One of my favorite authors is Stuart Wilde. The very first book I read on spirituality was Stuart Wilde’s The Force. If you’ve ever read his books you’ll know that Stuie advocates discipline. At the time, I didn’t buy it. I was a free spirit, I thought. I can’t be hampered down by discipline! I was an artist, a wild soul and also, unfortunately, a total scatter brain!
But I thought, that’s ok, because that’s how creative people are! Only serious, business type people were disciplined and organized. So I ignored brother Stuie’s sound advice and went on my bumbling way. At some point of my journey, as I grew, I realized that being a scatter brain wasn’t so cool anymore, especially since I hardly had any time to myself. I would organize so many things for my “creative, free spirited” self that I would have to rush around with hardly a moment to myself.
I could hardly breathe, much less meditate, take a walk or do anything creative! So I decided to stop telling that story! If you read my last post Stop Telling Stories, Start Talking Visions, I write about how people keep telling their ‘stories’ even if it doesn’t serve them, and that’s exactly what I was doing. Discipline had been ingrained in my belief system as something negative, something that happened in schools and by becoming disciplined it would mean I was doing something against my belief.
Bullshit.
How could I be going against my belief if I was trying to do something that would better myself? Some of the most creative people I know are also the most disciplined! People forget that being disciplined is just taming the mind or the ego. When you are undisciplined you have allowed the ego to have it’s way with you. It controls you, not the other way around.
Right about now, those of you who think I’m just taking out of my behind (much like I thought of Stuie Wilde a few years back), are going, “Phooee! Discipline is for losers. I can make it without discipline!”
Beware the Ego
Well, let me tell you, the ego loves to tell you how you can be the exception. How your Higher Self does not like rigidity and pattern. But I’m not talking rigidness here, I’m talking about making your life easier and more productive so that you have the time and discipline to change for the better! So that you can spend your days doing what makes you happy, passionate and joyful. So that you can meditate, take walks and go for workshops and courses. So you can travel, create art, write, play sports, spend time with your family, love and live free.
What you can do
The number one thing you can do to help you become more organized and discipline is to change your belief pattern. This paves the way for everything else.
As soon as I realized that my belief pattern was stopping me from being more disciplined and organized, I did everything I could to change it. Here are a few things I did (and when I make up my mind, I go all out!):
- Affirmations
- Age Regressions
- Conscious Decision Making
- Meditations
- Had a friend coach me and be there for me
I also grabbed the most productive person I know, my friend Juan, and got him to teach me his ways. I read books on being more organized and productive, I created plans and basically sorted my shit out.
What you will get
You know sometimes when you’re reading about how amazing a person is, with his or her life so perfect with time for family, friends, travel, spirit, love and work? And you think to yourself, “I could never be like that.” Well, that’s exactly what you will get in end. A life that you gently direct and control with enough time for everything that you really want to do.
The Blisscipline
If you do something enough then from a discipline it slowly becomes a blisscipline! You don’t consciously think about doing something, you just do it because now it is habit and when someone asks you how you can have such a ‘perfect’ life it will be difficult to answer because you won’t be able to remember when you didn’t do this effortlessly. You just know that this is bringing you joy and making your life wonderful. Hence the term Blissciplline.
Try These
Try these things for a start and see if you can make it into a Blisscipline.
- Waking up early everyday
- Eating more vegetables
- Eating more fruits
- Meditating daily
- Not gossiping
- Drinking 3 liters of water daily
- Being grateful for things (try Gratitude Log)
- Exercise at least 3 times a week
- Having time for your self
- Paying your bills on time
- Being on time
- Cooking at home (ok, maybe this is more my thing *grin*)
I want to know if you have been having trouble getting more disciplined and what you have done to overcome it if any. Or if you have started anything I’ve mentioned above, please let me know how it is going. If you are someone who is disciplined, then let me know how it has changed your life.
Looking forward to reading your comments!
Love and light!
FinerMinds is hosted by 
This article is great thank you for sharing! It is so important for us to be disciplined in our new habits that we are forming so we can attract more of what we want in our life! This brought me back into focus, just what I needed!
