4 Tiny Habits Of Ultra-Disciplined People
Become the orderly person you were meant to be all along.
Dean Drobot, siloto | Canva Do you find it hard to be disciplined? I did for years and still do. Here are the four things that refuel me when discipline is the last thing on my mind.
Here are 4 tiny habits of ultra-disciplined people:
1. Make the alternative painful
In Roman times, legionnaires developed chiseled, muscular bodies, not because Chad on Twitter told them to get ripped because of "girls and stuff," but because they knew they had to. It was either to face weakness and death in battle or humiliating punishment from their superiors. You will be disciplined when you drastically minimize your options like this. It’s do or bust.
How to make the alternative painful in the modern age?
- Pay an accountability partner money if you fail
- Make your progress public, so you avoid falling short when everyone’s watching
- Burn your ships — meaning you have no plan B or escape plan. You either succeed or face the pain of defeat
2. Forget ‘discipline’ altogether
Most discipline is hard because the concept is deathly tedious. Few want to be disciplined because the idea inherently suggests doing what you don’t want to do. But people want to do what they want to do. So mold your world so that the hard stuff — the stuff worth doing — becomes enjoyable. This means understanding that pain is fun if it’s leading to the right things — to magnificence. Embrace the sucky suck. Feel the beautiful warmth of your hands bleeding. Be screwed in the head. Turn heads because you’re the only person running outside with your shirt off when it’s raining.
Now, what was it Mike Tyson once said? Ah yes: “My definition of discipline is doing what you hate to do, but do it like you love it.”
3. Use aggression appropriately
Discipline is incredibly unappetizing to people who tread aimlessly on this Earth. This is why big softies want nothing to do with discipline and end up becoming softer. Leave that to them. You’re different because you frequently reach into your aggression reserves like a lost Prince fighting for something real.
- What’s real for you?
- What’s worth fighting for?
- Who’s worth fighting for?
That’s what aggression is made for. Use it to charge forward like you have a death wish. In this state, with this vision, ‘discipline’ won’t even be something that requires any force.
4. Think less and tap into the abyss
This is hard for overthinking types. But all the answers lie beneath all your should, could, maybe, and perhaps.
- Your thoughts know things
- Your innate Universal intelligence knows everything
It’s the stuff that points you to the truth when you feel it in your gut like a ping in a pinball machine. We’re all fortunate enough to be connected to our inner knowing, so stop blocking yourself off from that junk by thinking about everything. You know it’s a circus up there if you start grinding. If you feel nervous, you’re overthinking it. If you’re doubtful about your capabilities, you’re overthinking it. If you feel in any way less than capable, invigorated, and any less than a human exploring his zone of genius, you’re overthinking it.
You must develop the habit of using thoughts as a tool as needed but dropping your tightness around them as needed too. That’s when true creativity opens up. When you’re plugged into this kind of free-flowing intelligence, you won’t need discipline. You’ll just do it when it needs to be done. You’ll be who you were meant to be all along.
Alex Mathers is a writer and coach who helps you build a money-making personal brand with your knowledge and skills while staying mentally resilient.