DISCIPLINE IS DISCIPLE-ING

 

If the word discipline arose from the Latin word for pupil, then no wonder
it is so closely related to another word, a word that is much more positive-
disciple.   That's how I ended the last article.  And because both words-
discipline/ disciple- are so intimately connected, when you are disciplined,
you are a disciple.  The only question is, "You are a disciple to what or to
whom?"  That brings me to Jim Collins' quotation in Good to Great.

"There is no effectiveness without discipline, and there is no discipline
without character."

 

Ah, character!  It was the actor Michael J. Fox who said, "Discipline is
just doing the same thing the right way whether anyone's watching or not."
That's another description of character.  And that implies something
critical about discipline-it arises from, and is dependent upon, being
self-referent rather than other-referent.  If you are always referring to
others  and you are always carrying about what others think, say, and do,
then you are living your life to please them, to be on their good side, to
not upset them, etc.  Do that and you probably will not even know what you
want, what you believe in, what you value.

 

Character refers to deeply knowing and living from your own authority-to be
the author of your own life.  This is the inner discipline that is required
in order to achieve outer discipline.  In fact, without this piece, all of
your effort for outer discipline will indeed feel hard and forced.  It is
when you live from out of your inner beliefs and values, live from the
inside-out, that you can begin to develop the kind of discipline that will
carry you through in achieving your goals.

 

Perhaps this is what Aristotle meant when he said, "Through self-discipline
comes freedom" - namely the freedom to truly be yourself.  And it was the
famous Anonymous who wrote, "Your level of success is determined by your
level of discipline and perseverance."  The bottom line: discipline comes
from your inside world.  It comes from you being true to you-to your
capacities, talents, and potentials.  Now you have the character to persist,
to commit, and to be resilient.

 

So, name your discipline.  What discipline (course of study) do you want to
give yourself to?  What discipline (course of action) would you like to
become a disciple?  I am a disciple of my own well-being which means health,
energy, vitality, and fitness.  I have been for a long time.  Accordingly, I
have read and studied in that area, and that led to writing books in that
area (Games Fit and Slim People Play), as well as training manuals (The
Neuro-Semantics of Health, Unleashing Vitality).  It led me to get into
running in my mid-20s as well as other sports: cross-country skiing,
mountain climbing, racquetball, etc.  Today I go to the gym five days a week
and Geraldine and I hike mountain trails.

Going to the gym for me is at the same time a disciplined way of life (a
lifestyle) and a commitment to my understandings, beliefs, values, and
decisions.  Given that, I never think of it as hard or unpleasant.  It's
actually the opposite-I look forward to it, I revel when I feel a good
healthy exhaustion at the end, I anticipate learning new techniques, I
delight in being able to reach some new goals that I set for myself.  So
yes, I have become a disciple of the gym.

 

The bottom line is that discipline requires character and your character
enables you to become a disciplined person, a disciple.  When your course of
study (knowledge) becomes a course of action (implementation), then you have
closed the knowing-doing gap.  You have used a basic mind-to-muscle process
so that what you know, you do.  This explains why for any disciplined
person, there's no idea of pain or punishment in it at all.  Instead it is
integrity and integration.  It is the freedom of being your best self.

 

I would not be my best self if I didn't read 2 to 3 hours every day (well,
except when I'm engaged in doing a training).  Reading extensively activates
my mind and my creativity so that I can write, and write a lot.  When people
ask how I can write 2 or 3 articles every week, plus manuals and books, I
usually look at them as if they have asked a really weird question.  For me
it's like asking "How can you breathe in and out all day; isn't that tiring
on your heart and lungs?"  I write first of all so that I can learn, and
then secondly, to share ideas and insights with others.  As some of you have
noticed, I never run out of things to write!  I find the 'discipline' of
reading and writing exciting.  How could it not be?  I'm a disciple to
reading and writing.  And when you are a disciple, you have a new degree of
freedom as you are liberated from 'work.'  Now everything is play and fun.
Now you will never again "work" a day in your life again.   So, what are you
a disciple of?

 

 

 

 

For More, see-

              Inside-Out (2022).  It is a PDF book on the Shop.


