“The Paradox of Personal Discipline”

My friend and life coach, Dr. Tom Hill, taught me the power of this simple phrase: “Personal discipline leads to personal freedom.”

It was about 10 years ago when he encouraged me with these words, and I had no idea then what an impact they would have on my life.

It almost seemed contradictory. At the time, I thought of personal discipline as a rigid, inflexible and pretty boring approach to life. I didn’t want my life to be like that. I was already feeling stuck, and had no passion for my work. Every day felt like another day in the hamster wheel. I wanted a change, but I did not want more discipline and rules.

Dr. Hill continued to share this concept with me as he coached me and encouraged me to define my priorities, set goals and create a plan for action. I began to change. I began to grow. I soon became hooked on this idea of creating a plan for my life. Heck, I was an engineer, so making a plan was something I knew I could do. It was exciting to realize that I could actually plan a new version of my life!

Personal freedom instantly sounded great. I wanted to be free. I wanted to break out of my routine that left me dragging and find a new path.

An analogy to personal discipline is staying in your lane and within the guard rails when driving on a fast, curvy road. By staying in your lane, you are more likely to arrive at your destination with you, your passengers, and your car unharmed. By staying in your lane, you can drive fast and enjoy the journey. By staying in your lane, you won’t hurt other people. Of course, there are always things that can happen that are out of your control, like having a blowout, getting hit by another car, or being struck by lightning. Unlikely, but possible.

Staying in your lane is putting the odds in your favor for a desirable outcome, and is the result of personal discipline.

Personal discipline, maintained over time, leads to personal freedom.

Personal freedom from what, you may ask? Personal freedom from:

Illness
Injury
Debt
Worry
Regret
Shame
Boredom
Depression
Loneliness
Living a life without passion
And more!

Below is a list of areas in life where some people lack personal discipline, along with a few specific suggestions that have worked well for me. These may not all apply to you, but they’ve definitely helped me improve my life and set me up for more personal freedom.

Spirituality

Join a church, if you don’t already belong to one.
Get involved at church, and be a regular volunteer.
Join a church small group or life group.

Nutrition

Eat whole foods whenever possible.
Drink water all day long.
Intentionally practice the habit of eating slowly and enjoy meal time.

Exercise

Run or walk, even when you don’t feel like it.
Schedule regular big fitness events. For me, these are half marathons. My wife and I do these together and enjoy the challenge of training.
Hire a personal trainer. My wife and I go to the gym every Monday morning for a weight-lifting session. This is tough, but worth the sacrifice in time, money, and energy.

Relationships

Be nice, instead of being right.
Send hand written notes to people you love.
Spend at least 30 minutes every day, focused on and engaging with your spouse.

At Work

When at work, work. When not at work, don’t work.
Arrive early at the office in the morning and early for all meetings.
In whatever you do in your profession, get just a little better every day.

Financial

Spend less money than you make.
Have a plan to pay off debt.
Be generous to other people.

If you lack discipline in any of these areas, you may want to set goals for improving. Grab your journal and be honest with yourself. Write down goals for improvement, implement them, and watch your personal freedom soar.

By the way, I try not to compare myself to others, only to myself. My goal is to continue to improve as a person. I know I am not as good as I am going to be, but hopefully I am a lot better than I used to be.

Cheers to a life of personal freedom!

Coach Brett Blair