Why Discipline Always Wins

My girlfriend is a terrorist’s dream.   A weird start to an athletic post for sure.  She thought I was crazy the first time I said it, but I meant it truly as a compliment.  Years ago, I heard the David Goggins quote “my discipline beats your motivation every day” or something similar to that.  I had to think about it, and it seemed like a contradiction as so much of his persona is motivation for many.  I get it.  We spend so much time looking for motivation when in reality what we need is discipline.  Motivation is a great tool, but it can be fleeting if it leaves you and you do not have a foundation of discipline, you are done.  Those that understand this allow motivation to morph into discipline.  They are almost obsessive about it and after a while, motivation is not what drives them.  It is the focus on being disciplined that does it. 

I learned about the discipline obsession early on as a US Marine where I served for 30 plus years.  People often wonder why we prioritize discipline so much, thinking it has something to do with conformity or control.  Not actually true. It is obsessive in the Marine Corps but absolutely vital to mission success.  If you have ever been shot at before you realize that a human being does not want to keep moving forward.  A human being wants to hide and get away from danger.  Marines though keep moving towards danger.  Discipline is a large part of this.  It is almost unthinkable to not go forward, as we practiced it over and over until it became our ethos.  To be sure, the shared brotherhood and organizational culture were a huge part of this.  No Marine will ever let another down is pounded into your head every day.  Discipline though was always the foundation.  Discipline made you wear your protective gear, even when blazing hot.  Discipline made you clean your weapons and gear so that there was no chance of it failing you.  Discipline made you walk the lines when it was the middle of the night.  It is easier to stay in your sleeping bag I assure you.  We did these things every day without fail, knowing one day that it might save our lives, and it did.

So, when I say “my girlfriend is a terrorists dream” it is the ultimate compliment.  She never misses a day and never lets excuses drive her off course.  Terrorists love routine, as it can be exploited, hence my comment.   Her routine is a road map to success, and I have learned a lot simply by following her in this regard.  I have always been disciplined as well, thank you college swimming and the United States Marine Corps.  However, her adherence to a lifestyle of positive habits far exceeded my own in many ways when it comes to running.  This does not mean that we don’t have days off or that we don’t listen to our bodies when broken down.  On the contrary, that is part of discipline combined with experience.  We get up on the days we are tired, cross train even when it is easier to go out to eat, and we get out there regardless of the weather. Except for lightning, we both hate lightning.

The lesson I think we can all take from this is that discipline is a mindset.    It is staying true to the positive habits that make up our life and training plans.  It is not finding excuses to miss planned workouts.  It is finding a way to get it done even when it is hugely challenging.  Of course, life can get in the way sometimes, but we use our discipline to persevere even in those challenging times.  Motivation will come and go but it is the discipline that makes us not even think about it on those days we are exhausted physically or mentally. 

A few years ago, I was taking classes at a local gym, and they always had these motivational quotes up, a new one each day.  I told the owner that he was proving my point, as I often talked about the primacy of discipline over motivation.  I said, you change your quote every day, that’s kind of how motivation works.  Discipline is showing up and not really needing those daily affirmations.  I know there are plenty of folks who may disagree with this and that’s fine, we all have our own experiences and priorities.  The best way I can describe it is to look at the gym on January 2nd.  It will be slam packed with people who motivated themselves with New Years Resolutions.  The problem is it doesn’t last.  I generally count the days until February when it won’t be crowded anymore.  They were motivated but they didn’t have the discipline to keep going when that motivation faded.

Combining something that is driving you with discipline is even better, but we cannot always count on that being there.  Stay disciplined, trust the process, and do those hard things every day, just get it done.  That’s my takeaway from watching the terrorist’s dream get after it each and every day.