Self-discipline isn’t something you’re born with—it’s something you build. In this science-backed episode of The Choose Hard Podcast, Cody McBroom breaks down the psychology and neuroscience behind self-discipline, explaining how your brain physically rewires based on your habits, and how anyone can develop stronger focus, willpower, and follow-through with the right strategies.
Backed by cutting-edge research, Cody teaches you:
- How daily movement strengthens the prefrontal cortex to improve emotional regulation and decision-making
- Why "If–Then" implementation plans automate discipline and reduce mental fatigue
- How deliberate practice at the edge of your comfort zone creates real mental toughness
- Why discipline is a skill, not a trait, and exactly how to develop it in daily life
You’ll walk away with a 3-part discipline-building framework and a simple toolbox of daily habits to apply immediately—so you can stop relying on motivation and start engineering self-discipline that lasts.
If you’re ready to train your brain for consistency, performance, and success—this episode is your blueprint.
Listen to Part 1 of this 4-Part Series, titled The Science of Self Control: https://apple.co/4kjdOSh
And as a bonus podcast, check out The Science of Seeking Discomfort: https://apple.co/43Sju0S
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
In today's episode of the ChooseHard podcast, I'm going to
breakdown the science of self-discipline so that you can
learn that this is not a geneticgift or a trait that you are
passed down through your family,but a skill that you've
developed. I'm going to show you the
science behind what your brain does when you develop
self-discipline so that you can learn the best ways to develop
(00:21):
self-discipline and how to know when you are doing something
that is going to successfully develop that self-discipline,
which you can then apply to every area of.
Live your life for greater success the greatest things in
life all start with a challenge the greater things in life.
You must accept that everything is hard before it gets easy.
(00:41):
Every every every everything youwant in life begins with a hard
path begins with a Welcome to the choose hard podcast.
I'm your host Cody Mcbroom. I am a father, husband, coach
and entrepreneur and my sole purpose in life is to help
individuals create their best life possible.
And step one in doing that is choosing hard.
And that's what this podcast is all about.
(01:02):
So let's build your body and develop your mind.
Today we are going to dive into self-discipline and we are going
to carry on from the last episode.
So there's going to be a lot of,I would say carryover essential.
I mean, we built up to this point in the last podcast of
this series, the science of really transformation.
(01:27):
We call it self formation. And you guys have probably heard
me talk about this many times. If you are a returning listener,
if you're new to this, the idea of self formation is really this
process we see individuals who we coach go through, which is
just so much greater than a physical transformation, right?
It's, it's truly what it's the easiest way to explain why I
really love coaching and why I love this industry and why I
(01:49):
love fitness is because it just,it's so much more than just
fitness. Anybody who has gone through
serious physical transformation knows that it transforms you in
every way, shape and form. Physically, yes, but also
psychologically. It transforms your
relationships. It transforms you spiritually,
sometimes emotionally for sure. And there's just so much more to
it, right? There's so much more than the
(02:12):
muscle that we see in the mirroror the fat loss we see in the
mirror. And so this podcast series is
kind of diving into each step ofthat 'cause when we looked at it
and we see, OK, what's going on with individuals that really
helps them create this total life transformation.
And what's missing when somebodygoes through a physical
transformation, but it doesn't translate into these other areas
of their life, Like they don't improve as an individual in
(02:34):
these other categories. And the thing that is missing in
those individuals, the latter example, and the thing that is
present in all in common in all of the, the prior examples,
those who are seeing serious transformations across all areas
is they go through this process of self formation.
And we've realized that it starts with self-control and
developing self-control and really challenging yourself to
(02:57):
create control. Then it shifts into the skill of
discipline, right? You build the skill of
discipline much mostly through self-control, but some other
aspects that we're going to practically cover today.
Then you create a enhanced senseof self belief and confidence,
which leads you to self respect.Self respect is ultimately
(03:19):
gained in the same way that yourrespect to others is given.
And I think this is where a lot of people and I and I can't wait
to do that episode 'cause that one's, that one's huge.
I think it's the, it's the cherry on top.
It's the last podcast, but because it's the pinnacle, it's
what we all want. But if we look at an individual
that we respect greatly, it's because they usually have done
hard things. They're not afraid to choose
(03:39):
hard and through those difficultthings that they got through,
they developed skills, characteristics, traits, a type
of personality and energy about them.
They've gained experience and wisdom and, and that's what
pulls us in. That's what draws us to those
people. That's what creates and and
really gains our respect for them.
(04:02):
Well, how do we gain respect forourselves, right?
I think it's so crazy that so many people are giving respect
to others and they're seeking respect from others, but they
don't stop to think about creating self respect.
And ultimately, if you create self respect, I promise you
those around you that your subconsciously hoping would give
you more respect, they will respect you.
(04:23):
Man, I think that's honestly, that's like an epiphany moment
that made me pause. That's a clip.
If if if you just sit and think about that and then I'm going to
save the rest of the self respect talk for the last
episode of the series. But if you develop self respect,
no, no, no, not even that. If you were stuck in a position
(04:47):
where you are constantly seekingthe approval and the respect
from others, number one, their respect for you doesn't matter
nearly as much as your respect for yourself.
Do not forget that number 2, theonly way that you gain respect
from others, the people that youwish would show you more
respect, is the same way that you will earn your own respect.
(05:08):
You will not respect yourself more.
You will not gain more self respect if you try to please
others, but if you try to investin yourself and you do hard
things that develop wisdom, experience, results, you earn
your own respect yourself. Respect goes up and when yours
(05:28):
goes up, you no longer desire the respect of others nearly as
much, but on top of that, they will give you it.
