Did you do it?

Friend, I'm not going to lecture you on the importance of doing the work that needs to be done.

You already know that it's the only way to achieve the goals you've set out for yourself.

What I do want to talk about, however, is HOW to develop that discipline.

For most, it doesn't come easy.

Even the smartest and most driven individuals have mornings when they wake up and feel like sleeping in.

Even the smartest and most driven individuals have moments where they face a hurdle and want to call it quits.

But you must do the work.

Every day.

You have to do those things you don’t want to do.

Challenge yourself to be uncomfortable.

Push past apathy, laziness, and fear.

Otherwise, the next day you’re going to have two things you don’t want to do, then three and four and five, and pretty soon, you can’t even get back to the first thing.

And then all you can do is beat yourself up for the mess you’ve created, and now you’ve got a mental barrier to go along with the physical barriers.

This is how to stop that:

Go slow and steady:

Make each iteration a bit more challenging than the previous one.

It might feel like you have to, but you don't need to do everything at once.

When it becomes overwhelming, it's easy to let procrastination take control and that's what we don't want.

Don't set wildly ambitious goals and try to "white knuckle" your way to the finish line:

If you don't view yourself as disciplined, trying to overhaul a significant area of your life will fail.

Brute force only works for a chosen few.

The goal of having keystone habits is to shift your identity, not to completely overhaul your life. 

It's ridiculous to assume that walking 10k steps daily will prepare you for a triathlon.

However, walking 10k steps each day, without fail, will help you cultivate the identity of someone disciplined enough to take care of their health each day.

Start small to identify as a disciplined individual:

Identify the most important areas of your life - health, wealth, relationships, etc.

Then create manageable daily keystone habits around each.

Stack small wins and they soon add up.

Work without stimulation:

One of my personal favorite things to help develop self-discipline is to go for a run without any music.

It's meditative practice - you get to feel all the emotions and pain and slowly but surely, you learn how to overcome that feeling of suffering.

You build undeniable proof that you're someone who can persevere in those challenging times.

Much love,

Mason from New Mentalities