 

Also, the 2024 Neurons book is now available:

Neurons Volumes <https://www.neurosemantics.com/neurons-meta-reflections/> 

 

 Discipline: The Personality

Factor You Love to Hate series #1

 

DISCIPLINE ARE NOT US

 

Some years ago, upon entering the breakfast restaurant of the hotel we were
staying in, I headed first for the coffee machine.  That's where I overheard
some of the participants from our competency based training talking as they
ate breakfast. They were at a table on the other side from the coffee
station which was out of sight.  I could not see them, but I could hear
them.  One was apparently explaining why the discipline of the training was
so rigorous.  "Well, that's because Michael is such a disciplined person
himself, he reads 30 minutes every single day, writes 30 minutes and
exercises 30 minutes."   To that one of the participants said, "Wow!"
"'Wow?' I thought, but that's hardly what I would call discipline."

 

Later when I reflected on that short conversation, I realized something
about myself, namely, I almost never use the word discipline to describe the
activity of doing what needs to be done.  Instead I just call that
life-style.  Yet that's not the first or last time someone said that about
me. More recently, when the subject of taking medicine came up, I mentioned
that I had been taking tamoxifen as an anti-cancer drug.  "For how long?" I
said for four-and-a-half years.  The person, who was a health coach asked,
"How many times have you forgotten to take it?"  I said "None, not a single
time did I missed taking it.  I always take it.  It's just what I do."  She
said, "You're really very disciplined."  Again I thought, "Why would I not
take my medicine?"

 

Now with 2025 just beginning, and many people will begin with some New Year
Resolutions, I thought it would be good to write about discipline, or
perhaps more accurately and appealingly, consistent life-style activities.
After all, if setting new goals in the new year is a way to become more
effective, more goal-oriented, and to live more purposefully-then the key
will be to get yourself to do what you intend to do.  After you design a
Well-Formed Outcome so that your goals are smart, realistic, and actionable,
the next secret ingredient for them to transform your life is for you to
develop the discipline to be consistent and regular in what you do.

 

The Success Factor You Love To Hate -that was the subject of the ISNS
Wisdoms this past November.  About that success factor I wrote that
discipline is something which you desperately need but which you probably do
not want.  How about you?  To you want discipline?  Would you attend a
training on "How to Become a Highly Disciplined Person"?  Many, peryhaps
most people, would not.  Yet most know that they need it, they just do not
want it.  And why not?

 

A lot of people do not want "discipline" because for them it implies all
sorts of unpleasant and negative meanings.  It implies-

           Being controlled, being forced to do what you don't want to do.

           Being treated like a child again and forced to eat your
vegetables, make your bed, and do your homework.

           Losing the freedom to not do what the discipline requires.

           Forfeiting options, alternatives, and losing the right to be
spontaneous.

           Having to do what is hard, painful, and unpleasant.

           Being punished for a mistake or bad behavior: sent to the
Principal's office, loss of privileges, etc.   "Son, I'm going to discipline
you; no internet for two weeks."

 

Wow!  If discipline means that to a person, no wonder it is thought of and
felt as an imposition, a prison, and the last thing in the world that you
would ever want to do!  If you have associated discipline with punishment,
pain, doing what's hard, etc., of course you will not want it.  You will not
strive for it!  You will not set a goal to become a disciplined person.
But, of course, that is a misunderstanding of discipline.  It does not truly
define or describe what discipline is.  What does the word discipline
actually mean and refer to?

           Discipline is simply "a course of action."

           Discipline can refer to "a course of study:" the discipline of
psychology, math, geometry, etc.

           Discipline is a planned way of operating.

           Discipline is a strategic way to achieve something of value.

           Discipline is a regimen for succeeding in a particular area.

 


How about that for five reframes on discipline?  Which one do you like best?
Yet there is another one that I think reframes it even better.  Given that
the word discipline comes from the Latin words, disciplina, disciplulus
(pupil), discipline refers to not only "a course of study," but the person
doing the 'studying'- hence, the disciple.  The disciplined person is a
disciple to the information and activity.  You could be a disciple of
coaching, of Neuro-Semantics, of NLP, of psychology, of self-actualization,
of personal development, etc.  What or who would you like a to be a
'disciple?'

 

For me, since discipline is life-style, I am a disciple of learning, of
modeling excellence, of my own well-being (health) and fitness, of
unleashing human potentials, of the human mystery of 'thinking,' etc.  How
about you?  What are you a disciple of?  Some are disciples of 'the path of
least resistance.'  Some are disciples of goofing off, avoiding
responsibility, the superficiality of 'retail therapy,' of living solely for
immediate pleasure, etc.  Where would you like to direct your discipleship
to in 2025? 

 

 

                                                                       

 

 

L. Michael Hall, Ph.D.

Executive Director, ISNS

738 Beaver Lodge

Grand Jct., CO. 81505 USA