You earn their respect in the same way that you gain self
respect. So start earning your own
respect and stop focusing so much on getting respect from
others because if you create a respectable individual
internally, I promise you, everybody around you externally
(05:51):
will respect you as well. That's a fact.
Now part of building self respect is self-discipline,
right? We go through this process, this
self information process, and today we're going to dive into
self-discipline. I mean, shoot.
Speaking of which, I just took adrink of this shout out to Jaco
(06:12):
Fuel, the sponsor of this podcast.
Discipline equals freedom. That's their tagline.
It's on the can. It's on.
It's probably on this bottle of nootropics too, which I'm
getting ready to send out to somebody who won the the last
one. Make sure that you are listening
to those solo episodes. I don't even know which ones
have it now. This one doesn't have it on it,
but discipline equals freedom. That's their slogan, right?
(06:34):
The reason it's Jocko slogan is not just because he's a Navy
SEAL bad ass, but also because discipline creates freedom in
the sense that you are no longerbound or chained to the things
around. You're not controlled by other
things. You control the decisions that
the problem with a lot of peopleis that they don't, they don't
(06:55):
take control of situations and do hard things that create
discipline and then they feel like they have to do things.
But when you are choosing to do things, you have so much more
discipline and respect for yourself.
So anyway, I digress. Discipline is today science of
self-discipline. That's what we're covering
today. And I want to show you how to
develop self-discipline. I want to show you how the brain
(07:16):
is forming around this. This is neuroplasticity, which
I'll define and kind of get intohere in a SEC.
But I also want to show you thatdiscipline is different than
willpower. Willpower is much closer
attached to self-control and that's this, this ability to
control yourself and it is difficult and you have to do it
over and over again. Discipline's a skill.
(07:36):
It is, it's kind of like a trait, but it's not a genetic
trait. It's not a personality trait
that you're you're just inherently going to have.
Some people are charismatic, that is a personality trait and
it is hard to develop that you just either are outgoing and
what's what's the word if you ifyou just want to what is the why
(08:00):
am I blanking on this word when you want to just stay to
yourself, have nothing to do. You're introverted when you're
outgoing and extroverted versus if you're kind of shy and
introverted. Those are somewhat like traits
that are with you forever, right?
So there's certain people that are going to be introverted and
that's just how they're going tobe.
They can be the most confident person in the world because self
belief is a trait and a skill that you develop.
(08:23):
Confidence is a skill as well. It's something that you rewrite
and rewrite in your brain. But you can be a very confident
in in person who has a lot of self belief, but still be an
introvert, right? So self-discipline, though, is a
skill more than a personality trait, OK.
It is something that you build. It's it's control is momentarily
(08:51):
control is momentarily avoidance, right?
So when we take control of something, we are momentarily
avoiding things. That's self-control.
And when we do, when we use self-control enough, we develop
the skill of self-discipline. But the point of me really
hammering this home of, of self-discipline is not really
just a trade. It is much more a skill is that
I want to hammer home that you can develop it.
(09:11):
And it's very goal specific. Meaning if you have a lot of
discipline in one category, it doesn't necessarily mean that
you have discipline in another category.
It does does help show you that you can, you know, carry that
trait over, carry that skill over to another area.
If you're really good at throwing a baseball, you're not
going to be great at throwing a football because it's a
(09:32):
different size, it's a differentshape and you have to throw in a
certain way that allows you to spiral the ball.
You don't have to worry about that with the baseball.
And in the same, if you're greatat throwing a football, you're
not going to be great at throwing a baseball because it
is different shape, it's smaller, and you have to throw
it with a different pattern because you're not trying to
spiral it laterally. So I say all that to say it's
(09:53):
different. So it doesn't mean it's going to
immediately carry over. It's not a possessive trait that
you just walk in with. But if you have the skill of
throwing, because you can throw a baseball well, you're going to
be able to develop the skill of throwing a football much quicker
than somebody who has no skill behind throwing like myself.
So, you know, I am much more likely to be able to kick a
(10:16):
football really well than I am throwing a football because I
played soccer and I can kick really well.
My legs work better than my arms.
I can kick better than I can throw right.
But it's not the same like I, I would have to practice kicking a
football to be a punter, but it would come to me easier than
throwing a football to be a quarterback.
(10:37):
So hopefully that that analogy kind of makes sense.
But we're going to break this podcast up essentially into four
different kind of segments, if you will, and three of which are
going to be study focused. So we are going to cover some
research papers and meta analysis and really just kind of
summarize these things for you. And, and part of what actually
takes me the most time in these podcasts is that part it's
(10:58):
taking the research using some software AIS to like really boil
things down to find the best research studies, the most
practical applicable ones, breaking that down into steps,
reviewing it to make sure that it can give me some talking
points. So those that aspect of this
podcast is going to be really, really helpful.
Segment one, we're going to talkabout rebuilding your brain
essentially. So I'm going to explain how
(11:19):
habits like training in the gym,doing cardio, even just
repetitive routines and habits, they can strengthen your
prefrontal cortex of the brain and actually start to 'cause
this neuroplasticity that I mentioned before to happen.
OK, Segment 2, we're going to get into planning.
And this is really cool because planning is actually something
(11:41):
that can help you develop discipline on a more automated
way. And what I mean by that is that
there's this, it's called if then implementation.
