Discipline through Fitness

Fitness is the best discipline training method on earth. If you want to build more discipline into your life, try becoming more fit. If you struggle with being disorganized or unfocused, try working out more, training for a triathlon or doing something physical that has to do with your fitness. You’ll find those experiences are the best discipline training methods on earth.

When I’m not working out and in a routine – I find other things are disorganized and messy and unfocused. But when I’m in a solid workout routine – everything falls into place.

The beauty of fitness is the simplicity of it. In contrast to all the stuff out there trying to complicate things and telling you all the stuff you need to have to get fit, there’s only two main components to fitness: Diet & Exercise

Diet = What You Put In Your Body

Exercise = What You Do With Your Body

What’s so amazing is that you have complete control over each of those components. Also, you don’t need a gym membership, a new machine or special classes in order to get in shape or do the things you want to do. You can get in incredible shape with a jump rope and a pull up bar and bodyweight exercises.

When it comes to things like running your business, getting organized or simply getting over mental barriers, it’s easy to have other things come in the way and blame them. Beauacracy, other people, regulations, imagined problems, timelines, and other things you can’t always control. But, when it comes to those two things: what you put in your body and what you do with it – those two things you absolutely control. With a near 100% accuracy, you’re able to control what you put in your body and what you do with it – no matter what. In every other aspect of life, there might be variables, but if discipline is defined as training to improve a skill, then fitness is the one thing you have complete control of if you want to. It’s not easy, but it’s possible.

Why Fitness Is The Ultimate Discipline

Fitness is Measurable

Fitness is measurable. There are metrics. You know whether you’re getting better, faster, stronger or if you’re going in the other direction. The iron never lies. Fitness is measurable. 

Fitness Is Physical

Fitness is a physical activity. It moves you from thinking to doing. It’s a physical activity that forces you to push your physical limits, so you can push your mental ones too. Fitness is physical.

Fitness Is Daily

Fitness is a choice every day. It can take 8 weeks to get into shape and only 2 to lose it all. Every day, you choose to either get more or less fit by the choices you make. There is no pause, coast or cruise control. Fitness is a daily discipline.

Fitness Is Constant Improvement

The default state for everything is stagnation. If you’re not working to improve your fitness daily, it will automatically start deteriorating. Fitness is constant improvement.

Fitness Reflects Your Life

Fitness often reflects how you live the rest of your life. If you’re waking up at 5am, getting your workout in, going for a run and taking a cold shower to start the day, it’s hard to want to slack off the rest of the day. Even if you do – you have a head start on everybody else because you’ve been working for 2 hours by the time everyone else gets up. If you find your fitness regimen disortanized, you’ll tend to find other aspects of life – your business, your social and even your physical stuff  – disorganized. It’s such a big part that Richard Branson calls exercise his #1 productivity hack. Fitness reflects your life