What no one tells you about discipline

· 2 min read

Perfection is the enemy of discipline. Yet, the most perfect thing you can do to be disciplined is to be imperfect.

We all at some point in our life experienced failing at starting a new habit.

But for me, I couldn’t stop asking myself: What causes that?

  • Is it laziness?
  • Actual lack of discipline?
  • Perhaps a boring habit is not exciting enough?

While the answer might be there, the answer I was able to find both among myself and my peers, is that we mistake discipline for perfectionism. We tend to define sometimes that being disciplined as being flawless and perfect in the habits we do and set for ourselves.

The trap of perfectionism

The more I tried to maintain a balance around 90–100% in terms of doing my habits at this range, the more it got harder, and eventually might quit it. Once I try to be imperfect to aim around 70% the more consistent I can be and stick with it. It’s as simple as it becomes difficult when you try to maintain a high level of performance, but aiming to around 70% allows more flexibility and becomes less stressful and it’s much easier to sustain.

This approach aligns with the concept I strongly believe in and follow: doesn’t matter if you are not perfect, you are being consistent!

With any habit, you need to have a little bit of randomness and chaos and be comfortable with it. It’s unrealistic to think that being disciplined is doing everything always as it’s expected to be.

Discipline as a concept, is basically a roller coaster with its ups and downs.

Let’s assume you have a habit of reading 20 pages a day, if every time you try to make the best circumstances, great tea (tea always before coffee, sorry!) ideal lighting, perfect night of sleep, and the list goes on, and put so many variables to this habit you might eventually quit trying to reach best circumstances, as it can be exhausting and lead to burnout.

So.. what is discipline all about?

I genuinely believe discipline is all about:

  1. The replacement for the illusion of achieving perfect consistency with a more realistic and humanly possible approach that’s easier to maintain.
  2. Discipline ≠ Perfect Consistency.

I applied this concept in writing this blog post by drinking iced coffee and not tea!