Discipline Equals Freedom

If you’ve heard of Jocko Willink, you’ve probably heard him say or write about how discipline equals freedom.

Is it true? Does Discipline Equal Freedom?

Here’s the idea behind the concept from an interview posted on Forbes.com.

Jocko Willink: While Discipline and Freedom seem like they sit on opposite sides of the spectrum, they are actually very connected. Freedom is what everyone wants — to be able to act and live with freedom. But the only way to get to a place of freedom is through discipline. If you want financial freedom, you have to have financial discipline. If you want more free time, you have to follow a more disciplined time management system. You also have to have the discipline to say “No” to things that eat up your time with no payback—things like random YouTube videos, click-bait on the internet, and even events that you agree to attend when you know you won’t want to be there. Discipline equals freedom applies to every aspect of life: if you want more freedom, get more discipline.

Read full interview with Jocko Willink.

I first heard about this idea several months ago and while it sounds kind of hardcore at first, I like it. I talk a lot with my clients about the value of building and practicing great habits over relying on motivation.

Being disciplined basically means practicing the habits that will help you reach your goals, no matter what you might feel like or how motivated you are on a given day. Sure, motivation can get things rolling, but it’s your habits that will keep things going long-term. And that’s what matters.

Most the time when I’ve talked about this with clients, and even how it plays out in my own life, I think about training and nutrition. You can see how being disciplined with your training and nutrition gives you freedom after some practice.

If you get in the habit of eating well most of the time, you buy yourself the freedom to go out sometimes and not stress about what you eat or drink. You know you’ll get right back to your normal the next day or after vacation is over. Being disciplined with eating healthy foods and exercising regularly gives you the freedom to feel your best, focus on what matters most to you and ups your chances of living a longer, healthier life. Besides that, movement generally provides momentum for you to keep accomplishing other things all day long. Productivity rocks, right?

It’s valuable using this idea in fitness and nutrition. But, fitness and nutrition jabber aside, there’s something else that’s been top of mind for me lately.

Discipline and Work/Life Balance

You’ve likely seen me posting often about my struggles and overall thoughts on work/life balance. While balance is all the rage, if you want to accomplish great things, you must work hard. You must be disciplined with your time. And you must schedule in your priorities.

Here’s where I think we go wrong with this. When we think of the word schedule it sounds work-y, or chore-based doesn’t it? It sounds kind of the opposite of fun.

However, if I asked you what your priorities are, I bet you’d come back and include things like family, work, time with friends, etc. Great. Schedule all of those things in. Not just the work. Not just the chores. Not just the exercise dates. Make a plan that includes some time for all of your biggest priorities and execute the plan. No matter what you feel like or what feels important at the time.

Right now Mike and I are about to enter a particularly crazy time with work. Our schedules are changing a bit and we’re really focused on systemizing some things at the gym. We have several weekend seminars coming up. We could easily work all day every day, but that’s neither productive or a great way to live our best life.

Schedule Your Priorities

Our priorities absolutely include work, but even more importantly time with our kids and time with friends and family.

We’re learning that we have to basically live-or-die by the calendar this spring. That doesn’t mean only task-oriented or work-related things go on there. We’re scheduling in date nights, self-care, and time with friends. Sure, it feels kind of restrictive, but it’s necessary right now if we want to achieve any type of work/life balance.

Here’s an example. We went from a sick kiddo right into a Nor’easter last week. We had another snowstorm yesterday. I immediately hop into stress mode when I can’t work or we have to cancel clients and classes. It often feels like I need to ditch all the fun things in order to work and make up for “lost” time. Like, the girls night I have scheduled for tonight. Fortunately, I am NOT cancelling it. Shoot…I need it more than ever. #priorities #wine #girlfriends #getoutofthehouse

With lots of practice, and messing up plenty in the past, I know that’s not good. And honestly, not productive. No matter what happens weather-wise, sickness-wise, or in our business, I still need time to connect with friends, date my husband and spend quality time with my kids.

When we were younger and had less responsibilities, we didn’t have to schedule much in the way of fun. It just happened. And it happened often. We hit a point where it wasn’t happening and we lost track of our real priorities. I bet you’ve done this too.

During busy times do you tend to drop your date nights, ditch your friends, and skip out on the things you truly enjoy? What if you were more disciplined with your schedule? Could you find a way to practice these things as habits so they feel easier? You just might {read: you will!} find you focus more during the work times when you’re making space for your relationships and self-care anyway.

Scheduling in your priorities doesn’t mean you need to be working or training or being productive all the time.

Scheduling your priorities, which dang well better include some fun and relationship-building activities, truly does give you the freedom to live your best life.