Abundantly Alive in Christ

Discipline conjures up images of pain and of doing things that are uncomfortable. But I would like to review and revamp my idea of what discipline is.

I think what discipline should be is getting oneself to do certain things that may not seem to produce any payoff in the short run but have a good chance of paying off in the longer term. Framed in such a way, discipline works best when it is defined as a practice of 2 parts:

Part 1) the learning or acquiring knowledge of what exactly I want to achieve in the long run. (knowing what I want)

Part 2) learning that good things and payoffs worth acquiring often require a cost (the “law of equivalent exchange”), and that if I would like to gain a particular benefit in the long term, I have to commit to making some sacrifice in the short-run (often it is time or effort or both)

In this view, “discipline” is not some thing one would need to force on oneself. It is merely the acquisition of the right kind of knowledge. The knowledge of oneself and what one desires, and the knowledge of causation: if I do this, I will most likely get that. And since I want that, I ought to do this.