I have been thinking about discipline quite a bit lately. I have an amazing and busy life as a father, an athlete, a practitioner of Zen, a working musician, a volunteer, an entrepreneur and the list goes on and on. Lately I have been wondering how to balance all of this.
Initially, the idea of discipline arose. Then I started to question why we are disciplined or why we choose to discipline ourselves. Then I thought of my son and what and how we are teaching him about life. There are rules and things he must and must not do. Lot’s of them!
When we were children, our parents, teachers, our society taught us that we must be disciplined and under control. We were encouraged to walk and talk from the time we were born and then we were told to sit down and shut up once we learned how! We were told to brush our teeth, to do our homework, to study and to go to bed at a certain time. We were told we must respect our elders, listen to authority and be on our best behavior.
As adults we often get ambitious and want money, status and nice thing. We want to have fun, to travel, to be important and recognized.
We also want inner peace, simplicity and to help others. We want to settle down and have a family. Then we want things to be a certain way for our family…
We have so many choices and just as many mixed messages from our culture about these things. They often seem incongruous. You can have this but not at the same time as that! If you go here and do that then you are disqualified from…
What does this all mean?
It means that we have to adjust ourselves to something.
It means we have to adjust our minds to what others say, to subdue one desire and submit to another.
What is the result of all this conformity? This discipline?
Does it free us?
Does it dull our minds?
Is there another way?
A way that is free from conflicting desires?
A way that is integrated and therefore free from struggle?
I think that if we loved and loved completely we would have no inner conflict.
There would just be right action, right livelihood, right everything.
But in order for that, there would have to be enormous trust amongst us all. Especially the young and the old, the new guard and the old guard.
So until then, don’t be an automaton. Don’t be a mindless, obedient consumer. Don’t be an asshole.
Stick it to the man by being authentic and doing things your way, but with great love.
End of transmission.
Until next time…
Kind Regards,
A
Cindy
Lisa McLellan
Anthony
Darryl Pace
Keri Eagan
Vegas Boomer Dating Expert
Michael D Walker
Vicki
Peggy Larson
Hi Anthony,
I think your make a very good point here and also ask some wonderful thought provoking questions! One must continue to question the status of where you are and where you want to be
Duane
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Thought provoking questions. External dicipline probably doesn’t do so much for us whereas internally driven/diciplined people probably have a very focused life.
Christian Haller
Good Food Fast & Easy
Healthy Italian Recipes
If you can truly embrace love, you will win over ego all the time.
Bob Kaufer
If you MOVE like the Tin Man, you will THINK like the Scarecrow and FEEL like the Lion
Yes an interesting point.
It’s interesting that the discipline required for spiritual growth can appear to be at odds with the goal itself.
Your blog always make me think. It’s one of my favorite places on the Internet!
JJ Jalopy.
Coaching Marketing Expert JJ Jalopy
How to become a coach
Good thought provoking post, but then most of yours are. when i’m sitting on a mountain in oregon watching the sunrise, these are some of the things i contemplate.
Don Shepherd
Fishing Central Oregon
Anthony,
Good question: Is discipline good or bad.
I think self-discipline is good. A certain level of conformity is essential when we live in a society. The question is to what extent?
Striking a good balance is no easy task.
Good to be a free thinking but tolerance is also important.
John Ho
Numerology Expert Helps Understanding Personality for Better Influence & Persuasion (WordPress Blog)
Numerology Expert Helps Understanding Personality for Better Influence & Persuasion (Money Page)
If discipline is the result of a conscious choice to get specific results we want to achieve, it is productive discipline.
If it is merely to comply to a meme, we ought to question whether this discipline actually serves us.
Good food for thought.
All the best,
Yann
How to Get Organized, Stop Procrastinating, and Set Goals for Small Business Success
I think it is important to make some decisions only once, and then occassionally review them to see if they are still relevant. It simply would take to much time to analyze fully each time, and lead to paralysis.
For example, I am going to make 90 solid minutes of phone calls starting in 43 minutes. I do it every day at least once and often twice. I know I am going to do it today, tomorrow and every day. I free my mind to think about who to call not whether to call.
Posting a blog post in the am is the same thing…
Seize the Day,
Rob
Sales Expert For Small Business Owners
Personal Asset Protection For Small Business Owners
Disciplined people get better results because they act without too much thought. They don’t overanalyze every decision they just carry out a habit with regularity and practice.
Steve Chambers, The Sales Expert
Sales Eagles – Sales Coaching for high flyers
Discipline carries a thought of pain for many because it may have been forced on some at an early age.
The great thing about discipline as we age is that it becomes a choice that will pay off in a big way in many areas of life.
I agree with Steve and Rob. Discipline becomes a habit.
Lynn Lane
Success Strategies For Life
Success Today
That was a thought provoking post. I enjoyed it. Good advice. We can be free to choose whatever disciplines will lead us to an end result that we desire.
Health, Fitness — Darryl Pace
Fitness Product Review
Provocative post. You raise some interesting contradictions – worth pondering. In the absence of discipline would there not be chaos?
Pam
Invest in Your Future
I think discipline is very positive. It is our choice what we want to be disciplined about. Mark
T
small business marketing
ice cream marketing
I believe discipline is good. I have a lot of discipline, and when I don’t show that, it’s because I’ve chosen not to, not because I lacked discipline.
Lisa McLellan, Babysitting Services – Babysitters, Nannies, and Au-pairs
AS a teacher Im know the consequences of not applying discipline in ones life or a childs as long as it doesnt restrict the person’s growth..rather stops them straying and keeps them focused!!
David Power’s Hour
Expert in Hypnosis, Success Thinking and Practical Parenting
Great questions posed…it’s probably ultimately a matter of balance.
Thanks
JC
JCMACKENZIE.COM
Making money-reviews
Not sure that love will rule out the need for discipline. It sounds more like a balance each individual will have to seek for themself.
Pat
Internet Dollars for Business Owners
All what feels good to you can be a step into knowledge about yourself, your true and divine content.
So can be discipline. Practicised without awarness it works too. For the time being. Walking the path
you’ve chosen often takes discipline to finish it. But you have to know where you’re walking to.
Confidence and discipline can be one. Confidence being the knowledge that you are walking the right way.
Discipline the instrument to gain power to finish it.