And I'm going to go over that. But if we use this if then
implementation strategy, we can actually just plan action steps
ahead of time. And even though we are planning
ahead and it kind of removes theself-control aspect because we
(12:02):
create a plan, we don't have to decide on the fly or resist
something, it does still developdiscipline because we can use a
plan in the absence of motivation.
And when we take action in the absence of motivation, we
develop discipline. OK, that's really what
discipline is. Discipline is taking action on
(12:23):
steps without motivation, being present in the absence of
motivation that move us towards the goal we want and doing it in
a way that is consistent is, is peaceful.
I mean, like I think Mike Tyson said, it has the quote I want to
say it's Mike Tyson. He says something along lines of
(12:44):
discipline is doing the work to get the result when you don't
feel like getting, no, I'm sorry.
Discipline is doing the work to get the results.
When you're not motivated, don'tfeel like doing the work, and
you do the work with a smile on your face, that's discipline.
And that sounds miserable and toan extent, sometimes it is.
(13:04):
But the beauty of it is next time it's less miserable and
you're not doing things that don't reward you.
And I think that's really important to say here.
You don't, you don't use discipline to do things you hate
or that will give you a bad outcome.
It's always for a good, good thing.
Segment #3 is going to be about growth and the type of growth we
achieve through this resistance that I'm kind of talking about.
(13:27):
So we'll dive into some like actual deliberate practices and,
and why it's super important to push through comfort and, and
really seek discomfort. And I have a whole podcast on
seeking discomfort, which is phenomenal and I would highly
recommend it. But I want to really hammer on
that again, to echo the podcast priorly and, and, and prior to
(13:49):
this one, and, and really just touch on like what your brain is
actually doing and how it shapesyour character as you go.
And then we'll kind of look at, you know, the, I would call it
like the, the, the toolbox or the tips, the tip toolbox or the
practices that we can practically implement.
And we'll talk about how to use these things.
OK. So again, we're going to go over
(14:12):
rewiring your brain. We're going to talk about if
then statements to help you planand automate discipline.
We're going to talk about growing through resistance and
pushing past comfort. And then we're going to close it
out in Section 4 with this, thisreally just like this tip
toolbox, if you will, this this strategy system that you can
really just hopefully listen to this podcast, just take and go
implement. OK, so the first study that
(14:34):
we're going to dive into is about neuroplasticity.
And if you want to look this up,I'll link this in the
description of the podcast. It's about neuroplasticity and
self-discipline through consistent behavior.
So the source is Ericsson, K dotI ET all.
So essentially that's the the researcher is is Ericsson.
(14:56):
And the study is called exercisetraining.
Increases the size of hippocampus and improves memory.
I will link that in the description or or at least
mention the title so that you guys can just literally you can
go to Google and search that up.Some of these you might have to
have access to paywalls. So if you get blocked, sorry,
but you can look up what I wouldsuggest.
(15:18):
So I had a question about this and I want to make sure I, I
mention this. People have asked like, you
know, I've researched or I've searched the study that you you
mentioned and I got a paywall, which a paywall, if you don't
know what that means is like youget there and you're like, you
have to sign up for this, like research a subscription in order
to get access to these. I don't have all of them, but I
have enough to where I can access most research studies.
(15:39):
So if you don't have that and you're stuck at this paywall,
what I would suggest doing is, is copy and pasting the title of
the study and then literally just push, put comma or put
quotes around it and then type summary.
So on this, in this case, you would put exercise training
increases size of hippocampus and improves memory.
End Quote summary. You're going to get like
(16:01):
research reviews from people. Maybe this like if I get after
this airs and I get it on the website, for example, this would
pop up and you would see the podcast, but you might find some
research articles or or researchreviewers talking about it so
they don't have to pay. So anyway, this is about
exercise training, specifically changing your brain.
So the hippocampus is a part of your brain.
(16:22):
And as we go into this, I wantedto define what neuroplasticity
actually is. So the definition of of
neuroplasticity for anybody who's not familiar with it is
the ability of the brain to formand reorganize synaptic
connections, especially in response to learning or
experience or following injury. So how our brain forms and
(16:47):
reforms to an extent and reorganizes different
connections in the brain, right?How our brain is wired.
So in example, following injury,if we get hurt doing something,
we might associate thing with getting hurt.
Our brain rewires this danger signal, right?
The synaptic signal in connection with this thing in
(17:10):
danger, this thing in injury, this thing in pain, right?
And we can rewire that. And this is what is the
beautiful thing about neuroplasticity.
So when we use it to our advantage, we can go through
learning processes, experiences or implementation and practices
that actually rewire it in a sense that allows us to be more
(17:31):
of who we want to become. OK, So the goal of this specific
study was to find out whether regular aerobic exercise like
walking or running can change the brain structure and improve
functions related to memory, learning and self regulation
which are essential to self-discipline.
So this study basically implemented some kind of aerobic
(17:55):
exercise. I wish it would have been more
about strength training, but I think this is a good easy
Safeway to do it. And a lot of times to like
aerobic exercise is nice becauseit's so easy to vary the
intensity. You're either walking, jogging,
running, sprinting, right? There's just an easy way to make
it harder. But they're basically just
(18:15):
looking at how does this change our brain, right?
How does this change the brain structure?
How does this cause neuroplasticity in a good
manner? How does it improve functions
that are related to memory, learning and self regulation,
which are essential factors for developing self-discipline, but
also they're they're kind of unrelated to walking or running.
Does this exercise improve functions that are related to
(18:37):
memory, learning and self regulation?
Self regulation would be definitely a part of it.
