All of us are conditioned to think that discipline takes away our freedom, but the truth is that discipline brings and gives us freedom. Having discipline in life allows you to have more control and do the things you want to do, now the question is how? It is pretty simple when you start to make a schedule of the things you want to do in a day (a to-do list) you’re giving importance to the things you want to prioritize, once you do that it will be seen that you have more time. Now you could use that time for your self-improvement or just to relax. Let’s look at things that can be done to make a good schedule or to develop discipline:
Let’s look at things that can be done to make a good schedule or to develop discipline:
- Set big goals.
When you challenge yourself to achieve bigger goals, you dedicate yourself to the craft. The more time you spend on it, the harder it becomes to quit. Once you have spent so much sweat, time, and effort on it, if you quit, it will be for nothing. The bigger the goal, the more invested you become. - Set clear goals.
Clearly define what your goal means to you and what you will specifically do to achieve it. - Know that every day matters.
When you wake up in the morning, do you know what’s most important for you to accomplish that day? Every goal, every priority, you have set for yourself has to be done—it will determine whether your dream lives or dies
For example- Athletes know if they skip even one training session, they are already behind; they know they will lose a competition that is still three months away if they don’t do what they said they would if they don’t follow through with their plan—if they aren’t disciplined.
- Don’t argue with the plan.
Again, let’s taken an example, if you want to go to the Olympics, each training session matters; there isn’t one that’s less important than another. It’s the same with everything else in your life. When you start the process, you cannot question it, you cannot hesitate, you cannot back down—you must work hard every single day to reach your dream, full force. In short, consistency is very important to attain discipline and freedom at the same time. - Find pleasure in the hard work.
Shift your focus to the process and concentrate on getting the work done faster and better every time. Speed is important; you must move quickly to achieve perfection in a set amount of time.
So many people quit too early. Success is all about persistence, and discipline is what gets you to your destination—the realization of your dream. The more you learn about your craft and your capabilities, when you start seeing yourself improve, the results will make you hungry for more. Self-improvement is an amazing drug.
- Resist the brain.
All people are lazy, even the most successful business people, the most accomplished athletes, and the most talented actors. But it’s not simply laziness—it’s your brain saving energy for you. Any movement takes energy, and the brain is doing everything to stop you from moving by sending body signals about how hard it is to move and thoughts about how scary it would be if you fail. But you can trick your brain: Imagine your body is a beautiful machine and you are operating it as a higher force from above. Separate yourself from your body. Play it as a computer game. You are the one who commands your body to accomplish tasks. You should know that to achieve discipline and freedom taking these steps is very necessary.
Freedom is what everyone wants — to be able to act and live with freedom. But the only way to get to a place of freedom is through discipline. If you want financial freedom, you must have financial discipline. … Discipline equals freedom applies to every aspect of life: if you want more freedom, get more discipline.
What is the concept of freedom and discipline?
Freedom means being able to choose what is good for oneself. Discipline is the inner awareness and control over one’s reconciliation between one’s own needs and the environment’s needs. … Without discipline, a person is ultimately unable to do what he wants.
In summary, having discipline is very important, it teaches you time management which is something very important to have freedom of time. Also, when you follow a disciplined schedule of the prioritized things, you have the freedom to do what you like.
If you’re free and have no discipline you do less productive things whereas having discipline doesn’t only help with time management but improving yourself and hence you get the freedom to do what you like.
Jocko Willink once said, “discipline equals freedom”.
By – Ishaanya T Bhargava
10-B