Discipline is a choice, made again and again and again. I will never get to a point of “Now I have discipline” in the way that I can say “I have shoes”.
Discipline exists only in action. If there is no action there is no discipline.
Actions follow choices. Decisions. Do I run or not? Do I drink a Diet Coke or water? Do I say a kind, supportive word or does my ego run rampant and I say something to bolster my ego?
Choices come from clear intentions, based on strongly-held principles. Principles are usually general, vague. That’s the whole point of principles: they are not precise instructions like “turn left at the next corner after bringing your speed down to 12 mph”.
So how do you make clear choices from generalized principles? Be tough, for instance. What does that mean?
Applied to the question of “run or not” after a filling meal with my family, it means “run”. There isn’t a debate. A tough man treasures the time with his family. A tough man runs, hungry or fed.
Does a tough man choose Diet Coke or water? There is no debate necessary. A tough man always chooses better. Grab a bottle of water, not a can of Diet Coke.
Those little pivoting questions, decisions, choices create discipline. There are hundreds of them, every day. Saying I am disciplined is like saying my boat moving through the water has a wake.
Do you want your boat to have a wake? Keep the sails filled and keep your hand on the tiller, with your voyage charted. Tack if you must in order to reach your goal. Watch the sails. Nudge the rudder this way and that to stay on course. Adjust to the wind and the waves. But go.