Discipline, a love letter

Discipline, you warm my heart.

Discipline, to solve any problem with you I must start.

Discipline, you keep my aim true.

Discipline, I love you.

ChatGPT or original composition? The world may never know.

There are few, if any, areas of your life which can’t be improved by a bit more discipline. Small decisions of discipline compound in ways that are hard to fully appreciate in the moment they’re made. These decisions position you, consistently over time, toward much greater fulfillment and success.

I hear the groans already. Yeah, yeah the Marine is going to tell me I need to be more disciplined to solve all of my problems. Not true! But I am going to tell you that through discipline your life will get at least a bit better.

Whether you’re a Sales Leader, a leader within another domain, or simply eager to improve I promise you any avenue you seek for better performance will begin with (or at least pass through) the gateway of discipline.

Discipline matters to me, and should matter to you, for three reasons:

1. It is 100% in your control

2. It requires no talent, knowledge or experience

3. It will set you free

“You have power over your mind not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” - Marcus Aurelius

Discipline is 100% in your control

It is rare in life to have absolute control over anything. Luck, timing, circumstance often dictate outcomes. Not so with discipline. Discipline is between you and you alone.

While this can be an intimidating proposition it is also liberating. You don’t need to rely on another person to be more disciplined. This seems obvious, but to me has always been empowering. Knowing that I can wake up each day and, while I won’t be able to control many of the outcomes for different events in my life, I can control the discipline and effort I bring to the inputs.

I take comfort in the fact that I can control my own discipline, but little else. As I get older and focus more on disciplined execution of those inputs which are in my control it has made me more able to cope with the stress and anxiety which comes from being a leader held to output based targets which are often outside of your control. Stay disciplined, focus on high quality inputs. The rest is not up to you.

“Don’t prepare. Begin. Our enemy is not lack of preparation. The enemy is Resistance, our chattering brain producing excuses. Start before you are ready.” - Steven Pressfield

Discipline requires no talent or experience

Again, for me another liberating factor. There are many things in life where natural talent, knowledge or experience are required to be successful. Being disciplined isn’t one of them.

At its core this means that there are no barriers to entry to be more disciplined. The value here is that discipline can be accessed by any person at any time as a means of improving their position. An improved position doesn’t mean that you’ll be a billionaire tomorrow who never has to work again (not really that admirable of an outcome) but it does mean that you’ve better positioned yourself to win in the future.

These “small wins of discipline” compound over time to add up to results which are hard to comprehend today. Charlie Munger once said, “Opportunity comes to the prepared mind”. I think it’s fair to say Charlie would agree with a slight tweak to that comment which says, “Opportunity comes to the disciplined individual.”

“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.” - Steven Pressfield

Discipline will set you free

The above quotes is from one of my favorite authors (a Marine himself) Steven Pressfield. Pressfield is famous for his novels of historical fiction about the ancient world. I remember laying on a cot reading Warrior Ethos by headlamp in the Mojave desert or The Virtues of War as I watched the sunset over the poppy fields of Southern Afghanistan learning about Alexander the Great as I fought in a war of my own.

While themes of discipline resonate across many of Pressfield’s novels it is his non-fiction work that is most relevant to the topic of discipline. Specifically, The War of Art and Do the Work. In each of these books Pressfield talks about discipline and consistency as ways to defeat “Resistance” which he claims is your ego holding you back from the life you are meant to live.

What I realized when reading Pressfield, and also when I thought of discipline more broadly, is that many people feel confined or restrained by discipline. For me, it is the opposite. Think about the last time you had a list of chores which needed to be done: mow the lawn, go grocery shopping, do the dishes, workout. If you sit down to watch TV or read a book before doing that work your experience of “leisure” won’t be enjoyable. In fact, the unfinished items on your to do list will most certainly nag at you and remove any joy you would otherwise have received from the “leisure” activity of your choosing.

The same is true within a sales or a leadership context. If there is something you need to start, make progress on, or get done DON’T WAIT. Do it now. Start immediately. The unseen, but very real, pressure you feel in your mind which seems to act as a barrier to doing the work which you know you need to do is the Resistance that Pressfield writes about. The only way to defeat this resistance is with discipline and action.

What is that idea that you’ve always nurtured, that thing which you would pursue if not for money or fear, Resistance lives between you and this goal. Discipline and action are the ways to destroy this Resistance.

“I only write when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes at nine every morning.” - William Faulkner

Discipline as a system

While it’s debatable whether or not Faulkner actually said the above quote, it is not debatable that the wisdom of the quote rings true. Hopefully by this point in the post I’ve convinced you of the value of discipline, but now comes the hard part. How can you, I, or anyone else be more disciplined?

For me it is most valuable to think of discipline as living within a system. This system is largely governed by your routines. Discipline, then, is in your adherence to these routines.

As you develop your system of discipline I like to use the following framework.

• Output target

• Input(s) to track

• Schedule of each input

For example let’s say you have a goal to run a marathon in September this year. Your “system of discipline” might look something like this.

Output target:

• Run marathon on 14 September 2023

Inputs to track:

• Weekly mileage - start at 20 miles / week and increase 10% each week

• Diet - meat, nuts, vegetables, single source carbohydrates (rice, sweet potatoes, etc.) only

Schedule of each input:

• Monday - run from 6am-7am

• Tuesday - yoga from 7pm-7:45pm

• Wednesday - rest

• Thursday - run from 6am-7:30am

• Friday - strength work from 6am-7am

• Saturday - run from 8am-11am

• Sunday - meal prep for following week 12pm-4pm

Within a sales context you can get even more granular. Your calendar should be blocked for at least 50% of your day with non-internal meeting time to focus on inputs which you can control that are correlated to your ability to hit target (prospecting, cold calls, meeting preparation, etc.).

The main point is you cannot be disciplined if you run at life in a haphazard manner. First set out a schedule using the “system of discipline” framework, then adhere to that schedule maniacally. That’s discipline in practice.

Discipline mantra

You need a discipline mantra. Alright bear with me here as this might seem silly, but practically speaking might be the most valuable piece of this post if you’re interested in leading a more disciplined life.

A discipline mantra is something you say to yourself whenever you’re confronted with a decision that has a more disciplined and less disciplined option. Ideally your discipline mantra is something that’s short, has meaning to you, and brings a smile to your face.

Mine is, “Sisyphus grinned”. The rationale behind that mantra might be worth an entire post, but to me it means being able to smile amidst the most mundane of life’s, “small wins of discipline”.

Come up with a discipline mantra this week and when you’re faced with a decision which has a more disciplined (make that Cold Call, get out of bed) or less disciplined (pick up your phone to check Twitter, hit the snooze button) choice, say your discipline mantra. Smile. Choose the disciplined path. Get to work.

See ya’ll next week.