May 17, 2024 “How Discipline are You?”
Discipline, all of us have it, most don’t use it, and little of us get it. Self-discipline is the ability to control oneself and make conscious choices. It involves doing what needs to be done, even when one doesn’t feel like doing it. Many of you don’t know how to become disciplined. You have goals and want things, yet you aren’t disciplined enough to achieve them. Self-discipline keeps you from eating too many chips after you decide to eat more nutritious food, or it keeps you from using all your paychecks to buy unnecessary clothes. Self-discipline looks different for everyone, exercising control might come easier for some of us than others. However, everyone can learn to strengthen their self-discipline “muscles.”
I have a client that has been complaining that she isn’t seeing the results she wants to see. I suggested she try one of the juice cleanses. I have been counseling some of you on the Arden Garden juice cleanses as a means to become more disciplined and jump start your health and fitness goals.
A juice cleanse, even if you start with three days, will help you detox your body by flushing toxins and waste from your body while providing healing nourishment. Juice cleanses support the body’s natural detox processes by clearing the diet of sugar, caffeine, refined foods, and other substances that can deplete energy.
If you stick with a three-day cleanse, you have exercised discipline. You have exercised self-control, commitment, and determination to achieve a health and fitness goal.
The importance of discipline in achieving health and fitness goals cannot be overstated. It serves as the driving force behind consistency and dedication to your exercise routine and dietary habits, leading you towards success. Whether your goal is weight loss, muscle gain, or simply improving overall health and well-being, discipline plays a significant role in keeping you focused and on track.
However, as many of us have experienced, discipline can be challenging, for several reasons:
1. Comfort Zone: Discipline often requires stepping out of your comfort zone, which can be uncomfortable and even painful. For many a juice cleanse is scary because they have never experienced not eating for 3-5 days and only drinking fruit or vegetable juices. The mind can’t wrap itself around not eating food even for such a brief period as 3-5 days.
2. Instant Gratification: We're wired to seek immediate rewards, making it difficult to delay gratification and stick to long-term goals. Although we want to lose weight, we want it to happen now, not later. After only 3 days on a juice cleanse, you will notice a change in how your body feels, it may not feel instantaneous but if you stick with it, you will have learned to suspend your need for indulgence.
3. Emotional Resistance: Discipline can trigger emotions like frustration, anxiety, or boredom, leading to procrastination and avoidance.
4. Lack of Clarity: Unclear goals or priorities can make it hard to stay disciplined, as you may feel uncertain about what to focus on. Completing a juice cleanse is a clear goal. You can sit down and decide I am going to for 3-5 days follow this regime and stick with it. The goal isn’t weight loss or becoming healthy in 3-5 days but accomplishing the goal of completing the cleanse.
5. Competing Priorities: Multiple demands on your time and energy can make it difficult to maintain discipline, especially if you're trying to juggle multiple goals. Self-discipline is a mindful process. You must make conscious decisions about your goals, including writing them down, determining what is required to complete them, and prioritizing them. Recognizing when you have competing priorities you have to be even more disciplined to achieve your goals.
6. Habits: Existing habits can be hard to change, and discipline requires replacing old habits with new ones. By creating new habits and adhering to a consistent schedule and not allowing excuses to get in the way, you are more likely to see improvements in your health and fitness. Additionally, discipline allows you to push through challenges and setbacks that may arise during your fitness journey.
7. Self-Regulation: Discipline requires self-control, which can be depleted throughout the day, making it harder to stay disciplined as time goes on. While external motivation such as personal trainers or workout buddies can be beneficial, self-discipline ultimately comes from within. This internal motivation is what ultimately drives you to make positive choices regarding your health and fitness.
8. Environmental Factors: Surroundings, social pressure, and cultural influences can either support or hinder discipline. When challenges arise, such as a busy work schedule, fatigue, or lack of motivation, it is discipline that allows individuals to push through and stay on track with their fitness routine. Someone with discipline will find ways to fit in their workouts despite a hectic day, prioritize rest and recovery when needed, and seek support or professional guidance when facing obstacles.
9. Mindset: A fixed mindset or limiting beliefs can make it harder to adopt a disciplined approach to life.
10. Willpower: Discipline requires willpower, which is a limited resource that can be exhausted if not managed effectively. Self-discipline determines whether you stick to your fitness plan when faced with temptations or obstacles.
Remember, discipline is like a muscle that can be developed with practice, patience, and persistence. Start small, build gradually, and be compassionate with yourself when you encounter setbacks. Set specific and achievable goals. Again, I suggest trying a 3–5-day juice cleanse, because it is a small, specific, and achievable goal, it will jumpstart your fitness journey and help you gain self-discipline. You got this. No Mess
