Does discipline win over motivation?
I recently read an article that struck a nerve with me.
It was written by a fighter pilot and the topic was motivation and discipline. His viewpoint was that discipline trumps motivation every time.
The fighter pilot said that when it's time to run head first into the enemy you don't feel motivated to do it. After all you're full of fear and would rather turn and run the other way. He said rather it's discipline that's so important at this moment. It's the discipline you've developed, your knowledge on the subject, the training and practice. You know what you have to do so you simply do it.
As I read this piece I felt immediately drawn to what he was saying. I realized that although he was referring to war time battle, the same principle applies to just about every area of our lives.
In fact, for many areas of our lives if we only relied on how motivated we felt to do something, nothing would get done. Am I right?!
I see this often in my private coaching. Women come to me feeling motivated to make a change. They are tired of the way they look and feel. They know they need a change and at first the prospect of it all is really exciting.
They feel motivated to do something different.
But then reality begins to set in and the truth is changing the way you eat isn't always a straight, easy road. At this point discipline has to step in and take over. Otherwise you find yourself right back where you started.
When I had adult acne so severe that nothing I tried was working, I began to look at my issue for what it was.
A sign of a deeper rooted problem that needed to be solved.
This is when I decided to change the way I was eating to bring restoration and healing to my body and therefore, ultimately heal my skin.
Motivation didn't play much of a role during this process. Initially, I felt motivated by the prospect of clearer skin but that quickly faded. One thing to understand about using food as medicine, is the results are not always immediate. Obviously, this can feel frustrating.
More than that is what others around you see.
To my friends and family, the dietary changes I made, seemed extreme (although they really weren't).
People wondered if I was nourishing my body properly. I began to feel a bit of a stigma because I wasn't eating what everyone else was. The biggest struggle was that my skin didn't clear overnight and as it was healing it went through a few purging stages. You know the old adage, "Things get worse before they get better"? In my case I experienced this. Therefore to those around me it appeared that all my efforts were in vain.
During these times I didn't feel motivated to keep pushing forward and pursue my goal. In fact, at times I felt downright defeated. Was I completely crazy?! This entire process required discipline on my part. I knew what I needed to do or I would never know the real results. If I quit half way through I would never realize the truth.
Worse, if I gave in to temptation or peer pressure to be normal and do what everyone else was doing, I'd have to start back at square one. I had to be disciplined everyday to follow the plan I laid out for myself.
Motivation is overrated.
If you want to accomplish real changes in your life, you have to develop discipline.
For many of us, this is a struggle to handle on our own. We need guidance and accountability.
Ready to take that step towards clearer skin and better health? Click here and I'll be in touch with you real soon.
Here's the link to the article I referenced http://www.businessinsider.com/top-gun-pilot-dave-berke-discipline-2017-7
