Cultivating\u00a0inner discipline is something that takes patience.\u00a0Expecting\u00a0rapid results is simply a sign of impatience.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 – – – The\u00a0Dalai Lama<\/p>\n
\u201cHow\u00a0do I get myself to write? I want to, but I keep getting distracted. I\u2019m so\u00a0resistant, I just can\u2019t seem to get going.\u201d<\/p>\n
This\u00a0issue arises whenever effort is required to accomplish something. We all feel the\u00a0resistance of doing something difficult to improve our lives. As a writer, I\u00a0know the drill about watering the plants until they drown, dusting the shelves for\u00a0the third time or running a vacuum over a perfectly clean carpet instead of\u00a0sitting at the computer. Unfortunately, I know only one tried and true way to
dig in when you don\u2019t feel like it: Don\u2019t wait until you feel like doing something.\u00a0Cultivate discipline, do it now and the rest will show up.<\/p>\n
As\u00a0much as we\u2019d like a magic bullet to help us face what we don\u2019t want to do,\u00a0discipline and consistency are the keys to tackling the thing in front of us. I\u00a0do an hour long private workout session online with a trainer twice a week. I\u2019m\u00a0not champing at the bit to get started. A lot of the time, I\u2019m kind of dreading\u00a0it. I think about the amount of energy I\u2019m about to put out and I drag myself\u00a0to the living room floor, lay down the exercise mat and get ready. I do it because\u00a0I made a commitment to do it. I also do it because there is someone meeting me there\u00a0and I have to show up. But once I begin, it starts to become enjoyable and when\u00a0it\u2019s over, I feel terrific.<\/p>\n
When\u00a0I was twelve years old, I lived in Worcester, Mass, I did my ballet raining in\u00a0Boston and it took about an hour and a half to get there. Sometimes my mother\u00a0drove me, sometimes I took the bus, but however I got there, it was a push. Mentally\u00a0as well as physically. On the bus, I distracted myself by making up stories about\u00a0the people around me. That might have been the beginning of my writing career. When\u00a0I got off the bus and started class, I was always glad I was there.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0the year 2000, I wrote a book called, \u201cRomancing the Bicycle,\u201d for Johnny G.,\u00a0the South African long distance cycling champion who created the training craze\u00a0called \u201cSpinning.\u201d When he was four and a half, in order to escape a disturbed\u00a0family, he climbed on his bicycle, pointed it in the direction of the beach,\u00a0and as he rode, he discovered his spirit and his freedom. It was ironic that the\u00a0very thing that had set him free required diligence, discipline and consistency\u00a0to become the expert that he ultimately became.<\/p>\n
Johnny\u00a0told me about mornings when he didn\u2019t want to train and his wife literally\u00a0shoved him out of bed to go get on his bicycle. I told him about mornings when\u00a0my mind tried to seduce me into skipping my training \u2013 just for one day. I\u00a0didn\u2019t succumb. I knew that if I skipped one day, I\u2019d keep on doing it. The\u00a0constant internal debate \u2013 should I or shouldn\u2019t I, will I or won\u2019t I \u2013 was\u00a0like a voice yakking in my ear. It was an ongoing battle and I had to use my discipline\u00a0to point me where I needed to go. And to go there. I keep in mind that trying to
fight my way through something is not the best way to cultivate discipline. Admitting\u00a0how I really feel about it and finding compassion for myself as I keep my\u00a0commitments will bring a much greater reward.<\/p>\n
Albert
Einstein comes said: \u201cWhen a man is sufficiently motivated, discipline will\u00a0take care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u00a0is a story about Rohan, a young boy with a playful nature who often skipped his\u00a0studies and instead, he played with his friends. One day, he encountered an old\u00a0woman sitting in front of the village pond, observing a lotus flower. She explained\u00a0that the beauty of the flower that rose up from the mud beneath it, was a result\u00a0of their consistent and disciplined growth.<\/p>\n
Rohan\u00a0realized that self-discipline was not about restriction. It was about focused\u00a0effort and perseverance that led to greater achievement and enjoyment. He began\u00a0to set small goals for himself and he noticed the positive changes in his life.\u00a0His focus had improved, his grades went up in school, and he began to respect
himself. He ultimately learned that although it was hard to use discipline, it\u00a0was a powerful tool that allowed people to enjoy the fruits of their labors.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0late Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, said that when he was in a car and he came\u00a0to a red light, instead of complaining about being delayed, he found his\u00a0discipline and took a moment to just breathe. Buddhist teachings emphasize the\u00a0importance of mastering one\u2019s mind and behavior that will lead to liberation\u00a0from suffering. If you don\u2019t act kindly toward yourself, whatever you want to\u00a0achieve will be much harder. If you shame yourself for skipping a session,
you\u2019ll want to skip the next session. If you shame yourself for not finishing\u00a0something, you won\u2019t want to go back to it. If you shame yourself for doing a\u00a0bad job, you won\u2019t want to try to fix it. But if you leave yourself alone and\u00a0do what\u2019s in front of you, the suffering will ease up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cultivating\u00a0inner discipline is something that takes patience.\u00a0Expecting\u00a0rapid results is simply a sign of impatience. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 – – – The\u00a0Dalai Lama \u201cHow\u00a0do I get myself to write? I want to, but I keep getting distracted. I\u2019m so\u00a0resistant, I just can\u2019t seem to get going.\u201d This\u00a0issue arises whenever effort is required to accomplish something. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreacagan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreacagan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreacagan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreacagan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreacagan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2715"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreacagan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2716,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreacagan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2715\/revisions\/2716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreacagan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andreacagan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreacagan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andreacagan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}