Discipline MOY WOY Check-in

 I know, a “normal” person does an MOY at the end of June, but the long-time readers know- my calendar revolves around Christmas and my Birthday.  In the wake of my birthday, I am writing a little update on my Word-of-the-Year. 

I have been working to improve the discipline in my life for a couple of years now and I reflect in amazement about how far I have come.  I knew God was prompting me to grow in this area, but I am thankful that He did not reveal to me how far this would go.  Had God told me then what my life would look like now, I likely would have been paralyzed with intimidation.  I am grateful that it was just open-ended encouragement to get more disciplined. 

With my pursuit of discipline and desire to incorporate some more highly disciplined people into my life, I joined a gym at the end of January.  This is the first time ever in my life that I have paid for a gym membership.  Historically, I have always told myself that I am not one of those people and I should want it bad enough to do it at home for free.  With the new gym, came a new sport/skill and a whole new community of people that I interact with three times a week.

I have heard a podcast from Craig Groeschel talking about the chain reaction of learning a new skill.  Currently, I am living it and I am blown away by how my new sport has propelled me.  It is affecting me in four key areas.

Physical- My body has responded really well to the new training.  I am getting compliments from co-workers and friends on the change in my physique. 

Motivation- When I started, there were several exercises that I physically could not do.  This motivated me SO much.  I was intentionally working on these at home, because I hated not being able to do things.  My new sport has helped me immensely in keeping my commitment to work out 6 days a week, because I know half of those days are already accounted for at the gym.  It is much easier to convince myself to run on the other 3 days.  I know it is only 3 days a week that I have to run AND I know I need to keep building my stamina for my days at the gym. 

Mental- A new sport forced me to take on learner’s mentality.  This is a big swing for me, because, of course, I am an expert on everything (yes, I am mocking myself).  There are days when there are new drills and things that I have never done before.  Sometimes, everything comes easy and I do great.  But other times, it doesn't “click”.  I don’t get it.  I get discouraged and frustrated.  I have to make an effort to ask good questions.  And even still, sometimes I fumble through it and hope that I am more successful next time. 

This struggle and tension has helped me develop SO much.  As a teacher, it has helped me to be much more empathetic with my students who struggle.  I have gotten better at reading their faces and body language and seeing when I am outside of their comfort zone and when it’s not clicking for them.  I am also able to see how if I am tired or had a bad day, it impairs my ability to learn and my mental determination.  Part of discipline has been working to overcome this correlation- clear my head, focus in, and bring 100% for every rep.

People- New environments consistently force us to grow and this has been no exception.  People annoy me, offend me, and frustrate me on a regular basis.  People also encourage me and hype me up.  New perspectives force me to reflect and evaluate my own perspective.  I laugh as I see patterns of who I am drawn to and who try to buffer myself from.  I am growing in my self-awareness and my ability to read a room.  I am regularly reminded of the significance of intentionally cultivating my environment and my circle of influence.

I have been working out six days a week for almost 3 months.  I have reached the point where it is easy to prioritize and maintain this commitment.  It’s what I do.  Lately, the struggle has been my rest day.  I never imagined that it would require self-discipline to NOT work out.  Sometimes on my rest day, the weather is great and I want to run.  Or I encounter some frustration and I want to use the workout as my coping mechanism, but it’s my rest day.  Or I see an opportunity to go do something that looks like “fun” but is a physical workout and it’s my rest day. 

I have been keeping a habit tracker for all of 2023.  I am including images of my habit trackers from each month.  Reflecting over these brings two big takeaways- I am not perfect & the power of momentum.   There are days and weeks that I come up short.  It seems like if I let life keep me from my commitments one time, then it happens again the next day. The inverse is also true, as I get more consistent, I get more consistent.

The increase in discipline has also strengthened my obedience muscles.  As I said in my BOY post, for me, discipline is about not letting my emotions or circumstances dictate my actions.  Time and time again over these past few months I have chosen to maintain my commitments to myself, to do the hard things, and/or be obedient to the promptings from the Holy Spirit.  Almost every time, God rewards my obedience with something very tangible.  He doesn’t have to.  God deserves obedience every time without incentive.  But I am grateful for the ways in which he is using the reward system that he designed in my brain to help me be more disciplined and obedient.  I see that discipline and obedience are getting easier for me in the day-to-day and am slightly intimidated when I think about the challenges that lie ahead.  I know that God uses my experiences today to prepare me for the trials of tomorrow.  My track record with God makes me confident that someday my choices will get harder, but I know that God is faithful to make sure that I am ready (or at least close enough).

 

Other discipline follow-up…

I read The Pursuit of Excellence by Ryan Hawk. 

I searched for a good Biblical study on self-discipline but have come up dry so far.  I am hoping to complete my own hermeneutic study on discipline in the summer.

My gym did bring people into my life who have high levels of self-discipline in specific areas.  But I am still actively searching for people who are pursuing discipline in the same areas as me.

I have been eating Whole 30 compliant foods and doing intermittent fasting for almost 3 months straight.  My body is loving it.

 

If you know you want and/or need to increase discipline in your life but you are overwhelmed by the gap of where you are and what you think a finish line would be- start small.  Add 1 new habit.  Make and keep 1 commitment to yourself.  Don’t focus on a finish line, build the skill of discipline a little at a time. Someday, you will surprise yourself with how far you have come.