Memory, I wouldn't imagine wouldbe too much part of walking or
running outside of like if you're running the same trail
or, or, or pattern or routine and then obviously learning it's
a skill. Running and walking is a pattern
that you repetitively do. So how they did it is they took
120 older adults that were randomly assigned to either
(18:59):
walking or running. I'm sorry.
Or a stretching slash toning control group, which I was
cringing when I read that. But look, this is a study by
researchers that are not fitnesspeople.
So if I got fitness people listen to this and they're like
toning what we know toning isn'ta thing.
OK, so walking or a stretching slash toning group.
(19:20):
So this is going to be like a a stretching slash like light
resistance training group, right?
And that's so they have two groups, walking or stretching
and light resistance training. MRI scans and memory tests were
conducted before, during and after the one year program.
So this is a whole year long, which is pretty crazy.
Researchers measured changes in brain volume, specifically in
the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.
(19:42):
So I'm not going to get into toomuch of A deep dive into these
parts of the brain, especially because I do believe in the next
podcast of the series, Self Belief, we're going to bring
these up in more depth and and really dive into the more of the
anatomy on this. But just know the hippocampus
and the prefrontal cortex are going to play a big role in
neuroplasticity especially. So the ability to rewire our
(20:05):
brains, change the story in our minds, change how we perceive
difficulty, hard work, taking action, taking risks, seeking
discomfort. What is comfort?
The the risk beyond comfort zone, if you will, as well as
the ability to decision makes tothe prefrontal cortex,
especially our ability to make decisions to have memory.
(20:29):
This is much of the reason why you know, for example, it it as
much as like I remember being like, why do I have to be 25?
Because I would I started travelling for these training
seminars. I think why do I have to be 25
to rent a car? This is stupid.
I still kind of think it's kind of dumb but it makes a little
bit more sense because we don't fully develop the prefrontal
cortex of our brain till our late 20s, early 30s, like
(20:51):
towards around the age 30 which is pretty crazy if you think
about it. However, God knows why we can
vote for a president at 18. That blows my mind.
No 18 year old knows what the hell they want for this country
or what should happen to this country.
I know I didn't. I barely even know.
I'm still confused so that blowsmy mind.
But it's an easy example of, youknow, our brain's ability in the
(21:15):
prefront cortex to make decisions, right?
That's and that makes why it kind of makes sense for driving
because you need to be able to make good decisions when you're
renting a car anyway. If choose hard resonates with
you, you love the idea of pursuing challenges to not just
develop your body, but also develop your mind.
And you want the constant reminder to not just yourself,
(21:38):
but everyone around you that choosing hard is the catalyst
for all growth in your life. Well, then there's nothing left
to do but represent the brand with the Choose Hard Trucker Hat
R6 panel Trucker Hat checks off all the boxes.
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looks good. I wear it in the gym.
(22:00):
I wear it on date night with my wife.
I wore it to church last weekend.
Because this is the hat. But better than its style and
its comfort is the message it represents.
Because you and I both know thatchoosing easy in the moment
often leads to a hard life lateron.
But choosing hard in the moment always leads to an easier life
(22:22):
later on. And if you believe that you want
to be reminded of that and you want to spread that message as
well, then go to tailored coaching method dot shop.
Grab yourself a hat today and start representing the movement
with me. OK, now let's get back to the
podcast. OK, So what did they find in
this study? And another thing I like about
this study is that out of the the groups, 120 older adults.
(22:45):
I like that because I love when research studies use, they use
participants that basically eliminate any of our Yeah, but
I'm this special snowflake because of XYZ, right?
There's a really good study on aggressive fat loss that uses
women who are postmenopausal in their 60s, sixties, I think it's
(23:07):
late 60s. Yeah.
And the cool thing about that isthat, OK, this is an individual
who probably will struggle with some fat loss because their
metabolism has slowed down a bit.
Their hormones are going throughsome pretty crazy changes, and
they're typically less active. They are the prime example of
somebody that can say, hey, fat loss is probably going to be
harder for me. So I'm possible by any means,
but it's harder for me. Yet this study shows these
(23:29):
extremely positive results with a fat loss diet, especially in
an aggressive setting, compared to a more conservative pace, a
slower pace, which is awesome. And this is awesome because if
you can rewire your brain at an older age, anybody listening to
this, you can rewire your brain too.
It doesn't matter how old you are, what your age is.
So what they found is that thosein The Walking group showed
(23:50):
significant increases in hippocampal volume.
So the memory and emotional regulation aspects of their
brain and their ability to rewire and, and create this
neuroplasticity of memory and emotional regulation, executive
function and cognitive performance improved across the
board. So executive function and
cognitive performance, I would define those as cognitive
(24:11):
performance, your ability to focus and stay on task and be
productive. And I would say executive
function, there's a lot of different definitions for this
and way to look at this, but I like to associate this with
having a high agency. So executive function is your
ability to make decisions, take control, take action, choose for
(24:32):
yourself, be in control of your own thoughts and your actions
and your words, stuff like that.And that's what high agency is
in these areas. This is what they also found.
These areas of the brain are central to habit formation,
decision making and emotional control.
The core elements of self-discipline.
You cannot develop discipline ifyou don't learn to form it.
Habits that require and pursue and build self-discipline.
(24:56):
If you can't make decisions in difficult times and you can't
regulate your emotions. If you can't do those three
things, you will not develop discipline.
And what they found is that mostof these are developed in both
groups groups through general exercise.
