Choosing Discipline

Discipline. Something that I’m very passionate about because I believe it plays such a big role in the way we live our lives. A lot of people think that being motivated will get you far and make you successful. Yes, motivation can play a role in you accomplishing certain things. You can listen to a song that gets you pumped up and feel motivated to go to the gym. You can watch a powerful sermon and be motivated to go read your Bible. But motivation is not always going to be consistent. There are going to be days where you “just aren’t feeling it.” That’s where discipline comes in. When you practice discipline, you’re choosing to make yourself better and accomplish what is set before you no matter what is being thrown your way.

When I played basketball for my dad, there were so many days I would show up to practice and not be in the right mindset. I would walk in feeling distracted, tired, overwhelmed, or just not in the mood to be there. One of the things my dad taught us was that we must choose discipline over motivation. If I relied solely on motivation, there’s no way that I would have always been able to give 100% because, truthfully, I wasn’t always excited about practice and there were moments where I didn’t want to be there. So, in those moments, I chose to rely on the disciplines I had implemented into my life. No matter what, when I walked into the gym, I was going to be focused and ready to give it my all. Of course, I wasn’t perfect at that and it wasn’t always easy. However, since I had prioritized that discipline in my life and it was something that was important to me, it didn’t matter if I was having an off day or didn’t have motivation. I had discipline and I knew that implementing that into practice every day was what was going to make me a better basketball player.

When I think about discipline, I think about choosing what’s important over what’s urgent or what you’re feeling in the moment. Throughout your day, things are always going to try to steal your attention, or a situation is going to pop up that can change your mood in an instant. But when we are disciplined, choosing to accomplish things that are important to us and will help us grow, we can be sure that no matter what is thrown our way, those things will get done. And when you implement those disciplines, you can go through the rest of your day with an optimistic outlook. Because no matter what comes your way, you were able to accomplish things that are valuable to you and make you better.

I think it’s good for us to have a list of things that we are going to prioritize every single day and get them done no matter what’s going on. I made a list of 10 things that I do every day. No matter what the world throws at me, I am able to make time for these things and prioritize them over everything else. I won’t lie to you and tell you that I do them all perfectly every single day because sometimes I don’t get them all done. I’m not perfect. None of us are. But I try to be intentional with choosing what’s important to me because it reflects what I value. Discipline is a choice. Not a feeling.

Here are my 10 things:
1.  Make my bed
2.  Do my skin care routine
3.  Make some coffee and breakfast
4.  Have my quiet time
5.  Limit my screen time
6.  Do my workout
7.  Work on a project for the day
8.  Encourage someone/challenge someone
9.  Taking a second to breathe, meditate, and reflect
10. Read a chapter of a book before bed

When creating a list for yourself, whether its 3 things, 5 things, or 10 things, choose things that are important to you and that will make you better! You don’t have to go from 0 - 100. I don’t want you to read this and think you have to come up with 20 different things that you need to implement into your day! Start off with 3 or 4 that you can do every single day. Do them well and do them consistently and watch how you develop and how you grow. Our choices matter. Our everyday decisions matter. Be intentional!

Challenges:
1. Make a list. Choose a few different disciplines that you can add into your day. They don’t have to be these huge tasks that take hours to complete. They can be short and simple, just make sure they are things that are important to you and things that you value. Write them out and then start implementing them into your day. Make them a priority, no matter what’s thrown your way.

2. Prayer. If you feel like you may be struggling with discipline, ask for the Lord’s help. Ask that you would grow in discipline and live in a posture of wanting to constantly get better. Remember, prayer is so powerful!

3. Ask for accountability. Like I mentioned earlier, life is really good at getting in the way. Ask your friends and community to help keep you accountable for completing your list each day. This will help you grow in discipline as well.

Prayer:
Lord, thank you for another beautiful day. Thank you for each person reading this right now. I pray that you would just cover them with your love and your peace, Lord. I pray blessing over them. That they would walk in abundance of joy and confidence found in you. I pray for discipline for them and myself, God. I pray that we would find the things that are important to us and that make us better and we would prioritize them. Even when we don’t feel motivated or we’ve had a busy day, may we still implement our disciplines. I know it can be hard, so God I pray for your guidance. I pray that our hearts are so on fire for you that we would do everything we can to look more like you. We thank you for who you are and for the Father that you are to us. I pray that we keep our eyes focused on you in all that we do. We love you and praise you. In Jesus’ name! Amen!

