3 Misconceptions about self discipline that will help you reach your goals and no longer hold you back.

 Are you ready to be self disciplined enough to be successful?

Look, I know a thing or two about self discipline. 

I was a highly competitive gymnast in my two legged life and self discipline was a badge of honor for me until I found myself in the depths of burn out. 

For years and years I thought self discipline was the act of going big every single day. I prided myself on the leaps and bounds I was making because of my self discipline… until I realized I was so, sooooo unhappy, stressed, and missing out on every other part of life outside of my goals.

How could I call myself successful if I hated the life I was living?

Sure, I was reaching goals, but the thought of ending my life sounded so much better than achieving another big dream. 

Where was this disconnect coming from?

I didn’t understand what self discipline truly was, so below are 3 mindset shifts I unpacked, unlearned, and relearned for my own self love and ability to achieve goals happily and healthily. 

1. You have to make huge leaps and bounds every day for your goals to happen.

Bestie, that’s some bullshiiiiii. 

Self discipline is about making small, sustainable steps. It’s about showing up, even if you only have 5 minutes and 5% to give. Goals happen when you choose to Show up and give that 5%. This is significantly more impactful than giving 100% and quitting because you’ve stretched yourself too thin. Achievement happens though showing up consistently and doing what you can that day.

Even as a Paralympic Champion I struggled to show up to the gym consistently. If I felt like I couldn’t give 100% I wouldn’t go. I struggled to build a routine around the gym because it was easy to find a reason I wasn’t good enough to show up that day. What happened during this time; I was ALWAYS sore, tired, and unmotivated to show up. 

Here’s the thing, while snowboarding is important in my sport, the gym is equally, if not more important. If I wanted to sustain and build progress, something needed to change. 

I decided it was time to get on a schedule of just showing up. I would go to the gym everyday I was scheduled to and I would do something. Even if it was to spin on a bike while watching Netflix. I was building consistency and small wins that would have a compounding effect on my career. 

“Small” wins are better than no wins.

Now, I have a habit of going to the gym and I actually love showing up. I know that showing up is more than enough. Some days I can go harder and push more than I have ever done before, and some days I struggle through the warm up. Regardless, I built the muscle of self discipline which will only create benefits.

2. I need to make huge wins to make progress. 

Wins are wins no matter the size. When we look back on our dreams whether we achieved them or not we can find a long, longggg list of successes and failures. While the failures teach us how to be better, the successes are just as important. 

I don’t know about you, but I find it harder to find meaning in my small successes than in my small failures. The small failures have a greater impact on how I show up, but the reality is the small wins are just as important. 

Why does this have an impact on self discipline? We tend to give up on our goals after failures, but we don’t stay in the process because of the equally impactful wins. When we keep note of our wins we can allow ourselves to keep showing up, see our work pay off, and know that this journey of achievement is in the little parts, not the huge shifts. 

Success is a compounding of small victories… When we allow ourselves to celebrate them we give ourselves permission to continue our success journey. 

The only way this happens? By doing it dumbass lol 

3. Discipline does nothing for me.

Discipline, like resiliency, confidence, and BLANK is a mental muscle that needs to be strengthened. Often when we increase our discipline we begin to see more results, wins, and overall benefit in our achievements. Through this upward momentum we also gain confidence, self esteem, and overall feelings of wellbeing. Shoot, I am writing this email and I am gaining feelings of “yas queen” because I chose to show up even though I didn’t fully feel like it. Once I started, those good feelings began flowing through me and BOOM. Here I am checking off one to-do list item at a time. 

Best friend, it’s all in the small wins that make success possible. Showing up COUNTS AS A FREAKING SMALL WIN!!! So celebrate! I will be celebrating with a little dance moment hahaha I am sure you’ll see it online 😉