Discipline is merely the embrace of long term goals for which the expected reward is delayed, and at the expense of short term desires. Motivation still comes first. You can't discipline yourself if you aren't motivated to do so. You can't do anything if you aren't motivated to do so.
Exactly my thought. The author doesn't understand what motivation is.
From the article:
> By contrast, discipline is like an engine that, once kickstarted, actually supplies energy to the system.
That's literally how motivation works. Discipline is just a cultural framing of it of things like motivation and rigor.
The thing is that yes, cultivating habits or even just _small_ goals and wins can snowball into you getting more and more disciplined. I know this from first hand experience having suffered depression and severe motivation issues. The only way out is to start with small goals and celebrating your tiny seemingly pathetic achievements.
If I'm allowed to play armchair psychologist, I think this article might just be that. A celebration of having built habits and getting more motivated. Call it discipline because that sounds stronger. If that's true: Great! I congratulate OP. It's hard and it _should_ be celebrated.
I agree with this. Motivation is the why you might want to do something, and discipline is part of the how you get that something done.
Clinical depression, a not uncommon issue, is characterized by having no motivation to do anything, and discipline won't help much in that situation.
Also, one's state of mind can be managed by discipline if one is motivated to do so - for example, I have a ~20-min routine to get into the proper frame of mind for writing or coding, which basically is a bit of cleaning up the workspace, a bit of breathing exercises, a bit of physical exercise, quick shower/brush teeth/etc if needed, then I can work for a few hours in a focused positive state of mind. Discipline means initiating that whole process on a regular schedule.
This is why activities that constantly motivate you are easier to do. Eg video games or sports (physical activity). They give you rewards while you're doing them, so you keep doing them. Starting them is hard, but it's easy to keep them going.
This sounds like the same people who claim that willpower is not affected by stress. I think that is the elephant in the room. So many people are very stressed by their lives and this leaves little room for "optional" things they know they should be / want to be doing.