But those in The Walking groups of the cardio based group
actually showed a significant increases compared to the other
one in hippocampal volume, whichis the memory and emotional
(25:20):
regulation. It's another reason to do cardio
apparently. And so the take away here is
pretty simple like your brain adapts to self disciplined
behavior. So when you are acting in
accordance with behaviors that require self-discipline, your
brain is going to rewire. So just like muscles, brain
areas responsible for disciplineto grow and strengthen, they are
(25:41):
going to developed through repeated low friction habits
like daily movement. And the brain physically adapts
to disciplined behaviour throughrepetition.
So the cool thing about this is that we can really just boil it
down. It's, it's like the, I actually
posted this the other day. I had this thing in at the last
slide. It said literally the the phrase
(26:04):
or the saying it takes money to make money literally applies to
everything in life. So it takes discipline to
develop discipline. It it's you have to take action
to get good at taking actions. You have to try and memorize
things to develop good memory. You have to try to be productive
(26:24):
in order to develop a good senseof productivity.
So it really be simple, your brain adapts to self-discipline
behavior. So you have to choose behaviors
that are going to require discipline and then you have to
repeat those things in bite sizeportions until they become
really easy. And I would suggest keeping
upping the ante until you develop as much discipline as
(26:44):
you need in that category and then you move on to something
else. Because once something becomes
habitual, it doesn't really require much discipline, which
we'll get to in a SEC. But the point is, is, is we have
to choose low friction habits and we want to really work
through these repetitively. So do the same thing over and
over again until you develop thediscipline you want and then
move on to something else. This isn't just like you do it
(27:06):
once and you're good for, for, you know, forever.
It takes discipline to build discipline and it also takes
discipline to maintain discipline, right?
We have to keep doing it and then also just say that
obviously exercise in general isgoing to develop this not only
from the standpoint of when you do hard exercise, it is
difficult and that requires you to be disciplined many times
'cause you're not always going to be motivated to do it.
(27:27):
But also just the ACT, the internal Physiology of your
body. When you are moving and you are
doing hard activities, you're doing cardio, you're doing
training, there is a neuroplasticity effect that is
going on internally that is aside from whether or not you
wanted to do the exercise and you were motivated or not.
OK, All right. So the second segment today in
(27:47):
the podcast is going to be implementation intentions.
So this is cool. This is like what I would say is
the whole like automating discipline part, and you can use
these if then plans and the source is oh gosh, goal.
Witzer, PM and Sharon Sheeran, 2006.
(28:08):
The study, if you want to research this and look it up, is
implementation intentions and goal achievement, a meta
analysis of effects and processes.
And this is from the advances inexperimental social psychology.
So the goal of the study is pretty simple.
They just wanted to test whetheror not creating these very
specific if then plans actually helps people stay consistent
(28:31):
with their goals, especially when motivation drops.
So they wanted to see is if we implement these if then plans,
are they more likely to achieve their goals and are they also
more likely to follow through with the plan?
Well, if the other group wouldn't have a plan, so I guess
I should say, are they more likely to still achieve the goal
rather than not achieve the goal?
(28:51):
If they have a if, then plan when motivation drops.
So when they're not motivated towork towards the goal, does it
help them to have an if then plan?
Are they more likely to do the work if they have a plan?
Right. So the an example of this is of
an if then plan if it's six AMI go to the gym, right?
(29:12):
If I brush my teeth, I do my hair.
It's it's habit stacking in a way, but you're discipline
stacking. OK, so how it was done, The meta
analysis looked at over 90 studies that involved over 8000
participants, which is really cool across various behavior
goals, health, work, relationships, academics, all
(29:33):
kinds of stuff. So 90 studies looking at over
8000 people. This is really, really big
compared outcomes between groupsthat used if then plans versus
general goal setting. So they just were like, hey, set
a goal. They didn't give them any any
way of setting these goals, but they still had goals.
They knew what they were after, but they didn't have an if then
plan that was associated with the goal.
(29:55):
And this is pretty cool. What they found was that the
implementation intentions significantly increase goal
completion. So implementation intentions is
the IF then. OK, so if then blank.
When they had those set up with their goals, they were
significantly more likely to accomplish their goals.
They also found that it helped people follow through even in
(30:16):
stressful, distracting and unmotivated moments.
And lastly, they found that the strategy worked across
demographics and life domains. So basically they found that the
vast majority of people do better if they have an IF then
plan associated with a goal. They found that it significantly
increased goal completion with everybody.
(30:36):
They found that it significantlyincreased goal completion when
unmotivated, AKA when you desperately need discipline
because you don't want to do it.And they found that this
strategy worked across everybody.
They did so ages, demographics, all kinds of stuff.
It didn't matter what you did, what you were trying to achieve,
what goals you had in mind, whatthe exact if, then plan was, as
(30:58):
long as you did have a goal and there was an if, then a plan
associated with it. You are more likely to achieve
your goal when you were motivated to do it and when you
were not motivated to do it. And you need to discipline.
And so the cool thing about thisis that discipline isn't just
about grinding your teeth and using willpower.
Like you can't just grind through, you can't just use grit
(31:21):
all day long, right? It's also about systems, it's
about structure, it's about planning.
It's about having a plan and building systems within your
plan that allow you to execute even when you're not motivated
and when you're able to execute even when you're not motivated.
What that is, that's proof that you can do it without any
(31:44):
abnormant, unnormal or rare or special type of motivation
present. It doesn't matter if that's
there or not. Is that going to help you?
Of course, if we can be motivated all the time or more
often, that is definitely going to help.
That's awesome. But this shows that we don't
need motivation to reach our goal, which is helpful for a lot
of people because they won't actunless they're motivated.
