Discipline or Motivation? Neither
“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.”
— Benjamin Brown Jr.
What’s the most vital attribute of long lasting success? Some believe that having that spark, that “why” we define as motivation is enough. Others argue that motivation is unreliable and fickle. They claim discipline is the true backbone of any success story.
What’s the Difference?
Motivation is energy. It is the fuel and emotional drive to do anything. At any given moment, we have many motivations competing for our attention. Anyone that has ever had a great workout one day and a pint of ice cream the next can attest to this. Just like like any source of energy, it must be tamed and properly channeled or it is lost.
Discipline is the engine. It’s the consistent repetition of specific actions towards any goal. It is all the small decision between what we want now and what we want most. Thus, it is usually associated with things we likely don’t want to do, but have to. Maybe we picture marines waking up at 4 AM or being locked away in a library during a difficult semester. How often we demonstrate discipline is determined by how strong our motivation, our “why,” towards a particular goal really is.
What’s Missing?
Working hand in hand, both forces help us break through our doubts, fears, laziness, and inconvenient circumstances. Yet even with these two working in perfect harmony, we still might see the end result as a failure. A common example of this is when people pursue careers exclusively for the money, but are miserable once they get those careers.
The truth is, in order to be successful, truly successful, we need awareness.
We need to examine what makes our goals “ours.” We need to ask if what we want is what we want — not what our parents want, not what our friends want, not what society wants. We need to know whether we are making decisions based on fear or growth. While motivation and discipline are powerful forces that can carve a path through any mountain, awareness is what decides where that path leads.
Unlock Your Potential
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