The Trap of Being Disciplined

I've always valued being disciplined. You probably do too.

I frequently look for ways to be more disciplined in my work, in my personal growth, and in how I go about dealing with this weird thing we call life.

But I've recently noticed that thinking you are "disciplined" can creep in as a nasty excuse to make bad decisions.

In my case, it had to do with sleep.

I typically get up around 4:45-5:15 AM every morning, about half an hour to one hour before I'd usually need to be awake to get ready for work. I use this time for personal development, meditation, and working on my business.

I'd recently been really pushing to be more disciplined about my wake-up time, and I was doing well. I was consistent in when I woke up, and I was getting a lot done. I was seeing the classic effects of waking up early.

And then disaster struck.

One night, a terrible idea found its way into my head: "I can stay up late, I'll just get up my normal time anyway. I'm disciplined. Other people do it, so can I."

So I short-changed my sleep. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue for one night under special circumstances.

And then I did it again.

And again.

And again, and again, and again.

I went through this cycle of working off of reduced sleep for a couple of weeks. Boy did I feel it, too.

I was far less focused, I was less motivated, and I felt depressed. I started slipping on my work and habits. And the cherry on top? Before long I wasn't waking up on time!

I made the mistake of assuming that because I am being disciplined today that I can make bad choices and somehow dodge the consequences.

Apparently, the consequences of our actions aren't nearly as easy to fool as we are.

It's perfectly alright, in my opinion, to take a calculated risk or make a slight adjustment every so often. If you are consistently disciplined in the rest of your life, a small conscious choice to adjust things won't have much effect and your discipline will pay off in allowing you that leeway.

The mistake I made was allowing that calculated choice to become a habit. That habit then totally negated all of the hard work I had put in previously.

Don't be like me. If you are trying to be disciplined in your life and work, be just as disciplined in making those calculated adjustments as you would be with anything else.

Have you ever made this mistake? What happened? How did you correct it? Let me know in the comments!