How To Master Discipline.
To stick with a habit consistently, you need a pain point and a pleasure point.
I’m on a mission to heal my cystic acne. And it’s not going to be easy. To do this, I need my two points.
My pain point:
Insecurity, lack of confidence, and the pain of showing my bare face in public.
My pleasure point:
I’m going to feel radiant, healthy, and confident once my skin is clear, and all the hard work will be worth it.
The same principle can be applied to any scenario.
If you want to adopt the habit of going for daily walks, here’s what that may look like:
Pain point:
Feeling like a lazy sack of shit sitting at home, not being a productive member of society.
Pleasure point:
The feeling of accomplishment and wellbeing.
The goal is to have your pleasure point exceed your pain point.
You want the reward to be far greater than the pain.
The pain will drive you to change because stagnation is more painful than change.
But the reward will trump the pain. The reward acts like endorphins, pushing you through to the very end.
The pleasure point is your reminder of what you’re working towards. In those moments where you want to give up or sleep in for another hour, your pleasure point will instil within you the discipline to keep going because the pain of stagnation is worse than the pain of change.