What Does Discipline Really Mean in Life?

Think about it, What does discipline mean in life?

There must be a reason for the wide range of emotional responses one can witness by merely uttering the word DISCIPLINE. Does it conjure up unruly kids and a debate over spanking versus time-outs? Or are your thoughts drawn to a Marine Drill Sergeant barking orders and demanding compliance in every action taken by new recruits? Perhaps mental imagery of the katas performed by a martial arts practitioner enlightens you to the human ability of superb control over self. Your personal experiences and conceptualization of the different meanings of the word determine how well you will understand just how important discipline is in your quest for improving your chances of success.

Each of these scenarios utilizes a correct form of the word, and it is easy to become disoriented when you try to steer yourself through the maze of life. While penalizing someone for implementing order and obedience is an accurate definition of discipline, so too is discipline used to describe a particular field of study or interest. Beyond those meanings, there is also the connotation of self-control and restraint. Without context, understanding discipline becomes significantly difficult.

How Does Life Coaching Use Discipline?

In a historical setting, a disciple was one who followed the teachings of a religious leader or philosopher. The word is rooted in Latin and morphed from both French and English translations with the meaning, ‘to learn.’ For the purpose of life coaching services, discipline will always focus on the client ‘following’ a plan and ‘learning’ better habits. There is never punishment or an outside attempt at controlling your behavior. In fact, the objective of a growth mindset is to train yourself to develop healthy habits and manage your responses to external stimuli.

An understanding and trust develop for a life skills coach to work with you to achieve your goals successfully. One of the crucial foundations of the trust factor is accountability. The accountability agreement forged between a certified life coach and a client empowers the life coach to develop a plan based on the client’s unique goals.

Masters in life coaching know that performance is key to success. Once the strategy is established, the call to action is made. Nobody becomes an expert immediately, but perseverance and determination will gradually build into discipline.

Having an established code or plan removes excuses. You either do it, or you don’t. Discipline becomes the measure of accountability by creating habits and consistency. Healthy habits will soon turn into a routine and a way of life. Your actions become how you are defined, both to yourself and others. The power of discipline is in creating a plan and sticking with it as you achieve your desired results. 

Why is Discipline Important?

It might be an understatement to say that discipline is key to success. Whether it be a person, a business, a government, or any other organization, any effort is wasted without a plan and a willingness to follow that plan.

One of the steps in creating organizational culture is to instill discipline and focus on the organization’s core values. By doing so, a person or group can endure difficulties through hardships. Following a well-devised plan allows for anticipation of obstacles and premeditated solutions.

Discipline is measurable and adds to self-assurance when targets are met, or failures are encountered. Neither are a surprise, and both are learning experiences.

What is the Meaning of Discipline in your Life?

Anything meaningful in your life has a value that only you can determine. The effort you put into your well-being will often come down to your commitment to developing and following a plan. When you can instill order and consistency into your life, disruptive issues that used to be chaotic tend to fall in place naturally. You begin a journey towards stability, sustainability, and an improved lifestyle by organizing your thoughts, physical well-being, and actions. 

People who believe strictly in fate will not require discipline if they think their lives are pre-determined for success or failure. Those who believe their individual efforts make or break them will try harder.

Most people are not extremists regarding discipline, yet many lose their way when they give in to distractions and excuses caused by little or no motivation for improvement.

An ironic part of discipline is that to be free and autonomous; one must also be disciplined and adhere to regulations. Leaving the course of your life to chance will undoubtedly lead to regret and a future that is conditioned on your past problems that you never fully resolved.

By grasping the power to direct the course of your own life through healthy habits and routines, you will open your potential to find new sources of motivation and energy.

What happens without discipline?

Will you continue to work towards your goals at the times when it is least convenient to do so? Or conversely, even when you see positive changes and your motivational influences are in full swing, will you decide to pull back and resort to a lackluster effort?

The planning and development of any program begins with a commitment to discipline. Without it, the best plan in place fails in execution. Without the dedication to implement it and the continuity of practicing what you develop, you risk whiplash.

Not only will the gains you have achieved fade rapidly, but the stress of undisciplined thoughts can also inhibit you from correcting your reversal.

Irrational fears develop when one flounders in doubt. Without discipline, you fail to control how factors such as low self-esteem, distractions, and procrastination continue to preclude your future development. These detrimental characteristics will act as an anchor and weaken your ability to move forward in defining your true self. 