(32:06):
This also means that planning really does program your brain
to follow through without needing to feel ready.
So if you have a plan, you're more likely to execute, you're
more likely to follow through, you're more likely to do what
you said. So if you this is, this is the,
the most important thing I can say.
And This is why I believe it kind of automates discipline to
an extent because it does preserve our mental energy.
(32:28):
It it requires less mental energy in the moment when we
have a, a plan specifically. And if then plan as this kind of
talked about, which I would, I would even say like in general,
it's just a very specific plan, right?
And, and it doesn't always have to be.
If then when I get to work, I will blank.
So when blank, I will blank. Simple.
(32:49):
It's the same thing. The, the concept is, is there's
a specific moment action environment scenario in which
you will display what action that leads you to your goal.
That is the specificity behind this.
That's the important part of this whole thing, right?
And it preserves our energy because if if my thing is when I
(33:10):
get to the office at 8, I will execute this, this and this in
this order so that I can complete blank and reach my
blank goal by end of the week. That is very specifically
written out. I can use that as a template
because I can change the time and the place when I get home, I
will blank for my daughter so that blank and we can blank by
(33:32):
the end of the week. It can be in any category of
life, but it's so specific that it removes all this mental
energy that I have to use in themoment to figure out what to do.
And it does help me because I can just read the plan and
execute, right? It's, it's automated, but it
still develops discipline because you're still doing the
work. Because once the work's done,
you can look back and say, I didwhat I said I was going to do.
(33:54):
And that is what creates not just self-discipline, but also
self belief, which we'll get into next time.
But the point is, is that when Ilook back and see that I can
prove myself wrong, I can also remind myself, like, damn, you
weren't really motivated at all,bro, And you still crushed it.
That shows me I don't need motivation.
That shows me I need a plan and I need a reason why I want to
(34:16):
achieve this. And if I have those two things,
I'm unstoppable. That creates discipline because
I didn't want to do it. So this is really, really,
really cool for developing discipline and automating this
process and just accomplishing success in general.
OK, so we can literally, we can literally automate discipline to
(34:38):
an extent, right? You're not always going to be
able to do this right? Certain times you're going to
need self-control and that's going to carry over into
discipline. But we already touched on that.
So now we're talking about what practices can we do to just
rewire our brain to possess morediscipline in the areas we want.
Obviously, movement, exercise, walking, those things are part
of it. Planning ahead and getting the
(34:59):
very specific that encourages you and almost guarantees that
you're going to not just take action, but actually achieve the
result. That's a big part of the study.
They achieved the goal. They had to achieve the goal,
right? And there's so many people that
proved in this. Love that one.
OK, so #3 the third one, the final study is about deliberate
practice. So building discipline by
(35:21):
pushing just beyond your limits.And again, I've done a whole
podcast on the science of self-control.
And I'm sorry, the science of seeking discomfort.
And I just, I highly, highly encourage anybody who has not
listened to that podcast, a linkin the description, go listen to
it. It is, I believe, such a
profound podcast to prove to youthat you need to get
(35:42):
uncomfortable in life. But also it just, it's such a
good encourager. It will encourage you to step
outside of your comfort zone andand show you how great you can
become and how awesome the life you can build and the results
you can achieve are when you do that.
So this was again from Ericsson.This is back from 1993.
So this has been a thing. This one has always been
(36:02):
important. The study was called The Role of
Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert
Performance, and this was in psychological review.
So the goal of the study was to find what separates top
performers in music, sports, business, all kinds of
industries from everyone else and whether discipline is born
(36:22):
or built. So again, this kind of goes back
to what I said initially as well, not just how to create
discipline, which we've already broken down two ways to exercise
and planning ahead. But this third way is probably
the most well known. And that's seeking discomfort,
that's stepping into discomfort.But also it's, it's, it's
(36:44):
proving that it's, it's not born, it is built.
You have to develop skill. So how it was done, They
reviewed the training habits of elite violinists, chess players,
athletes and professionals. I think it's really cool that
they did like more physical athletes.
They did like CEOs, professionals, business owners,
but they also did chess players and violinists because those are
(37:04):
two skills that I think are under appreciative appreciated.
I, I mean, I don't watch either of those things.
I don't listen to violinists andI don't watch chess.
But I do know just cause I've read so many books talking about
the brain and talking about discipline and all these things
and the amount of times they bring up like not just
violinist, but multiple different instruments that are
(37:25):
in the orchestra that are just crazy hard in chess being so
hard and your brain working so hard, it says a lot.
So that's they, they reviewed those people.
They tracked the number of hoursthey spent in deliberate
structured practice, not just casual repetition.
So how often do these people deliberately practice?
(37:47):
So go through difficult practiceand skill development of their
their craft and practice and then examined how often they
worked on tasks just outside their comfort zone with coaching
or feedback. So out of all those things, how
much of them were also difficult, right, They were
outside their comfort zone. Here's what they found.
(38:09):
Elite performers had logged over10,000 hours of deliberate,
practice focused, goal driven and mentally taxing training.
If you've ever heard of the 10,000 hour rule, this is one of
the studies that it really founded that and created.
That's part of the reason why I chose a study and I went back to
1993 to pick a study is because this is like, you know, the they
(38:32):
talk about like the 10,000 hour rule is, is kind of like the
mastery rule. If you want to master anything,
if you want to become a master of your craft, you have to spend
10,000 hours of deliberate practice.
That's been a very well known thing.
And so this study found that elite performers did just that.
They logged over 10,000 hours ofdeliberate practice that was
focused, goal driven and mentally taxing training.
So they were focused similar to the first study and I did this
(38:55):
on purpose. And it's this is how this kind
of stacks, right? Study one, we talk about being
focused in exercise. You have to be focused on every
step. You have to be focused on the
program. You have to be focused on your
intensity. You have to be focused on what's
around you 'cause you're moving outside.
We're focused, right? Then we move into goal driven,
which is the next one. We looked at goals and
specifically planning very specifically for those goals.
So we're driven to accomplish a goal enough to make a very
(39:17):
deliberate plan. And then now we have mentally
taxing, adding to this, this, let's call it orchestra of, of
this, of this really this like series or this build up this
practice to create discipline, right?
They constantly worked at the edge of their ability, not on
what they already knew how to dowell.
(39:38):
So that means that they would goto the edge of their comfort
zone all the time, right? We're going to the gym and we're
going to push it to our limit and then some.
We're going to push it to the the end and then try to progress
a little bit. That's the whole point.
The people that developed the best physiques, what do they do?
They achieve progressive overload very consistently,
meaning they are constantly pushing themselves in the gym to
(40:01):
the limit and then trying to adda little bit right?
So they constantly worked at theedge of their ability, not on
what they already knew how to dowell.
Long term. This created more grit, focus
and a stronger tolerance for discomfort.
This is so this is like really, really cool and I want to just
review this again 'cause I savedthe best study for last.
(40:22):
I think the. One of the best ways, if not the
best way, to develop discipline is getting used to repetitively
pushing it to your limits and beyond your limits when you can.
Pushing your limits on a regularbasis is the best way to develop
(40:44):
discipline because it steps intocomfort.
It forces you to step into discomfort.
I'm sorry all the time. You're constantly moving into
discomfort when you do this. So when you push beyond your
limits, or even just to the edgeof your limits, you are
literally tiptoeing on the edge of comfort on a regular basis.
And that is the best way to develop discipline.
(41:05):
And in this study, they looked at the elite performers who
logged over 10,000 hours of deliberate practice that was
focused, goal driven, and mentally taxing.
They did it on a very regular basis, constantly pushing their
limits to the edge, if not over the edge of what they could
already do. And over the long term, it
(41:26):
created more grit, focus, and a stronger tolerance for
discomfort. And along that tolerance of
discomfort, they developed discipline, which is the ability
to do everything I just said without motivation, without
wanting to do it. And the takeaways are just that.
self-discipline grows at the edge of discomfort.
(41:47):
Love that line. self-discipline grows at the edge of discomfort.
You do not build self-disciplineby repetitively doing what is
easy. You build self-discipline by
stepping into discomfort, by pushing your limits in the gym,
(42:08):
by challenging yourself in all areas of life, by constantly
focusing on growth. Because growth requires you to
do things that you have not done, or do things you've done
at a level that you have not done yet, or figure out how you
can progress what you've alreadydone.
It requires you to do that through proper planning and
(42:31):
structured, intentional actions when you don't feel like it.
Because discipline is is really.Discipline is a skill that is
developed by you acting in alignment with your outcome or
your goal when you don't feel like doing it when you're not
motivated. Discipline is developed by
(42:53):
taking action in the absence of motivation.
That is just it. If you take 1 main thing away
from this podcast, it's that discipline is developed as a
skill, not a personality trait. You are not born with this, it
is built. It is a skill that is developed
by taking action deliberately when motivation is not present.
(43:20):
And if you can develop that discipline, you will be able to
act in alignment with your goalsin each area of life to be more
successful in each area of your life.
In fact, research correlates a greater level of both
self-control and self-disciplinewith high performers and high
achievers more so than academic success.
(43:40):
Meaning you can go through high school and college and get
straight A's. And that correlates less to life
success than somebody who possesses a lot of self-control
and self-discipline. So hey, go get good grades,
don't get me wrong, but you better hope that you're also
developing self-control and self-discipline.
And this is a shout out to the parents to step up and help
(44:01):
their kids develop self-control and self-discipline.
Because if you don't, the schoolwon't and they will be less
likely to be successful. As brutal as that sounds.
It's probably the best advice I could give on parenting.
Not that I'm a parent coach or anything, but it's, it's
science, it's fact. And that's just that you got to,
(44:23):
you got to stretch your, your capacity, you got to stretch
your ability. So, you know, tying all this
together, like to, to wrap this up, you know, in these studies
and everything like that, right?So I have like a couple bullet
points I just want to touch on real quick.
So #1 remember that self-discipline is a skill.
It is not a personality trait that you were born with #2 is
that the brain literally adapts to discipline behavior through
(44:45):
repetition. And this is when neuroplasticity
happens. So when you repeat any kind of
difficult action, but especially, especially through
exercise, you are going to rewire your brain in so many
positive ways. And I only touched on the ones
that lead to discipline, but your brain and the
neuroplasticity that happens foryour benefit through exercise is
unbelievable. There's, it's endless #3 you can
(45:11):
automate discipline to an extentby simply planning things out
ahead. If you're not planning, what is
the saying? If you don't, if you fail to
plan, you plan to fail. Everybody knows that, right?
It's true. But also planning can save you
when you know you need discipline and you're just worn
out. So if you got a lot going on or
(45:31):
you know you need to acquire anddevelop discipline in multiple
areas of life, start creating plans.
If you need to create a if, thenplan right?
And this is a intentional implementation plan.
All that really means is that I'm attaching things
specifically that lead me to my outcome.
