The Dual Definition(s) of Discipline
Or: the role of passion, purpose, and play in cultivating personal discipline.
š Coordinates: The Nest, Argentina. šŖŗ
āš» Vibecheck: (1) Iām going to be evolving this platform in the next month, bringing it into deeper alignment with what I view as the core of my work. Stay tuned. (2) The Hero100 enrolment remains open until April 1st. Join us on a fierce and fluid adventure of personal discovery. (3) Know someone who needs to read this? Share it with them.
Letās talk about disciplineā¦
It likely conjures a clear picture in your mind.
Get up at 5am. Push your limits. Force a behaviour. F*ck your feelings. Jocko. Goggins. Good. Various flavours of masochism.
But if you look up the definition of discipline, Google spits back:
So weāve got two definitions of discipline:
Obedience to a code of behaviour, under threat of punishment.
An area of study.
I want to focus on the second one, and the role surrender plays. Yep, surrender and discipline.
Metaphysical Cookie Cutters
When we talk about a discipline, weāre talking about an established area of knowledge and study. Biology, martial arts, tea, yoga, philosophy. These are all disciplines.
Disciplines are metaphysical cookie cutters.
If you pursue a discipline earnestly, you are moulded by it. Your Mind, Body, and Spirit are shaped by the discipline.
It burns off parts of you that arenāt in alignment. It shapes what remains. You become a living testament, an embodied example of the discipline. If you show up for it.
Disciplines are ancient masters. Living ideas that you can learn from. The more you adhere to the discipline, the more you are shaped by it.
It is an act of faith to submit yourself to the lineage, the tradition, the discipline. But with that leap of faith ā greatness awaits. This runs against most peopleās core need for a sense of control. And so, most of us stay at the surface level of transformational disciplines, failing to surrender completely, and thus limiting our access to the realms of knowledge and experience that the discipline has to offer us.
Surrendering to a discipline is scary, it can also be beautifully transformational. Trust, let go, and be open to the possibility that the discipline itself is benevolent.
Involuntary Discipline
Iām currently obsessed with the idea of involuntary disciplineā¦
Breathing is a voluntary and an involuntary process. You can choose to breathe, or you can let your breath happen to you.
Can discipline be the same way?
Weāre all familiar with voluntary discipline. Making the choice, regardless of circumstance, to do something. But what of involuntary discipline?
Is there a way that discipline happens naturally, an emergent outcome of another process?
Absolutely.
This is where surrender comes in.
If you submit yourself, if you surrender to a higher purposeāa calling greater than yourselfādiscipline is one of the outcomes that emerges naturally.
Involuntary discipline emerges out of total surrender to a discipline.
Yoga is a perfect example. Full surrender to the discipline of yoga will transform every aspect of your life. How you eat, talk, practice, and engage in the world. Your morals, your muscles, your mind.
Yoga asana, the physical posture practice, is a daily action in the discipline of yoga.
The decision to practice, to show up on the mat, is no longer up for debate. It is not a choice. You have surrendered voluntary will to the discipline. Made the singular commitment to enter into relationship with the discipline itself.
The act of showing up each day on the mat is no longer an act of voluntary discipline, driven by willpower ā it is an involuntary byproduct of total submission to the discipline.
Do you see the subtle difference? This is important.
With full surrender to a discipline, individual discipline is a natural byproduct of this commitment. Itās no longer a question. It no longer requires motivation.
Or letās look at an alternative framing. Do you need discipline to play video games? Did you use your willpower to force going out for a fun night with your friends? Although the surface action (showing up consistently) is the same, playfulness and enjoyment require no personal discipline from you.
And it is this balance: the serious discipline and the playful spirit, the ethos of serious play, that we are leaning into here. It is possible, through deep connection to purpose, passion, and play, that involuntary discipline is possible, a naturally occurring outcome of surrender into the game, into the discipline, and into life itself.
This dance of discipline and devotion, the balance between surrender and stamina, is at the absolute heart and soul of the Hero100. We are embarking on a journey of the heartmind, one that is started with discipline and only completed through devotion.
We are entering into relationship with some of the most almighty, all-transformative spiritual disciplines to exist, and surrendering to them. Allowing ourselves to be moulded by them, vitalized through them, and our destinies shaped by them.
We begin April 1st. Letās go get it.