How can you start building discipline?

Simple routines can start you on your way to a disciplined life. Perhaps the first building block of a disciplined lifestyle is sleep. Sleep is often a weak link in the process of building discipline because it can be easy to ignore. Who hasn’t done an all-nighter when an important project is due? On the other hand, how often do people sacrifice sleep for enjoying a good time? While we can usually catch up on missed sleep, habitual double-ended candle burning will weaken the cornerstone of any good habits you want to develop.

An easy self-test for your power of commitment is to begin by setting consistent times of going to sleep and waking up that allow you the required time (usually 6-8 hours) for your body and mind to recuperate.

Eating healthier food options in proportions that accommodate your nutritional needs and sustainability is also essential. Eating at times that benefit your whole being can allow for multiple advantages. Choices you make about where you eat should be considered for an opportunity to relax your mind and body simultaneously while providing nourishment for physical growth.

Exercising is crucial in the development of discipline. Nothing can establish a healthy routine and challenge your fortitude like an exercise routine. Beginning is the most essential step. Work within your limits, but always try to challenge yourself to do more of something. The measurable results of exercise lie not only in strength and endurance but also in mindset and determination.

Replace old habits with new ones by utilizing the same amount of time you consider “wasted” on something you have always wanted to do. Remember that no one ever becomes an expert on their first try. Developing a new skill is exciting and stimulates growth both mentally and physically.

Practice being a good person every day. Simple habits of acknowledging people as you encounter them inspire reciprocal responses. Be the cause of the butterfly effect by being nice to someone. When people look for the worst in others, they will always find it. When you stop looking for things in other people and begin to share kindness from within yourself, you genuinely will feel better. Do it every day!

Each day is filled with tasks. If you habitually procrastinate by doing petty tasks before you tackle a difficult job, change it up. Challenge yourself to complete the most difficult obstacle you face. Whichever way your routine works successfully, do it; only do it better than you ever have before.

Distance yourself from electronic devices. Give yourself a break from television, mobile phones, tablets, etc. As convenient as they have become, modern technology is perhaps the most immeasurable distraction to a healthy mindset. Though some may think of it as a choice, it is more of an addiction to the stimuli of information overload. A disciplined mind can regulate how and when information is processed in the brain. Allowing an intrusion into your conscious and subconscious brain is detrimental to a healthy way of thinking.

Develop a healthy habit of thought or meditation. Bring to the forefront of your mind anything that genuinely concerns you and deliberately and intellectually contemplate it. Unleash the power of your ability to imagine. Just think!  

What are examples of discipline?

When it comes to self-discipline, creating your own parameters becomes a self-test of accountability. Can you set deadlines for yourself and keep them? Are you inclined to meal-prep for the coming week even if lunch is offered in the office? Do you control your impulse to purchase something even if you don’t need it just because there is a sale? These are just a few of the questions that can identify where you are on the self-discipline scale.

You can always start changing habits. First, you can find the time to develop new habits by identifying your routines that serve no purpose and provide no benefit. That eliminates the excuse that there is insufficient time and can motivate you to start.

Simple things that distract you from important life moments should be worked on first. Engage in conversation instead of checking scores or stock holdings. Turn off the phone while you are socializing with people.

For your physical health, go to the gym, run, or bike ride, even when the weather isn’t ideal.

For your cognitive growth, find time to read a book or research a place you have never been to before today. Make the time to do this regularly.

Anything you can develop as a plan to move you towards a better situation mentally, physically, and socially can develop into a healthy habit. Discipline is having the fortitude to follow that plan even when conditions do not make it easy to do.

What if I become too stressed to develop discipline in my life?

Suggesting a program promoting discipline to people who are experiencing disorder and stress in their lives can be daunting.

Stress drives you to believe that everything either must happen immediately or is happening at the same time, and you cannot control the dynamics of the situation. A disciplined mind and body accept that change can be gradual or rapid in development.

Regardless of the rate of progress, a balanced plan deliberately executed with diligence and discipline will afford you the perseverance to move forward or the self-reliance and emotional resilience to bring yourself back to where you need to be.

One misconception in creating a life plan is the belief that change requires an announcement or explanation. More accurately, if you begin to build on a way to develop your goals and follow through by taking consistent action towards achieving them, you can let the results do the talking.