It’s not discipline; it’s simply being smart about what we really want and being intelligent about how to really love and take care of ourselves. It’s not denying yourself; it’s investing for a greater future reward. It’s not pain; it’s simply postponed pleasure.
How long is your decision time frame? Are you slaved to immediate gratification? Do you allow your immediate emotional states to run mad? Do the “hot states” of the moment control your actions? OR does your life have a principled purpose, a deeper meaning? Do you wish to contribute, to make a difference, to make the world a better place and yourself a better person?
Even if your life’s objectives are basically egocentric, taking the long view is simply smart. When you have goals and plan to achieve those goals and you focus your energies forward on the necessary action steps the allure of short term satisfaction fades. When you visualize your success and work at it and begin to see yourself as the kind of focused, on task, goal oriented person that is capable of achievement, anything that does not contribute to your mission(s) will lose its pull.
As you progress, the draw of any distraction diminishes. You’ve worked so hard, invested so much of yourself (to get fit, to get certified, to get promoted, to grow spiritually, to improve your EQ) that anything that would sabotage, that would undermine, that would tarnish your progress is verboten. Things that used to tempt you no longer warrant a second glance. You’ve moved beyond, your eye is fixed upon a mountain top. It’s not discipline, it’s just being good to yourself and choosing better. It’s mature desire, desire created by your mind and spirit intently focusing so much of your energy on a goal that any lagging emotions have no choice but to join in and get fully on board. It’s the joy of flow.
As always, I share what I most want/need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier