Discipline on repeat

Motivation gets you started, discipline keeps you going. When you're due get up for the gym and get past that tired moment in bed, or that time you're supposed to leave the office to get your sweat on.

The good thing about fitness, is that after the next hour of your life, you will feel a whole lot better. I've been through a couple of different phases of my life than involved discipline where the end result of the next project was not gratification or endorphins, nor was it setting me up for a better day.

Things like over a decade of military service and all of the training and drills that come with it and also traditional martial arts.

In traditional martial arts an old school mentality still exists in a modern world. My brain always wants to try to hardest thing first, and in my younger days, in Ninjutsu, I wanted to use the live blade, the Katana, the sword. After a couple of years, my sensei realized that I was not going to stop until I had an opportunity to train with the live blade, which was traditionally reserved for black belts. It would be many years beofre my black belt and I couldn't wait.

A deal was struck where I would have to complete 1000 'cuts' with a wooden Bokken (training) sword before touching the live blade out of respect for the weapon and the lineage.

Looking back now, it's an unusual enough situation, but at the time, it was my purpose, my life's work. Arriving early to every training session I'd get on my knees in an upright posture on a wooden floor into the position called seiza. I'd raise the heavy Bokken, lower behind my back and cut a thousand times. By the time that was over, I usually had very little time to actually use the blade, and even when I did, I was scared of it.

Motivation gets you started. discipline keeps you going. On the other side of discipline, there needs to be something that you really want, an intrinsic motivation, a goal, a way of feeling or a new life for you and potentially even your family.

When you get there, which you do in fitness if you just keep showing up, discipline is involved in staying there. The good news is it feels good. The even better news is when you get used to feeling this good with fitness in your life every other day, you just don't want to go back, so you protect that feeling and protect that state of mind.

The old forms are discipline, such as the military, or traditional martial arts in some ways feel like they're phasing out a little bit. The next generation are more protected. There's more information and creativity is fostered.

The thing about hard things is even if you don't prepare for them in a disciplined manner... when things get hard, discipline will be required.

The act of physical training, of doing repetitions over and over again under fatigue is an act of discipline.

It's something that still, unfortunately, a small percentage of the world will do. When you show up multiple times in the week to the gym, that makes you different. That makes you somebody that is prepared to work hard to be better, to do better, to do more. Realize it, commend yourself and work so hard that you inspire your family and friends. After all health is the most important thing.