Building Discipline: A Former Navy SEAL Explains How to Do It!
Today we will discuss one of my favorite fables of all time as well as one of the best books I have read lately. What you will quickly see is that they both are both related to building discipline. The fable shows the results of building discipline and the book discusses some ways we can go about building discipline.
Let’s begin with the fable which comes from Aesop and is titled, “The Ant and the Grasshopper”, it goes like this:
“One bright day in late autumn a family of Ants were bustling about in the warm sunshine, drying out the grain they had stored up during the summer, when a starving Grasshopper, his fiddle under his arm, came up and humbly begged for a bite to eat.
“What!” cried the Ants in surprise, “haven’t you stored anything away for the winter? What in the world were you doing all last summer?”
“I didn’t have time to store up any food,” whined the Grasshopper; “I was so busy making music that before I knew it the summer was gone.”
The Ants shrugged their shoulders in disgust.
“Making music, were you?” they cried. “Very well; now dance!” And they turned their backs on the Grasshopper and went on with their work.” 1
Clearly the ants were disciplined during the summer storing food while the grasshopper led things slide.
Now for some insight on building discipline, let’s turn to former Navy SEAL Commander Jocko Willink, author of Discipline Equal Freedom, to see what advice he has for us in terms of building discipline.
There is No Easy Way Out
According to Willink, many of us are looking for the easy way out to get us to where we want to be.
However, conquering our goals and achieving our dreams will not happen by cutting corners or shortcuts or looking for the easy way out because…
…THERE IS NO EASY WAY!
As he says:
“There is only hard work, late nights, early mornings, practice, rehearsal, repetition, study, sweat, blood, toil, frustration, and discipline. DISCIPLINE…
Discipline: The root of all good qualities. The driver of daily execution. The core principle that overcomes laziness and lethargy and excuses. Discipline defeats the infinite excuses that say: Not today, not now, I need a rest, I will do it tomorrow. What’s the hack? How do you become stronger, smarter, faster, healthier? How do you become better? How do you achieve true freedom? There is only one way. THE WAY OF DISCIPLINE.” 1
On that note, let’s now explore some of Jocko’s most poignant thoughts on discipline and building discipline from his great book.
Where Does Discipline Originate?
Discipline comes from one place and one place only – inside of us, it comes from within. Of course, others such as parents or coaches or drill instructors can impose it on us but what’s true is that they won’t give us real discipline.
The reason being is that any discipline imposed by an external influence will not last, instead what we need is self-discipline.
Willink describes self-discipline as follows:
“Self-discipline, as the very term implies, comes from the SELF. YOU. It comes when you make a decision to be better. It comes when you make a decision to be disciplined. When you make a decision to be better. When you make a decision to do more, to BE more. Self-discipline comes when you decide to make a mark on the world.” 1
Building discipline is possible for all of us. If we don’t think we are disciplined, it is simply because we haven’t done it, created it or decided to do it…yet!
Here and Now!
Two words that are commonly associated with a lack of discipline are laziness and procrastination. You may have an idea in your head or something that you want to accomplish but just don’t know where or when to start.
The answer according to Willink is simple and is something that in my opinion is key to building discipline.
As he says, the answer to where and when to start is:
“HERE and NOW. That’s it. You want to improve? You want to get better? You want to get on a workout program or a clean diet or start a new business? You want to write a book or make a movie or build a house or a computer or an app? Where do you start? You start right HERE. When do you start? You start right NOW. You initiate action. You GO.” 1
Using Mind Control for Building Discipline
I really liked what Jocko said about the importance of mind control.
And when he says mind control, he isn’t talking about controlling the minds of other people. Rather, he is talking about how we control our own minds.
Of course, we are physical beings who need to control our physicality. But ultimately, we are our minds and we control them and the machine that they run. We just need to decide that WE are in control and that we are going to do whatever it is that we need to do.
He discusses some of the frequent questions that he is asked related to building discipline by offering simple answers:
“People ask me, “How do I get tougher?”
BE TOUGHER.
“How can I wake up early in the morning?”
WAKE UP EARLY.
“How can I work out consistently every day?”
WORK OUT CONSISTENTLY EVERY DAY.
“How can I stop eating sugar?”
