Is it truly Discipline you don't have??
Are you answering "I don't have discipline" when prompted about your inability to create change?
Have you ever heard of the saying,
“How you do one thing is how you do everything”?
I think the first time I’ve heard this was in the movie Lone Survivor with Mark Wahlberg; A story about a Navy SEAL team that was decimated by the enemy leaving behind one SEAL alive.
It’s a quote that gets a of attention from online Fitness Gurus and Trainers. The premise of the quote is basic, you get what you put in and you’re the same person no matter the task or objective.
This quote is an easy rebuttal for me. Having worked with hundreds of people in-person and online in the past few years, this quote is far from the truth.
I’ve worked with dudes making nearly a Million a year who are 150lbs overweight. Guys who are a savage in the gym but can’t communicate effectively in the home.
How we do one thing is far from how we do everything.
Spending time in conversations with others daily, often the question is asked-
Me: “What is your biggest struggle with keeping weight off”?
Them: “I don’t have any discipline”. OR “I cannot be consistent”.
It is truly normal to have these thoughts. At a certain level, they have truth to them. But to say you ‘cannot be consistent’ or ‘don’t have any discipline’ is lying to you and selling yourself short.
You’re consistent in showing up to work for a paycheck daily.
You're disciplined in showing up for guys’ night every Friday night.
You’re consistent in making sure your kids are well-fed.
You’re disciplined to fix your fantasy football depth chart.
See, the thing is it isn’t a consistency or discipline issue.
It’s an aim and a definite purpose issue when it comes to your health.
When you have a definite purpose, aim comes naturally.
What is it about taking charge of your health that allows you to drift from being consistent?
Is it because you’ve tried and been defeated so many times before?
Is it because you’ve grown to choose comfort and leisure over a few moments of resistance and pain?
Is it because you lack the understanding of the values this better version of yourself has and an understanding of how to achieve them?
Because there’s no tie of your purpose to the struggle of the attempted work you’ve tried to put in before.
You have the discipline to show up and do the things that bring comfort to your life, but it is lacking when the choice to choose a moment of discomfort now for a moment of peace later.
There’s no definite purpose to improving your health, so when the opportunity to skip out on the uncomfortable is made available nothing is tying you to staying consistent, disciplined, and committed to the improvement of your health.
So what is it that draws you to the desire to improve your health?
Family? Kids? A Relationship? A Job Promotion? Being able to see your toes? Getting your doctor off your back about Statins or Insulin?
When you have an understanding of what is drawing this desire, we can start game planning a set of values and a course of action to take.
What are the values this better version of yourself holds that you may be lacking?
Integrity? Ambition? Self-Control? Respect? Love? Harmony? Happiness?
On a scale of 1-10, where do you stand with this value currently in terms of your health?
What are 3 actions we can start to take today, that will raise us closer to a 10?
What are some foreseen barriers that will come up in attempting these actions that you can plan a detour for?
Once you take some time to understand these aspects, being disciplined and consistent with improving your health will come. It’s doing the work to lay the foundation NOW to keep you on track.