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Discipline. Something that I’m very passionate about because I believe it plays such a big role in the way we live our lives. A lot of people think that being motivated will get you far and make you successful. Yes, motivation can play a role in you accomplishing certain things. You can listen to a song that gets you pumped up and feel motivated to go to the gym. You can watch a powerful sermon and be motivated to go read your Bible. But motivation is not always going to be consistent. There are going to be days where you “just aren’t feeling it.” That’s where discipline comes in. When you practice discipline, you’re choosing to make yourself better and accomplish what is set before you no matter what is being thrown your way.

When I played basketball for my dad, there were so many days I would show up to practice and not be in the right mindset. I would walk in feeling distracted, tired, overwhelmed, or just not in the mood to be there. One of the things my dad taught us was that we must choose discipline over motivation. If I relied solely on motivation, there’s no way that I would have always been able to give 100% because, truthfully, I wasn’t always excited about practice and there were moments where I didn’t want to be there. So, in those moments, I chose to rely on the disciplines I had implemented into my life. No matter what, when I walked into the gym, I was going to be focused and ready to give it my all. Of course, I wasn’t perfect at that and it wasn’t always easy. However, since I had prioritized that discipline in my life and it was something that was important to me, it didn’t matter if I was having an off day or didn’t have motivation. I had discipline and I knew that implementing that into practice every day was what was going to make me a better basketball player.

When I think about discipline, I think about choosing what’s important over what’s urgent or what you’re feeling in the moment. Throughout your day, things are always going to try to steal your attention, or a situation is going to pop up that can change your mood in an instant. But when we are disciplined, choosing to accomplish things that are important to us and will help us grow, we can be sure that no matter what is thrown our way, those things will get done. And when you implement those disciplines, you can go through the rest of your day with an optimistic outlook. Because no matter what comes your way, you were able to accomplish things that are valuable to you and make you better.

I think it’s good for us to have a list of things that we are going to prioritize every single day and get them done no matter what’s going on. I made a list of 10 things that I do every day. No matter what the world throws at me, I am able to make time for these things and prioritize them over everything else. I won’t lie to you and tell you that I do them all perfectly every single day because sometimes I don’t get them all done. I’m not perfect. None of us are. But I try to be intentional with choosing what’s important to me because it reflects what I value. Discipline is a choice. Not a feeling.

Here are my 10 things:
1.  Make my bed
2.  Do my skin care routine
3.  Make some coffee and breakfast
4.  Have my quiet time
5.  Limit my screen time
6.  Do my workout
7.  Work on a project for the day
8.  Encourage someone/challenge someone
9.  Taking a second to breathe, meditate, and reflect
10. Read a chapter of a book before bed

When creating a list for yourself, whether its 3 things, 5 things, or 10 things, choose things that are important to you and that will make you better! You don’t have to go from 0 - 100. I don’t want you to read this and think you have to come up with 20 different things that you need to implement into your day! Start off with 3 or 4 that you can do every single day. Do them well and do them consistently and watch how you develop and how you grow. Our choices matter. Our everyday decisions matter. Be intentional!

Challenges:
1. Make a list. Choose a few different disciplines that you can add into your day. They don’t have to be these huge tasks that take hours to complete. They can be short and simple, just make sure they are things that are important to you and things that you value. Write them out and then start implementing them into your day. Make them a priority, no matter what’s thrown your way.

2. Prayer. If you feel like you may be struggling with discipline, ask for the Lord’s help. Ask that you would grow in discipline and live in a posture of wanting to constantly get better. Remember, prayer is so powerful!

3. Ask for accountability. Like I mentioned earlier, life is really good at getting in the way. Ask your friends and community to help keep you accountable for completing your list each day. This will help you grow in discipline as well.

Prayer:
Lord, thank you for another beautiful day. Thank you for each person reading this right now. I pray that you would just cover them with your love and your peace, Lord. I pray blessing over them. That they would walk in abundance of joy and confidence found in you. I pray for discipline for them and myself, God. I pray that we would find the things that are important to us and that make us better and we would prioritize them. Even when we don’t feel motivated or we’ve had a busy day, may we still implement our disciplines. I know it can be hard, so God I pray for your guidance. I pray that our hearts are so on fire for you that we would do everything we can to look more like you. We thank you for who you are and for the Father that you are to us. I pray that we keep our eyes focused on you in all that we do. We love you and praise you. In Jesus’ name! Amen!