Forget motivation, Discipline is the key

wsupbrah
wsupbrah Posts: 12 Member
edited November 23 in Motivation and Support
Found this on the /loseit Reddit. Has me focusing on different things this time around.

"Don't rely on motivation for anything. It is fleeting and unreliable. Discipline, however, is unyielding. Force yourself to follow through. Things are going to come up in life that get in the way of your goals but that's no reason to let them stop you completely.

Can't do a whole run? Do half of one. Don't have time to go to the gym to lift? Do pushups. Any action is better than inaction. Don't like the food you need to eat to meet your goals? Tough *kitten*. A little discomfort is worth the change, and at the end of it you'll have a mind as tough as your body."

https://www.reddit.com/r/GetMotivated/comments/3h76yq/text_dont_rely_on_motivation_for_anything_it_is/
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Replies

  • MrsSylvie
    MrsSylvie Posts: 301 Member
    reminds me of a drill sergeant!.,

    i do have self-control in my diet/eating goals, but my discipline is sure lacking in the fitness department!!
    great quote/saying, it IS actually motivating :)
  • wsupbrah
    wsupbrah Posts: 12 Member
    SylvieKuchma wrote: »
    i do have self-control in my diet/eating goals, but my discipline is sure lacking in the fitness department!!

    My biggest problem in the past has been fleeting motivation, and literally zero self-control. The discipline nuance seems to be working so far!
  • LadyMcClure
    LadyMcClure Posts: 42 Member
    This quote is PERFECT! I used to obsess over finding my "thinspiration" and my working out/dieting would last about 2 weeks and then fail epically. Now I do things I don't want to do just because I know I need to do it and, lo and behold, I always feel better for doing them. That's it. Today, I really didn't want to go for my walk/jog but I did it anyway and now I feel super accomplished. Discipline makes me feel better than motivation ever did!
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    I really hate the word "discipline", but I'm on board with the idea if we can talk about "habit" instead.
  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
    Yes yes yes! I tell people this every day. If I had relied on my motivation, I wouldn't have gotten very far!
  • wsupbrah
    wsupbrah Posts: 12 Member
    I'm still new to this, but so happy to hear "discipline" (or "habit") is working for you!
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  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,235 Member
    I totally agree. Motivation is fleeting and fickle. I'm not motivated to do the dishes, mop the floors or scoop the kitty litter, but I do it because I don't want to live in a substandard house. I apply the same logic to my body.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    Yup; I kind of feel like "fake it til you make it" applies as well. Drag yourself through the motions of the changes you need to make. After time, they become habit, habits lead to consistency, consistency leads to results, results lead to elation and motivation.
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  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,990 Member
    I believe it's a balance of both. One can have great motivation, but lousy discipline and while one can have good discipline, having no motivation can also result in going through the motions.
    A good example is a walking mailman. He's disciplined to do the same route everyday, however not because he really wants to. Continued discipline with no motivation to be faster or better will just lead to the body adapting to the physical movement and no further improvement happens. But if for some reason he wants to do the route faster and keep trying to reduce the time he finishes it, then physical improvement can happen.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    SethOrNone wrote: »
    I'm still new to this, but so happy to hear "discipline" (or "habit") is working for you!

    :) It totally does :) A handful of basic rules kept me going through times when my motivation wasn't the best.

    Some other non-discipline-related ways of putting it: "Motion before emotion" and "Action, not reaction"
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    Love this perspective because it agrees with my own outlook. Call it discipline, habit, consistency, whatever, just do it! If I waited to be motivated, I would still weigh 300 pounds and unable up walk upy own driveway. You need to decide what you want, make a commitment, the do it consistently. "Discipline leads to motivation. "
  • coco_bee
    coco_bee Posts: 173 Member
    Omg how many times have I waited for the motivation, how many years, how much money I've wasted on gym memberships, I need to kick my own *kitten* w discipline! Appreciate ur post thankyou I need this.
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    lorrpb wrote: »
    Love this perspective because it agrees with my own outlook. Call it discipline, habit, consistency, whatever, just do it! If I waited to be motivated, I would still weigh 300 pounds and unable up walk upy own driveway. You need to decide what you want, make a commitment, the do it consistently. "Discipline leads to motivation. "

    Yeah - it is also, interestingly, a relief to take emotion (and motivation) out of it (or so I've found).

    Same thing with other aspects of all this - weighing yourself, going over on calories - treating it like a process vs. something you need to feel any particular way about it makes it so much easier.

