Dear inconsistent reader,

You’re in the right place; I too am struggling with consistency and am looking for a way to make habits, disciplines and motivation feel more effortless. To begin, let’s start with defining them and then look into ways we can support these actions.

Habits– deeply engraved patterns of behavior that is learned

Discipline– needed to build the habit, consistency doing something even when you don’t feel like it

Motivation– the driving force to be discipline, a feeling

Though motivation is great to start momentum, we can’t rely on it to reach our goals as feelings come and go. If we relied on this, we most likely would revert back to our old ways. So, we need to focus on developing discipline and turning our actions into habits.

In order to remember a difference between the two, I am going to describe how we should view them, with one word;

Discipline = Mandatory

Habit = Instinctive

Though we need discipline in order to achieve habits, we’re going to talk about habits first, because thru discipline, habits is where we want to end up- our goal is to have our actions feel effortless and be instinctive. I do believe once this happens our choices become less daunting as now all we’re doing is… living (and hopefully making intentional decisions).

Habits

One strategy that I found works for me when building habits is habit stacking. That’s when you take a habit that you’re currently doing well and attach another habit to it. For instance, you can say [When I take a shower, I moisturize afterwards] or [When I feed the dog and give him his supplements, I then take mine]. I don’t know those may be odd examples but to honest, they work for me. Basically, you see them as one unit and you can’t do one without the other.

Here’s more examples in my routine,

5:30AM- Wake- stacked with getting ready for gym/ get active

6:20AM- Make pre-workout drink- wash dishes in sink

6:45AM- Weightlift- stacked with 15min walking the pup

As time goes on and we start to introduce new habits, if we’re able to, this would be one way I’d like to handle them as this for me always feels more effortless. However, this only works when the fixed habit and the new habit make sense together which may not always be the case.

This is where self-discipline makes its way in. Since discipline is one of the areas I could use help in, I turned my questions to Chatgpt and below is what I got. (Yes, I know Chatgpt isn’t the holy grail, but we need to start somewhere!)

Discipline

1. Don’t rely on motivation. We do things because “it’s what we do” not how I “feel”. We already agreed with this above! Again, this is why we’re trying to hold ourselves accountable and keep our promises to ourselves. We have to start saying to ourselves, “I am this person.” “I eat healthy.” “I get my workouts in.” “I keep an organized house.” Perhaps this is an opportunity to adopt some affirmations or print out your Dream Board from The Dream Phase! (That’s literally what I did)

2. Start small with just 2-3 non negotiables. This is currently the tactic we are using. We are currently focusing on exercise, diet, and 3015-min tasks. Once we’ve got these down, we will continue to add. We have to remember, trying to do too much too fast could leave us in a state of feeling overwhelmed and then we end up not doing anything because we shut down.

3.Create friction for bad habits and ease for good ones. This one is a good one. I do this by not having junk food in the house and not over buying food, so I stick to what is prepped for the week. I also do this by not worrying about my training. I go through a personal trainer company that sends me my workouts every 3-weeks. Now, if I don’t get a workout in I feel as if I’m wasting money.

4.Act before you think or feel. This one I use when I wake up to go to the gym in the morning. When my alarm goes off, I try to jump out of bed or sit up and become alert before I can think too much about how tired I am or how warm the bed is. I also do this with my meal prep. If the husband and I are going out for a date, without thinking too much about it, I will eat my prepped food before going so I am not tempted to eat at the restaurant. Certain things you should just DO and not allow yourself time to make an excuse (when those things are obviously better for you).

5.Build Identity. Ooooh this is a good one and one I definitely lack in. I think this right here is where the core of my problem is. I need to embody a discipline person; become her now, not just “in the future.” I am having trouble taking on the persona which I think is holding me back. Fake it until you make it!

After reviewing the Chatgpt 5-Steps to Discipline this is where I believe I stand; I need to read my Dream Board more often so I am constantly being reminded of what I am striving for and possibly use it to guide it in some affirmations, I need to practice on acting (in a positive way) before I let myself talk my way out of my responsibilities (i.e make excuses) and I need to “fake it until I make it.” Become her– act like her, talk like her, move like her and make decisions like her.

If you happen to find yourself in a similar situation then the next post may be for you as we dive deeper into tweaking our actions. Let’s keep going! We’re one step closer.

-Lucille