Are You Viewing Discipline Wrong?

Friend, I’ve been thinking about this recently:

Is too much structure bad?

As someone in their twenties with lofty goals, it’s easy to subscribe to the work hard and play later mindset.

But when you live like this, you risk losing your vibrance.

People might ask you “What’ve you been up to?”

And the response is always the same:

“Work”.

Conversation ends.

Personal development has romanticized being boring.

And I get it.

Most of the time as an entrepreneur, freelancer, or someone looking to excel in their career, is made up of small, mundane tasks.

That’s what’s required, and that’s perfectly fine if you accept that.

And I do.

But the thing is, we potentially become robots in the process.

Following routines like a cog in the wheel.

Very recently I asked myself:

The tasks required to succeed may be boring, but how can I still be an exciting person?

How can I have depth and interesting stories to tell?

This has been hard to reflect on as I’m someone who lives by my to-do list.

I lose my shit when I don’t have a routine, and being so rigid allows me to be a disciplined individual.

But I ask you this:

Are you neglecting so many beautiful things in life because you think you have to be hard on yourself?

You think you can’t enjoy that vacation because you have to work 10 hours a day 7 days a week.

You think you can’t party because it’s degenerate behavior and destroys your health.

You get the point…

I’m not saying you need to be reckless.

But these carefree moments are where you gain the most interesting stories.

When people ask you what you’ve been up to, spontaneity in your life adds much more depth to both the conversations and yourself.

You no longer become predictable.

It’s a lot more enjoyable to live with self-control than to follow a strict set of rules over a set period of time.

I’ll end this email with a quote from Dan Koe, one I recently read and served as the catalyst of this email:

Too much structure makes life mundane.

Too much spontaneity makes life chaotic.

A dance between the two makes life meaningful.

Perhaps this is an idea you’ve already reflected on, so let me know how you’ve managed to dance between spontaneity and structure in your life.

Much love,

Mason - Founder of New Mentalities