    (I have not been able to 100% apply this principle to all life domains, though - it's weird that it's no problem with weight management)
  • jbirdy76
    jbirdy76 Posts: 161 Member
    Any action is better than inaction! So important when we are just starting!
  • tealady55
    tealady55 Posts: 1 Member
    Connect your physical activity with a trigger, like your alarm clock. When the alarm rings, do your workout. It is going to ring every day and it won't matter if you're motivated. Develop the habit/discipline to do your workout when that trigger occurs.
  • UprightMan
    UprightMan Posts: 13 Member
    Who has a problem with the word "discipline"? Why?
  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
    This is very good, yeah.
    From a not-really-related blog post I saw today, but it can apply:
    Paul Graham once told the founders of Airbnb:
    “You guys won’t die, you’re like cockroaches.”

    You’ll probably want to quit learning how to code at some point. Like anything worthwhile, it’s difficult and will make you feel stupid at times. ... stop worrying so much about whether you’re making progress or how much longer it’ll be until you feel like you’ve “made it.” All you have to do is focus on showing up .... Be as mindless as a cockroach about everything else, and don’t “die.”
    source:
    http://gizmodo.com/how-do-you-learn-to-code-1714925538

    Motivation is for initial habit-planning. It's a top-level thing to do. The day-day-day grind of action is about discipline. Frankly, the more mindless, the better. If you think too much and second-guess yourself while doing, you're likely to quit, because the doing is/can be boring and painful. The only thinking that should come into play while doing is how to improve your habits/systems.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    People spend ages trying to say its nothing to do with motivation its X or Y or Z.

    The definition for motivation is
    Internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed to a job, role or subject, or to make an effort to attain a goal.

    So whatever you choose to do you are motivated to do so. Even if you go to the gym when you think you dont want to, then you eventually go becayse the reasons for not going outweigh your desire to do something else. The very fact you do it shows you are motivated enough to do so. If a person wasnt motivated at some level then you simply wouldnt do it.
  • Lehgo2015
    Lehgo2015 Posts: 2 Member
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    I totally agree. Motivation is fleeting and fickle. I'm not motivated to do the dishes, mop the floors or scoop the kitty litter, but I do it because I don't want to live in a substandard house. I apply the same logic to my body.

    Great view!
  • Soopatt
    Soopatt Posts: 563 Member
    Motivation sounds like you need to like it ALL THE TIME, as though you are supposed to be going through life whooping with joy and air punching. The concept has always irritated me, the same way people telling me to smile when I am content and neutral irritates me. Maybe I am too English that way - too much enthusiasm makes me uncomfortable.

    Puppies and children at the zoo are enthusiastic.

    I am at my best when I am calm, thoughtful and going about my routine in a mindful and content way, not hyped up like the energizer bunny.

    My diary has now become a discipline, where it started as a chore. It is now a neutral task which I add to my life in the same way as having a bath or brushing my hair.

    Exercise is not yet neutral. It is still charged and I still have to talk myself into it every day (think "just do it lazy bum, its no big deal" instead of "You are the greatest! You can do ANYTHING! you are worth it! yay!"). Getting there though.
  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
    Soopatt wrote: »
    Exercise is not yet neutral. It is still charged and I still have to talk myself into it every day (think "just do it lazy bum, its no big deal" instead of "You are the greatest! You can do ANYTHING! you are worth it! yay!"). Getting there though.
    Mega-like your whole post.

    I've had a couple people in my friends list who do that super-energy-positive-hyperbole thing and I think (before I drop them from my feed), "Dude, you're gonna crash and burn hard with that crap. That's why you've yo-yo'd through your entire adult life instead of just _fixing the problem_."
  • tomatoey
    tomatoey Posts: 5,446 Member
    UprightMan wrote: »
    Who has a problem with the word "discipline"? Why?

    Me. Catholic school.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    I like commitment.

    Discipline is harsh sounding and inflexible, to me.
    Motivation is too much of a short lived rush, to me.

    Commitment means I will do it.

    Just my interpretation.

    Cheers, h.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    To be commited and carry it through you have to be motivated though.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    999tigger, Yes, in general you do have to be motivated. But to me that is often a short lived thing.
    One could say the same about dicipline too, you may need it to carry out the commitment.

    My motivation and dicipline quite often go wildly astray, but my commitment to a goal usually only strays if the parameters have had to change.

    They are all interwoven & interrelated.

    I just like commitment, it suits me the best, especially as I can lose the other 2.

    Cheers, h.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    There has to be a specific realistic plan and a way to measure progress.
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
    I will not eat food I don't like to meet my goals!
    Other than that, I agree with the quote.
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