Discipline. Discipline seems to be a hot topic these days. From Joe Rogan and ice baths to Jocko Willink and waking up at 4:30am every morning. But what are we really doing these things for? Are we doing them just for the sake of doing them? Are we doing them for the physiological benefits they induce? Or are we doing them for the intrinsic value they bring to our personal being? I’d like to think it’s a combination of all of these.

Discipline is your personal level of self-control. It’s what pulls you towards the things you know you must do, even if they aren’t the things you want to do. Discipline will get you to where you want to be. It will always be there, even when the motivation isn’t. And yes, it can be developed.

Discipline will help build self-confidence and resilience over time. Maybe you’ve set a goal for yourself to go to the gym 3 days per week, but can’t find the motivation to do so. Week 1, you went three days. Week 2, you went two days. Weeks 3 and 4, you went one day each. That’s a total of 7 days in the month, but you’d set a goal for 12 days in total. Realizing you missed your goal, it eats at your self-confidence and causes you to feel like it’s something you can’t do, when in reality, it’s something you can. Think how good you’d have felt if you achieved what you set out to do? The next month, you might decide to be more ambitious. And the more you build this as a habit, the more resilient and understanding you’ll be if circumstances require you to come up short of your goal that month.

Things like this bleed over into the rest of our lives. When we succeed in on area, we feel more confident about the others. It’s a domino effect, and we want to keep them moving.

Add a small daily discipline to your personal goals. This could be journaling, exercise, a learning habit, or simply a gratitude exercise in the morning.