the overwhelming nature of your big goals.
If you do this, you’ll pay more attention to details.
Your ability to focus on the moment will give you the fortitude to handle the other parts.
Another Lesson…
Most of the disciplined people I studied do not view their daily tasks in isolation.
They see each progress as a door to the next thing.
Jim Rohn called it Visual Chain Thinking. A mental model where everything you do is a piece of the puzzle designed to fit into the next.
This kind of thinking helps you realise the impact of today’s decisions on future outcomes.
I’ll give you an example…
While writing calculation-based exams in secondary school, there are often questions that go “based on your answer in #1, find the volume of xxxxxx.”
I’m sure you catch my drift!
So, in answering those kinds of questions, you focus on the details because you know your answers will affect other outcomes.
If you get it wrong in the beginning, everything else will fall apart!
That’s how visual chain thinking works.
Reading a book today improves your chances of making wise, life-altering decisions in a certain area tomorrow.
Exercising regularly and eating healthy today sets you up for a sound mind and body. A sound mind and body enable you to perform at your best and push through life’s obstacles. You will win where others fail.
As an undergrad, you know that graduating with a first-class degree would qualify you for lots of scholarship opportunities that give you a better chance to negotiate your destiny, your income, your lifestyle, your choice of spouse and even when and where your children will be born. Therefore, you do what it takes to get it.
You know that getting your business records right could qualify you for some form of a grant or the other. Those grants could wave your business in the faces of important Venture Capitalists capable of funding you to Unicornhood. Therefore, you do the right thing today.
It’s safe to say that whatever you need to do today that you aren’t doing is already sabotaging your chances for a future win.
In essence, never waste the power of today!
Discipline is not a gift. It’s a learned behaviour.
Everyone can learn it. But not everyone will.
Hence your chance!
You’re asking, what must I do?
Start by thinking on paper. Write everything.
Learn to do what needs to be done now, no matter how small or insignificant. Emotions follow action. Hardly the other way around.
Think in decades but live daily. Stop thinking about Friday when you’re just in Tuesday. Focus on Tuesday!
Starve your distractions. The secret to a disciplined life is not about making the wrong things difficult, but about making the right things super easy.
Reward yourself for the small wins. Don’t say “Why reward myself for doing the right thing? After all, that’s what I’m supposed to do.” There’s a thin line between self-discipline and asceticism. Except you’re a monk, don’t cross it. (You can tweet that and tag me with @AngbuluStephen).
When choosing between discipline and unearned indulgence, always ask yourself, “Will this action lead me to where I want to go or will it lead me away from it?
Take fruits regularly and drink lots of water. Seriously!
What did you find helpful in this article? Let me know in the comments.