Stephanie Kathan
Cranberry and Sage of Vermont
This article is great and gives me hope — this is something I’ve been struggling with for a long time. I’ve some powerful negative programming about discipline. At the minute I’m disciplined in short bursts. When this happens, everything goes great… I exercise loads, drink green juices and smoothies, get up early, even do housework, get more meditation and journalling done as well as my work. But these bursts don’t last long. Before long I’m sleeping in way past the alarm, missing martial arts classes, eating food that’s not great, not meditating and spending too long on facebook! And my house is like a bomb-site. Then it’s another effort to get going again. I’ve read about 6 books on procrastination and organisation I’d say… I’ve had some regression and got rid of some childhood issues. To be fair I’ve improved a lot. I feel like I’m on the cusp of getting there… but that I really need consistency. I’m using a subliminal programme on my pc at the minute to try and programme my subconscious. I do gratitude journalling, it’s a great thing to do. I hope I get there. At the moment I get so far and then self-sabotage; particularly with exercise, healthy eating and getting up early.
Discipline is against my beliefsystem — I think thats the point I forgot — thanks — maybe that was the/one missing part of my puzzle.
I believe that using the word Blissipline will help me focus on the benefits and not so much any potential negative connotation with the word discipline. It makes me feel focused on the potential positive connotation of discipline.
Most people who are “successful” have been disciplined in some area of their lives ‚whether it be education, honing a craft ‚dance ‚singing or neurosurgurey. Even running a 10K a as form of fittness requires discipline.
Anne
Thanks for the reminder about important things like getting up early to meditate/ exercise. I’ve never been so busy and yet am finding it a joy to say yes to things I love and things I’ve never done before. I’m full time at uni, read to kids on Saturday mornings, have just joined a theatre group (for the first time in my life) and have a young family. I think my belief was that I would get worn out (from my Dad I think).
One of the most powerful habits I’ve formed in the last couple of years is to give thanks every night when I go to bed. I also give thanks for the things that I want to manifest but that haven’t manifested yet. It’s amazing to watch what happens!
If I go to bed feeling a unwell, I give thanks for my abundant good health, and wake up feeling fantastic. Give it a go it really works.
Janet
I think this is good advice. Having a child focused me on doing things that wouldn’t otherwise have been top of my list. But in an attempt to do all the things I liked doing as well as things I didn’t, I over did it and got ill. Now I seem to have found a balance and do stuff I have to do and stuff I like to do without exhausting myself.
To me the word discipline is a label for certain set of activities. Labels tend to take on an identity of their own becoming larger than they were intended. The word discipline is associated with motivation (to my mind) and represents a way less suited to the free thinking world of today.
To me inspiration (or reaching for the spirit within) is a far better way of helping focus on the list of some important activities that you have listed out.
So the ability to keep the attention on your intention, keep your center connected to your values and seek a larger objective for each one of us is the way forward.
Goals to my mind are not the results that you look to achieve only in the short term but it is allowing the fulfillment of your real potential
I too am a free spirit, but have always had areas of discipline in my life — without realizing it! Every night I write in two journals — my daily summary and my gratitude journal. i exercise every day and make a list of important things that must be done to avoid trouble.
I have found focusing on what I love and the positive outcome for those things I do not enjoy (like cleaning the house) makes the unpleasant tasks easier. The best improvement I have ever made in discipline was to allow myself to take little steps. I stopped forcing myself to finish every task all at once and found that getting the job done was so much less stressful than when I thought if I started, I had to finish. Sounds counter-intuitive, but it works. Just giving myself permission to quit when I felt “bored” created the desire to continue! Discipline comes in many sizes…try it, you might like it.
This is very interesting to me. I am in a unique position right now to be able to do whatever I want with my days, and yet Most of the time I end up doing nothing or feeling like I haven’t accomplished anything. I have made positives changes that have become habit, like eating better, drinking lots of water, no junk food or alcohol. I am a very creative person and am also a list maker. I acually love being organized. I have made two lists. The first is one that is Things I Have to Do.(responsablities) the second is Things I Want To Do.(this is where I get to have fun) I try to get as many things on the first list done as I can. The first list is things that I have to have finished within the week. Then I try to do at least three things on my second list. In a perfect world this is all going smoothly. But even though I have it on paper, I still get overwhelmed. Then things get put off for so long that I find myself rushing just to get things on first list done in time. not quite sure how to get out of this little rut. I feel like I’m wasting so much time. I’m glad I found this website-sounds like it’s right up my alley.
