The Art Of Being Disciplined: 4 Simple Ways To Live A High-Achieving Life
Success becomes predictable when your habits support it.
Jay Soundo | Unsplash The most disciplined people aren't the ones grinding themselves into dust. They're the ones who've figured out how to make the hard things a little easier and how to build systems that don't rely on willpower alone, and how to stay connected to the reasons behind their effort.
If you've struggled with having discipline before — who hasn't? — that's not a life sentence. It just means you haven't found the approach that clicks for you yet. Do you find it hard to be disciplined? I did for years and still do. Here’s what refuels me when discipline is the last thing on my mind.
Here are 4 simple ways to live a disciplined, high-achieving life:
1. Make the alternative painful
In Roman times, legionnaires developed chiseled, muscular bodies, not because Chad on Reddit told them to get ripped because ‘girls and stuff,’ but because they knew they had to.
It was either face weakness and death in battle or humiliating punishment from their superiors. You will be disciplined when you drastically minimise your options like this. It’s do or bust.
How to make the alternative painful in the modern age?
- Pay an accountability partner money if you fail.
- Make your progress public, so you avoid falling short when everyone’s watching.
- Burn your ships — meaning you have no plan B or escape plan. You either succeed or face the pain of defeat.
One study found that people who sent weekly progress reports to a friend improved their chances of achieving their goals by up to 65 percent. We're wired for loss aversion, meaning the pain of losing something hits us harder than the pleasure of gaining something of equal value.
2. Forget the concept of discipline altogether
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A lot of discipline is hard because the concept of it is deathly tedious. Few folks want to be disciplined because the idea inherently suggests doing what you don’t want to do. But people want to do what they want to do. So mould your world so that the hard stuff — the stuff worth doing — becomes enjoyable.
This means understanding that pain is fun if it’s leading to the right things — to magnificence. It really is. Embrace that sucky suck. Feel the beautiful warmth of your hands bleeding.
Be screwed in the head. Turn heads because you’re the only jerk out here running outside with your shirt off when it’s raining. Now, what was it Mike Tyson once said? Ah, yes: “My definition of discipline is doing what you hate to do, but do it as you love it.”
Scientists have found that the more effort we put into something, the more we actually value it. This is also known as the IKEA effect, after those frustrating-but-weirdly-satisfying furniture projects. When you connect the struggle to the outcome you're after, something shifts: it means more.
3. Get aggressive
Discipline is incredibly unappetizing to people who tread aimlessly on this Earth. This is why big softies want nothing to do with discipline and end up becoming softer. Leave that to them. You’re different because you frequently reach into your aggression reserves like a lost demon hunter fighting for something real.
- What’s real for you?
- What’s worth fighting for?
- Whose worth fighting for?
That’s what aggression is made for. Use it to charge forward like you have a death wish. In this state, with this vision, discipline won’t even be something that requires any force.
Anger actually helps people achieve difficult goals, research has concluded. When researchers presented participants with challenging tasks, those who tapped into anger solved more puzzles, performed better in difficult games, and were more likely to take action in high-stakes situations like voting.
4. Tap into the abyss
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This is hard for the overthinking types, but all the answers lie beneath all your shoulds, coulds, maybes, and perhaps’s.
- Your thoughts know nothing.
- Your innate Universal intelligence knows everything.
It’s the stuff that points you to the truth when you feel it in your gut like a ping in a pinball machine. We’re all fortunate enough to be connected to inner knowing, so stop blocking yourself off from that junk by thinking about everything. You know it’s a circus up there if you start grinding. If you feel nervous, you’re overthinking it.
A 2024 study out of Drexel University monitored jazz musicians mid-improvisation and discovered their most creative moments happened when activity in the brain's executive control region (the part responsible for second-guessing and self-doubt) actually decreased. They call it "transient hypofrontality," but you can just call it getting out of your own way.
If you’re doubtful about your capabilities, you’re overthinking it. If you feel in any way less than capable, invigorated, and any less than a human exploring his zone of genius, you’re overthinking it.
You must develop the habit of using thoughts as a tool as needed, but dropping your tightness around them as needed, too. That’s when true creativity opens up. When you’re plugged into this kind of free-flowing intelligence, you won’t need discipline. You’ll just do it when it needs to be done.
Alex Mathers is a writer and coach who helps you build a money-making personal brand with your knowledge and skills while staying mentally resilient. He's the author of the Mastery Den newsletter, which helps people triple their productivity.
