Being Disciplined

“Discipline yourself and others won’t need to” - John Wooden.

The Summer I Learned About Discipline

Three days after graduating high school, I boarded a plane headed for Fort Sill, Oklahoma. This would be my home for the next sixteen weeks. I knew this would be a life changing experience, but I had no idea what kind of lasting effect it would have on me and my outlook on life. Basic training is just that. Basic. We learned the basics of how the military works, we learned the basics of how to do our jobs, and we learned the basics of how to follow directions. We also learned that we were capable to do far more than we ever thought possible. The summer of training was mentally and physically tough, but there was a sense of pride in completing this training. We learned a lot about ourselves. And we learned a lot about being disciplined.

Being Disciplined

I love Coach Wooden's "discipline yourself..." quote because we can consider the idea of “being disciplined” in a couple of ways. We can be disciplined externally or we can be disciplined internally. Growing up, we are most familiar with external discipline. And in the summer of 1988, my external discipline was amplified. Being disciplined meant being corrected, punished, and trained with very real consequences. But understanding consequences helped us begin to develop internal discipline. We learned that being disciplined was a choice and a decision we could make. And there lies the lesson in Coach Wooden’s powerful quote. We can choose our discipline.

Discipline of Health and Fitness

Being healthy and fit feels good. There is a sense of peace and joy and even pride in knowing that our choices are leading us in the right direction. And this is true in all areas of our lives. We often think of health and fitness as physical, but we also need to consider our financial health and fitness, our spiritual health and fitness, and our social and relational health and fitness. Health and fitness in all these areas requires time and effort. It requires a series of good choices. It requires discipline. And the consequences of discipline are well worth the cost.

Discipline and Freedom

My health and fitness is important to me. I have several intentional habits and routines designed to help me develop these areas of my life. I choose discipline because I like the freedom it provides. Take a moment to consider your physical, financial, spiritual, and social health and fitness. Consider how discipline in each of these areas provides freedom. Our health, fitness, and wellness in these areas matter. When we are undisciplined, we are making the decision to let life happen to us. The more we choose to be internally disciplined, the less we have to be externally disciplined. And that's a healthy way to live. And that's why we should choose freedom. And that's why we should choose discipline.

And choose to have an awesome day!