Thank you for your words of wisdom.. .
I find singing a positive inspired song everyday.. helps uplift the emotions and conciseness. It makes you feel and look great and motivates you instantly. Singing gives you unstoppable confidence and happiness… and brings harmony and love to those around you… Take the time to learn how to sing well from a good vocal coach… it will be the one thing that you do for your self that can turn your world around..
I know that the word discipline stands for a lot of success. Watch out not to put too much restriction on yourselves. This life means change, so your discipline also must change. I must have time to be lazy when I want and discipline stops me in that. Who he hell can judge this to be wrong. I know there are rules. The word discipline has more meanings. Discpline say a lot about must. You must sleep early, you must eat this, my opinion Bull shit. I think when you working for a special goal its nice to have some discipline, at that time, to garanteed it. With willpower you will succeed better. Be happy, or fake it till you make it, be creative, awareness, alertness is also very good. Never give up or give in when you really want or don’t want something. Try to live your dreams and if you don’t make it, don’t bother, you succeed in other things. Thats important in life and not just discipline. I even don’t like that word. Maybe preparing as habit for doing certain little things is what i see more as discipline and not big offers, otherwise, you lose a lot from living other expieriences, that life offers. You live only half. You may never experience life complete, you may not know what failure is, depression etc. is. The other word i hear daily is not to procrastinate. I am a champion in procrastination, so who cares. I reach almost all my goals i really want. Maybe some time later. One more thing you can not be succesfull all the time and in everything. So don’t worry be, or fake be happy till you are and don’t worry too much about discipline. It gives you stress. Discipline is for crazy people who are sometimes to much ambitious and never reach out to help others. They have discipline to meet with and do not have time to waist on nobody else, only for themselves. I thank you, remember, this is my personal opinion about discipline. May God bless you.
We are creatures of habit. Creating good habits that lead to our welbeing do initially take effort. Giving up smoking is a fine example, or taking up a hobby that’ll become life giving when we know how. We do need to go through the time of transition — an uncomfortable time — but we’ll enjoy life far more afterwards.
It is right on, the hard part is to keep increasing the things in my life and my beliefs that need discipline. I go to the gym at lunch and my co-workers always comment on that. Truth is I have been doing this for almost 15 years and now cannot remember what it is like to not go to the gym at lunchtime. I needed discipline and it turned into blissipline. I can name many other things that I am doing now out of habit that once I needed will power or something just to get me started. I am a true believer in discipline, schedules, and keeping up a routine. I have found that this has really freed up incredible time and resources for me. Yesterday I went for a run on the beach after I got home from work. Then I went for a swim in the ocean. That was in ADDITION to going to a yoga class at lunchtime. I get up every morning at 5 or 5:30. This might sound like bragging, but in truth it is just having set in motion a few disciplined acts. If I can do it, anyone can. Thanks to Hani for reminding me I am on the right track. Because of all this my spiritual life grows exponentially. As Elvis Costello will sing to us “Whats’ so Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding?”
I have two things to add:
I get up early and find I have a clear mind to plan so I make
1. strong intentions by imagining how happy I will be as if I have completed the task right now
2. Fasting– I get up early and take in a spoon full of honey 30 minute before I eat something pleasing yet nutritious and drink fresh juice and lots of water, then take I don’t eat or drink until Sunset.-WHY? when you eat extra air liquids and blood must go to the stomach and associated organs which take from blood air, nutrition etc. need for high level thinking and discipline. Also around or just before Sunset your energy level is at its highest points and you burn more calories, exercise with stronger gains and think clearer.
Note: Try breaking your fast with dates and spring water. The recovery value found in dates is nearly scientifically unmatched. after 15 to 20 minutes I like to have a healthy smoothie, green goodness or light healthy meal.
I remind others to start with short hours if neccessary, work at your level but stretch just beyond the edge in order to grow and we all slip or make a mistake at times and eat or drink something. consider it a gift and discontinue eating and attempt to make it until sunset.
peace
I find it difficult to sit down and think about my life. I tried every possible best to figure out my gift and my God giving talent. Please, can you help me know who i really am?