4. Discipline vs Devotion

Discipline is getting yourself to do something you don't want to do.

Devotion is learning how to LOVE doing it.

And once you’re devoted, taking action becomes effortless.

Listen to this episode learn how to develop devotion to your goal.

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   Hey, it's Sarah Arnold Hall, and you're listening to How to Take Action.

  Right before recording this episode, I did not wanna be doing it. I was sitting on the couch thinking how much I could just do it tomorrow, like tomorrow's, Saturday. I could just spend my weekend doing it instead. I don't have to do it today, like I could do it on Sunday. I've got plenty of time then, and I started to talk myself out of making this podcast episode.

  So it's actually kind of perfect because, I think sometimes people think because they see me posting a lot about discipline and taking a ton of action, that that means I never feel any form of procrastination or that I never feel like not following through, which is the complete opposite because actually the reason I'm totally the ideal person to teach this is because like face this stuff all the time, every day I face the struggle of getting myself to do the thing, but I'm so good at doing it now that I understand how to get myself out of that state more and more quickly each time, I'm in it, and so here I am, ready to teach it to you.

  There is a difference between disciplining yourself to do something and being so devoted that you don't even question whether you're gonna do it or not.

  And I wanna talk today about that, about devotion and devoting yourself to your goal so that you don't even need discipline.

  And there are of course times you're gonna need discipline in your life. It's not like you're never gonna need to use that skill. I really believe in learning how to get yourself to be disciplined, and I'm gonna talk about that in another episode. Discipline you might need, for example, in the case of getting yourself to do something that you have no real desire to actually do. Laundry or filing your taxes, but you've gotta do it anyway. And so you need the discipline to follow through even when you don't feel like it. So I will be discussing in another episode how to get yourself into like full on discipline mode.

  But for today I wanna talk about the magic of devotion and how when you devote yourself, it becomes a whole new situation.

  Discipline requires self-control. It means that you have to get yourself to do something you don't really wanna do, and devotion is so different. Devotion is where you feel it's almost effortless. I equally believe in the importance of effort and effortlessness. There are times for both, and the more we can move from effort to effortlessness within our goals, the better. It takes effort to become devoted. But once you're devoted, taking action is completely effortless.

  And so that's the difference and that's why it's so important that we learn, not just discipline, but devotion. Because once you're devoted, you're just gonna do the thing. It doesn't even take any effort. You just do it. Of course you do. It's not even a question.

  So I wanted to give some examples today of where in my life I feel really devoted and where I'm working on my devotion.

  Okay, so how do you become devoted? How do you get yourself to be devoted to your goal? You have to really look at the bigger picture when it comes to devotion. I like to think of it like discipline is looking at the really small, little part of the equation, but devotion. You need to look at the bigger picture. You really need to zoom out and think about your why and your reason behind why you want to go after your goal. And I'll give you some examples from my life because I think that these examples make it all really clear.

  So, for example, I don't drink alcohol and I don't think there's anything wrong with anybody else drinking alcohol, but I just don't drink it myself, and I'm completely devoted to that. I have no need to do it. And sometimes people ask me like, doesn't it take so much discipline? And I'm like, it takes no discipline at all, at all to not drink.

  Like even if there's a glass of wine or a beer or something in front of me, it's just not even an option. Like, I think of it, it's like, it's almost like it's paint water sitting in front of me. You know how like when you do like, painting and you've like, you've got a, a paintbrush that's dipped in the water and it's going all gray and brown from all the different colors that you've dipped in it. It's not like you would have to discipline yourself or I would have to discipline myself to. Not drink that, of course I'm not gonna drink it and just, I'm devoted to not putting paint water in my body just the same way as I'm devoted to not putting alcohol in my body. It's not that I think there's anything wrong with it, I just don't wanna do it. So I'm completely devoted.

  One thing that I am working on to get become devoted to is my health. So, I do currently need to discipline myself to exercise or to sleep at a certain time. And I know that's because I don't have a bigger why. My health is relatively okay. It's pretty good. And so, shifting from disciplining myself to exercise, to devoting myself to it is going, is taking a process.

  It's not instant, like I said before. It takes effort to be devoted, but once you're devoted, then it's effortless.

  I also wanna make the distinction between energy and effort, because of course it's going to take energy to do things in your business or in at the gym or in whatever part of your goal that you have. Of course, it's gonna take energy, but it's effortless to use that energy, right? Like of course you just show up and do it. Of course you will. You're devoted.

  I really think of devotion like this, almost like giving of yourself over, like you sacrifice in such a beautiful way. Like you want to, you want to give yourself, you want to sacrifice yourself to this goal. You would do anything for it, kind of like a mother duck for her ducklings. You would just do anything for those little ducklings. You're just completely devoted to them.

  How do you find that bigger why? You really wanna ask yourself, why does this matter to me? Because right now with my exercise, it matters to me cuz I'm gonna stay healthy, but I'm kind of already sort of healthy-ish and I don't really notice a difference when I exercise right now.

  So I know that I'm going to need to search for reasons why it is absolutely paramount that I start exercising and, sleeping at the same time every night. And it's not gonna have to come from a place of like being scared, right? I don't have to scare myself or into taking action like you're gonna die if you don't do exercise three times a week, right?

  I could pick a goal that is really exciting. Like, for example, doing a marathon or doing a big, doing an Ironman or, competing in a competition. Something that would mean that going to the gym had meaning behind it. And if I don't go, then I'm gonna have an issue later on, and so I wouldn't have to discipline myself because I would just be devoted to going.

  So you really wanna find out for yourself. I would do a journaling exercise if I were you, and this is what I've been currently doing with my health as well, is journal on the question: why is this so important to me? What are the consequences if I don't do this? Why am I devoted?

  And instead of thinking to yourself when it comes to time to do the thing that you need to do for your goal, instead of thinking like, Ugh, I should do this. I have to make myself do it. Ask yourself why you want to do it, why it's so important to you.

  And so, for example, with this podcast episode today, have to discipline myself, but I did have to ask myself again why I was devoted to doing it. And I am devoted because I have a mission to help people take action in their lives, cause I think it's gonna change the world if we can all learn how to get ourselves to take action.

  And so devotion really becomes part of who you are. When you devote yourself to something fully, you are changing who you are and how you see yourself as a person. It's not just an action that you're doing, it's a lifestyle. It's a personality, it's an identity. It's a self-concept of the kind of person that you are.

  You're like, you're the kind of parent who always picks their kids up from school because you're devoted to them. You're the kind of person who always shows up for your clients or you're business. You're the kind of person who puts their health first and and makes that an absolute priority.

  Devotion takes time. You're probably not gonna wake up one day in the morning and just realize I'm completely devoted to this goal that I wasn't devoted to yesterday. It's going to be a process of continually thinking about why you're devoted to this until one day you really do feel completely devoted.

  The reason why devotion is so powerful is because you are really saying to yourself, I want to do this thing, which is different from discipline where you're telling yourself, I don't really wanna do this thing, but I'm gonna do it anyway.

  It's you really making the shift from feeling trapped like you have to do the thing and feeling free, like you get to do the thing.

  So devotion is really a two-part process. It's asking yourself, why is this so important to me? And then reminding yourself when it comes time to take the action, I want to do this. I'm devoted to doing.

  All right. That's it. I will talk to you in the next episode.

  Hey, if you enjoyed listening to this podcast, you're gonna love being coached by me. We're gonna solve your specific action taking struggles so you can hit any goal you set. Just go to saraharnoldhall.com to sign up.