In addition to all the big changes the past week, it was also my birthday last weekend. I usually don’t like making a big deal about birthdays, but I feel like it’s always a natural thing to reflect a little bit on the past year (especially when I spent 3.5 hours in the car that day with lots of time to think). This year seems like it’s been filled with constant change for me, and the two themes that got stuck in my head were “Grace” and “Discipline”.
Every day I realize more and more how much I need to show grace to others because I’m in constant need of it towards me (from friends, family, God). None of us are perfect, and we’re all coming from different perspectives and struggles – It’s easy to hold others at a standard that we don’t even uphold ourselves (I've done it plenty lately), and remembering my own struggles when I’m quick to judge someone else is something I need to remember daily.
Discipline is the other big one that I continue to be reminded is crucial to accomplishing ANYTHING; more than inspiration, more than motivation, more than any emotion we could feel. I’ve always been a huge fan of Jim Wendler’s “Discipline over Motivation” mantra, and I’ve had some great conversations with Vincent Dizenzo on this as well. Whether it’s training, working my second job, treating people like I should, taking time to pray, eating right, etc – The reality is that once you’re past the “honeymoon stage” of those things you’re most likely not going to WANT to do them 90+% of the time. I’ve come to realize that chasing the feeling of motivation and waiting for the WANT to show up is not sustainable or wise. Joe Rogan made a great comment about discipline on his Podcast, saying something along the lines of “Training doesn’t get easier, if anything it gets harder. I don’t WANT to train all the time, but I don’t sit and think about how much I WANT to brush my teeth either. I just brush my teeth, and I do it every day cause it’s what I do. I train every week because it’s what I do.” …I think that applies to everything in life. Motivation is fleeting, discipline is a habit that will take you miles further.
Those two things have definitely been a recurring theme of my year, and I’m going to keep trying to build them into the next.
