POWER OF DISCIPLINES - The Superiority of Discipline Over Motivation (chapter 6)

POWER OF DISCIPLINES

The Superiority of Discipline Over Motivation

In this video, we’ll talk about the superiority of discipline over motivation.

Finally, it is important that you understand why being disciplined is more important than being motivated. To simply put, being disciplined can impact your life in a more effective manner than being motivated.

Let us look at some of the important reasons as to why discipline is superior to motivation.

Duration

Being disciplined is a state of mind. Hence, it exists for a longer duration. On the other hand, motivation is more of a thought and is often based on the situation. You may be motivated to do a certain task today. That doesn’t imply that you will be motivated to do the same task tomorrow.

Motivation does not exist in a uniform manner at all times. You may be highly motivated now, but you might lack in motivation during the rest of the day. 

However, disciplining your mind is an ongoing process and does not vary drastically. For example, if you are disciplined to hit the gym every day for an hour, you will do it no matter what! 

Stability

Discipline is more stable and is capable of helping you change your

lifestyle in the long run. It will help you to make incremental changes to your life and get rewarded in the process. On the other hand, your motivation levels can be compared to the effects of consuming a drug.

You feel extremely motivated at the beginning of the day. As the hours fly, your motivation levels also keep fluctuating drastically. Some of us need external stimuli to even get motivated at times. But, once you discipline your mind, it doesn’t have to be probed any further.

Impact

The impact of motivation is only short lived. You would appreciate

the impact of motivation only for the time being, while it still lasts.

For example, you lack the motivation to go to work. You will then

look for an external stimulus to motivate you to get out of bed and

get ready for work. The effects of the motivation are no longer felt

or appreciated, the moment you reach office.

As I already mentioned before, the benefits of self-discipline

are capable of changing your life and can be felt in the long run too.

Hence, disciplining yourself has a greater impact than being

motivated.

In other words, self-discipline is more effective in helping you

improve your lifestyle than motivation.

Energy required

In the case of motivation, sometimes we require external stimuli to

get started. So, a good amount of our energies will be spent trying

to motivate ourselves. Once motivated, the rest of the energy will

be spent towards completing the task. When you constantly rely on

motivation to start your work, you feel handicapped and unproductive, in the absence of an external stimulus. This has an impact on the quality of your work as well as your productivity.

On the other hand, self-discipline trains your mind and body to function in a certain way. For example, you may discipline your mind to do a set of tasks as soon as you wake up. When this discipline exists, you don't need any kind of motivation to carry out these tasks. You will automatically be spending your energy and effort on completing these tasks.

In other words, being motivated takes up a lot more energy than

being disciplined.

 Promoting consistency

As I already mentioned, motivation is a temporary emotion. When

you rely on motivation to commence your work, there will be times

when you abstain from working, just because you don't feel like it.

In the absence of any motivating factors, you will not be mentally

prepared to undertake any activity.

If you are forced to work on something, despite lacking the motivation to do so, the quality of your work will be severely impacted. You will not be able to apply your efforts in a consistent manner.

On the other hand, if you are self-disciplined, you will be able to focus on your work, irrespective of your state of mind.

Your efforts will be channelized in a consistent manner, irrespective of how motivated you feel to work. Thus, being disciplined, helps in ensuring that your productivity levels are not affected and the quality of your work is not compromised. To put it in simpler terms, you will be solely dependent on your mind or rather, your discipline to guide you and not look for any external stimuli to make you focus on work.

It is because of the consistency element, you need to be disciplined first before you look for motivation. There may be situations in life, where no matter how hard you try, you will not be motivated, but you still must deliver your best.

In such circumstances, if your mind is already disciplined to take action, you will be able to handle the situation in a calm and composed manner, without having to worry about motivational factors.

Sustainability

You will be able to sustain your self-discipline for a longer period of time. In fact, once you discipline your body and mind to behave in a certain way, unless you decide to change it, you will be able to sustain your state of mind. Your self-discipline will help you sustain your energy levels as well, since your efforts will be more channelized and efficient. Hence, self-discipline is more of a self-fueling system.

On the other hand, motivation is a short-lived phenomenon.

You will have to expend a lot of energy and rely on so many other

factors, to stay motivated at all times. Hence, motivation becomes

difficult to sustain over a longer duration.

These are some of the important reasons why self-discipline is far

superior to motivation!

 

You become a self-sufficient individual, when you are disciplined.