The Discipline

"Consistency is the key." It's a suggestion I heard several times when I was talking about writing on my own site. I have not done a great job with that...

This has been a busy time, but I won't lean on that as an excuse. I could have been writing. I keep allowing time-wasters in my life. I'll stream a show, read a book, or just sit around and do a whole lot of nothing. I have to be more disciplined. That's what I'll talk about today: my struggle with self-discipline.

It takes discipline to keep going when you want to quit.

There are two big "D"s that I continue to allow into my life. They keep me from being effective with my work, with jobs around the house, and with ministry work I know I should be doing. I don't think I'm alone. I think there may be a few other guys that deal with these "D"s as well.

Distractions

Distractions are a weakness of mine. I have struggled with them for most of my life. I think WebMD said I was a bit ADD, so I could just use that as my excuse, but I won't. Most of the time, it boils down to "me time." I feel entitled to some time to do something for me, but I feel like it never amounts to anything worthwhile. I'll sit down on the couch and watch a few episodes of a show on a streaming service and find I've wasted an entire evening. Other times, I'll check Facebook just to get rid of the notification numbers on my phone and find I've wasted hours doom-scrolling. I have worthwhile things I could be doing. Some, like writing on here, can even be fun. Why is it always the worthless things that seem to win?

Discouragement

Discouragement, for me, can become an excuse to avoid an activity. I've experienced that several times when working on projects online. I don't get the response I hoped for, or the likes I felt like a post should have had, or I end up dealing with trolls. While I was gaming, I decided I would try streaming. I had a great community of other streamers that helped me get going, and I gained a decent following for a beginner. I was starting to feel like it could go somewhere. One night, I started the stream on a game I liked but hadn't really streamed before and ended up with a couple of trolls as the only active viewers. It was a huge discouragement. I didn't stream much at all after that. I have attempted to play new games, sports, and musical instruments and was discouraged when the progress felt too slow, or if I just couldn't "win."

Both of the negative "D"s can be overcome with a positive "D." Discipline is like a muscle. I've been trying to exercise that muscle a lot lately. I'm working on consistent action in four areas of life. A men's event I recently attended referred to the four areas as the four pillars: Faith, Family, Fitness, and Finance. Now we have "F"s and "D"s involved. I feel like this sounds a little like a bad report card...

Faith

I started trying to get out of bed a lot earlier a couple of months ago. My alarm goes off at 5 am, and the intention is to spend time in the Bible and time praying. It has been a good change. I have the time to really dig into study or just spend some time getting real with God as I talk with Him to start my day. The effect has been incredible, and getting up earlier has started to be easier.

Family

I want to be very intentional with my family relationships. This year, my wife and I set some goals that involved visiting family regularly. The early months of this year were very difficult in that respect. We lost my wife's mom and my dad this year. That made the commitment that much more important. Our family should be the most important set of human relationships we have. It is absolutely worth investing time and energy into those we care about. We don't know how long we'll have with our family members.

Fitness

In 2020, I was doing pretty well. I was going to the gym regularly, I had some good fitness goals, and my cardio was in a good place. When Covid became an issue, I fell off the wagon...hard. I really haven't worked out regularly since 2020. This year, when I set the goals with my wife, I added that to the list. I wanted to do some significant exercise on a regular basis. I got a set of dumbbells and started to get to it. Scrolling through weightlifting reels on YouTube certainly wasn't doing the trick, so I set some regular exercises and charted the results.

Finance

This one has been tough for me. We are in an okay spot with our general finances, but I feel like we could be much healthier. I have acted on this with study for now. I am going through a handful of books about having my money work for me rather than me working for my money. I had heard that before, but I dismissed it because I felt like I wasn't making enough. Obviously, I was missing the point. I am now working on making connections with people that are able to advise on how to set things up to accomplish that idea. I am looking forward to seeing how that goes. There is certainly risk, but that's just part of the game.

Discipline

I'll try to land this plane. With all of the areas of my life, I know that I have not been anything close to perfect. They all take practice. I can't be the best at the four pillars without starting at ground level and building the pillars bit by bit. The practice may not make perfect, but it will make progress. That's all I should be worried about. As a practical step, I am trying to chart the goals that I set early this year so I can see where I am making progress or where I need help. That's where having those Fellow Warriors can come in to step to the next level. I should not be embarrassed that there are aspects of my progress that aren't the best. I need to own the current status and get some help or advice as I try to reach the marks I have set for myself and those that God puts on my heart. Fellow Warriors are a key component. Discipline doesn't have to be exercised alone. I have some good guys that will hold me to my commitments and check on my progress. I do the same for them. That's where I can excel. That's where I can be disciplined better than just going at it alone. Be that Fellow Warrior!