Ascend Beyond Average

Ah, discipline. The word that men would like to embody; the word women romanticize. People think that discipline is this magical trait that would fix all their problems – no more obesity, laziness, excuses . . . just pure action. And well, while they might not be entirely correct, one thing’s for certain: discipline would undoubtedly make their lives easier. It’d make them more fulfilled, their lives more meaningful. 

But how can you, or anyone else, go from being an undisciplined person to a disciplined one? Is it even possible? It absolutely is. See, some people think that discipline is this thing you’re either born with or you’re not. If you’re one of the few individuals who have it, you’re just lucky. Despite many people thinking this way, it couldn’t be farther from the truth. 

And what better example to disprove this than the guy himself – the man, the myth, the legend – David Goggins! If you’re not familiar with who Goggins is . . . well, there’s so much that can be said about this man. Summarized, though, he went from being an obese, lazy and unambitious man constantly living in past trauma to being a US Navy Seal – known as one of the hardest and toughest men to ever live. He’s completed many ultra-runs, set the past world record for most pullups done in 24 hours, and pushed himself beyond limits in countless ways. All with a broken body. 

He’s seen by many, including myself, as the embodiment of discipline. But if he could make it, why not you? In his books, which I’d absolutely recommend, he’s laid out his methods to achieve such a high level of discipline. I’ll share with you the three I think are the most important – and how you can directly implement them into your life. 

#1 HAVE A STRONG “WHY”

“He who has a ‘why’ to live for can bear almost any ‘how’.” – Nietzsche. 

You need a reason for which to live. Some purpose or goal that gives meaning to your day. If you don’t have anything that brings you fulfillment, any reason to take action, then why would you? If all’s well, why go through hell? What people don’t get about discipline, is that it’s not just a trait that is useful by itself. In fact, it is impossible to have discipline unless you have somewhere to put the discipline. And that’s why you need a goal to progress towards, a reason to live. Let me give you a clear example that illustrates what I mean. 

Suppose you have two women who want to lose weight. One wants to lose weight to just “be healthier and more beautiful”, whilst the other has to lose weight because that’s the only way she can save her sick, dying son (by donating blood). Who do you think will find the discipline to lose weight regardless of whatever might come in her way? The latter. Why? Because she has a reason. She has a strong why, meaning she can bear almost any how. 

Young Goggins also had a strong why – he was done being weak, fragile, lazy, obese and haunted by past trauma. He wanted to be respected, not only by others, but by himself. He wanted that sweet taste of success – he wanted to be someone. This genuine, inner purpose drove him to action every single day – and in weak moments, he’d remember his why and continue grinding. 

Truth is, without reasons or goals, there’s just no way to build discipline. They are mandatory. So, pull out a pen and a paper, and write down your goals. Write down why you want to achieve them and make the reasons personal. Connect to them. Don’t be vague – be specific . . . why, really, do you want to achieve that specific goal? 

Once you’ve identified your goals and your reasons, you can move on. However, you’ll find that it’s not as easy to just get up and get after it day after day. And that brings us to our next points – Goggins’ second step:

#2 ACHIVE MENTAL CLARITY

“Oddly, with discipline, structure, and order, you will find freedom, anything is possible. Without it, locating your saddle may take all morning.” – Hawke. 

Discipline is non-existent without structure. It is as simple as that. If you don’t have structure and order in your life, you don’t have discipline. And this holds especially true when it comes to the mind itself. Without mental clarity, it’ll be hard to achieve anything. 

To illustrate, say you’re looking for a book in your room. You’re trying to find it, but you can’t. Problem is, your room is full of mess. There are countless things that shouldn’t be there, books, items, bags, toys, clothes, everything is just scattered around in complete chaos. You’re not able to find what you’re looking for, because everything is chaotic. 

Now, replace the room with your mind, and the item you’re looking for with a certain behavior you’d like to make a habit. Let’s say you want to start exercising, but you just don’t have the discipline to. Why do you lack the discipline? Because your mind is all stuffed with random, nonsense information you don’t need. You can’t think or act clearly, because a thousand different thoughts are storming through your brain every minute, and it stresses you out. With such a chaotic mind, how do you expect to find clarity, discipline and structure in your life? You can’t. 

There’s a reason why Goggins meditates every day. He knows that without the mental clarity, his discipline is nonexistent. If he needs meditation, trust me, you probably need it as well. And that’s not the only way to mental clarity. You could also start journaling and reviewing your day every evening, setting aside quiet time for yourself. In that time, you just reflect. You don’t stress or think about stuff, you recover. Know that this recovery is what’ll make you into the man or woman you want to become. This is what will build your discipline. 

Decide right now, what will you start doing every day to achieve mental clarity? 

#3 ACCEPT THE SUCK

The biggest misunderstanding people have about discipline is that they think it’s supposed to be easy. They seem to believe that once they have discipline, they’ll always be motivated, easily able to do all the hard work they must do. But that is just not the way it is. Goggins runs, yet he doesn’t always want to. Athletes follow a specific diet, yet they don’t always want to. Why then do they do it? Because they know that “suffering” is a part of the process. 

They simply accept the suck. Because at the end of the day, their ultimate goal is worth more than the suffering it’ll take to achieve it. And so they choose to accept the harsh reality that’ll they have to live to achieve their desired goals. The pain that’ll come from not achieving the goal is worse than the pain of the discipline it’ll take to get there. 

This is the mindset you need. Accept that it’ll be hard, but worth it. Reflect on it, think about it, journal on it. I’d give you some practical steps, but there just aren’t any I can think of now. The truth is simply that you must accept this reality internally – yes, it’ll take time, but it is a hundred percent worth it. 

Because once you’ve developed the skill of discipline – once you’ve got your goals and vision sorted out, and a plan to achieve it, life will be that much more fulfilling and meaningful. You’ll wake up determined, ready to conquer the day and make a name for yourself out there. And one day, once you’ve arrived (if you ever do), you’ll look back at the journey with pride and happiness. “It was all worth it”, you’ll say. Have this vision in mind, and whenever things get hard and you want to give up, dig within yourself. Find that inner motivation. Remember your “why”. 

Why are you doing this?