STOP EATING SUGAR…
You have control over your mind. You just have to assert it.” 1
Remember, rather than letting our mind control us, the onus is on us to control our mind! Sometimes we overthink things and sometimes it is just better to not think and just do!
Using the Opposing Forces of Emotion and Logic for Building Discipline
Willink believes that in order to reach our maximum potential we need to use both emotion and logic to help push us beyond our limits.
At some point, both will reach their maximums and that is when we need to use the other one. In other words, when one fails, we need to switch to using the other one.
As he advises:
“When it just doesn’t make any logical sense to go on, that’s when you use your emotion, your anger, your frustration, your fear, to push further, to push you to say one thing: I don’t stop.
When your feelings are screaming that you have had enough, when you think you are going to break emotionally, override that emotion with concrete logic and willpower that says one thing: I don’t stop.” 1
So, with that being said, what are some actions we can take for building discipline?
I’m glad you asked because that is what we will cover next!
Building Discipline – The ‘How-To’
Building discipline is about doing the stuff you don’t want to do, but you know you need to do.
It’s about doing stuff like
Waking up early.
Working out every day.
Eating the right foods every day to fuel your body properly.
Having disciplined emotions to ensure you make the right decisions.
Treating other people as you want them to treat you.
Taking the hard route even when the easy route is calling you.
Not giving in to short-term gratification and desire
Willink sums up the application of building discipline as follows:
“Discipline calls for strength and fortitude and WILL. It won’t accept weakness. It won’t tolerate a breakdown in will. Discipline can seem like your worst enemy. But in reality, it is your best friend. It will take care of you like nothing else can. And it will put you on the path to strength and health and intelligence and happiness. And most important, discipline will put you on the path to freedom.” 1
Don’t Count on Motivation, Count on Discipline!
Many people talk about needing to be motivated to do stuff, but the fact of the matter is that you won’t always have the motivation to do what you need to do.
Therein lies the importance of building discipline as it will bail you out every time, as Jocko says:
“Don’t expect to be motivated every day to get out there and make things happen. You won’t be. Don’t count on motivation. Count on discipline.” 1
As we conclude this blog post, we all know that Jocko is going to be like the ants, so the question I have for you is…
Are you going to be like the grasshopper or are you going to be like the ants?
I can tell you which one I am going to be like and speaking of ants, I have some ants in my pants to hit the gym so I can continue building discipline!
Until next time, be like the ants and keep building discipline, and as always…PYMFP!
–Rick
Use it Or Lose It
Some of the concepts we discussed related to building discipline were:
There is no easy way out.
Use mind control for building discipline.
Use the opposing forces of emotion and logic for building discipline.
Doing the stuff you don’t want to do, but you know you need to do.
Don’t Count on Motivation, Count on Discipline!
When to Use It
Use these concepts and thoughts for building discipline in your life whenever necessary.
What Do You Think?
What do you think of the concepts above for building discipline? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!
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References
1 Discipline Equals Freedom by Jocko Willink
2 The Ant and the Grasshopper by Aesop
I agree that mindset is required for self- discipline to achieve our goals. I also think that if our parents modelled self discipline, it leaves a good example for us to model. Many athletes have had the encouragement and support of parents and coaches. This has inspired them to work hard and develop self discipline. Those who have not had disciplined role models often follow their example. However, again there are many exceptions.
Hi Eileen, You make a fantastic point about our parents modeling self-discipline (or not). I also think athletes just due to the fact that they need the self-discipline to excel at sports gets them into that habit – not all of them but definitely some of them. Best, Rick
Self discipline is important, but equating it to the Seals, at least to me, is way overkill. To me, self discipline simply means “”when something needs do be done, take care of it.” It has nothing to do with running 5 miles a day through mud. It has nothing to do with going to a gym and sweating your ass off until you lay on the floor gasping. Self discipline refers to doing the things you have to do, not taking on unrealistic tasks. Then you hire a contractor. Know your limitations.
Hey Dave, The reason I equated it to the SEALS is that they are extremely disciplined and a lot of it is a function of doing all the stuff every day, so the consistency builds the discipline muscle. In my opinion, doing that type of stuff does build discipline by doing it even if you don’t feel like doing it. Your example of not taking on unrealistic tasks is a great one, it is being disciplined enough to say no! Thanks for the great comment and have a fantastic weekend! Rick