When I get here. I will do this in this way so
(45:52):
that I can accomplish this. When the clock hits this time, I
will take this action. When I see this person, I will
say this thing. When I go to the gym to do this,
I will also do this like just habit stack with discipline
actions. So it's like action stacking,
right? Really simple.
And then the last one is that your strength, you strengthen
(46:12):
discipline when you stretch beyond your, your literal
capacity for everything, right? Whatever you're doing and
whatever you're trying to build discipline in, push yourself
beyond your comfort zone. Go listen to the Seek Comfort
podcast Seeking Discomfort podcast.
There is so much benefit to challenging yourself.
That's why this podcast is called Choose Hard.
That's why I'm so passionate about helping people choose hard
(46:33):
because I want to show people that no matter who you are, no
matter what your experience is, what are, what your education
is, what your background is, what your lifestyle is, you have
the choice to choose hard. And the more often you choose
hard in alignment towards your goals, the more successful you
will be in every area of life. I hope you guys enjoyed this
(46:55):
podcast. Go leave us a five star rating
review if you have not yet. Make sure you share this podcast
so other people can gain this free insight into
self-discipline. And just remember, this is Part
2. So we had self-control Part 1.
Go check that out if you haven'tyet.
We have Part 2 right now, which is self-discipline.
We are going to go into self belief next and the science
behind self belief, which is confidence.
And then lastly, my favorite self respect and the science of
(47:19):
what self respect is, how that is earned and how you can do it
yourself. I love you guys.
I appreciate you guys. Thanks for listening.
I'll catch you next time.
In today's episode of the ChooseHard podcast, I'm going to
breakdown the science of self-discipline so that you can
learn that this is not a geneticgift or a trait that you are
passed down through your family,but a skill that you've
developed. I'm going to show you the
science behind what your brain does when you develop
self-discipline so that you can learn the best ways to develop
(00:21):
self-discipline and how to know when you are doing something
that is going to successfully develop that self-discipline,
which you can then apply to every area of.
Live your life for greater success the greatest things in
life all start with a challenge the greater things in life.
You must accept that everything is hard before it gets easy.
(00:41):
Every every every everything youwant in life begins with a hard
path begins with a Welcome to the choose hard podcast.
I'm your host Cody Mcbroom. I am a father, husband, coach
and entrepreneur and my sole purpose in life is to help
individuals create their best life possible.
And step one in doing that is choosing hard.
And that's what this podcast is all about.
(01:02):
So let's build your body and develop your mind.
Today we are going to dive into self-discipline and we are going
to carry on from the last episode.
So there's going to be a lot of,I would say carryover essential.
I mean, we built up to this point in the last podcast of
this series, the science of really transformation.
(01:27):
We call it self formation. And you guys have probably heard
me talk about this many times. If you are a returning listener,
if you're new to this, the idea of self formation is really this
process we see individuals who we coach go through, which is
just so much greater than a physical transformation, right?
It's, it's truly what it's the easiest way to explain why I
really love coaching and why I love this industry and why I
(01:49):
love fitness is because it just,it's so much more than just
fitness. Anybody who has gone through
serious physical transformation knows that it transforms you in
every way, shape and form. Physically, yes, but also
psychologically. It transforms your
relationships. It transforms you spiritually,
sometimes emotionally for sure. And there's just so much more to
it, right? There's so much more than the
(02:12):
muscle that we see in the mirroror the fat loss we see in the
mirror. And so this podcast series is
kind of diving into each step ofthat 'cause when we looked at it
and we see, OK, what's going on with individuals that really
helps them create this total life transformation.
And what's missing when somebodygoes through a physical
transformation, but it doesn't translate into these other areas
of their life, Like they don't improve as an individual in
(02:34):
these other categories. And the thing that is missing in
those individuals, the latter example, and the thing that is
present in all in common in all of the, the prior examples,
those who are seeing serious transformations across all areas
is they go through this process of self formation.
And we've realized that it starts with self-control and
developing self-control and really challenging yourself to
(02:57):
create control. Then it shifts into the skill of
discipline, right? You build the skill of
discipline much mostly through self-control, but some other
aspects that we're going to practically cover today.
Then you create a enhanced senseof self belief and confidence,
which leads you to self respect.Self respect is ultimately
(03:19):
gained in the same way that yourrespect to others is given.
And I think this is where a lot of people and I and I can't wait
to do that episode 'cause that one's, that one's huge.
I think it's the, it's the cherry on top.
It's the last podcast, but because it's the pinnacle, it's
what we all want. But if we look at an individual
that we respect greatly, it's because they usually have done
hard things. They're not afraid to choose
(03:39):
hard and through those difficultthings that they got through,
they developed skills, characteristics, traits, a type
of personality and energy about them.
They've gained experience and wisdom and, and that's what
pulls us in. That's what draws us to those
people. That's what creates and and
really gains our respect for them.
(04:02):
Well, how do we gain respect forourselves, right?
I think it's so crazy that so many people are giving respect
to others and they're seeking respect from others, but they
don't stop to think about creating self respect.
And ultimately, if you create self respect, I promise you
those around you that your subconsciously hoping would give
you more respect, they will respect you.
(04:23):
Man, I think that's honestly, that's like an epiphany moment
that made me pause. That's a clip.
If if if you just sit and think about that and then I'm going to
save the rest of the self respect talk for the last
episode of the series. But if you develop self respect,
no, no, no, not even that. If you were stuck in a position
(04:47):
where you are constantly seekingthe approval and the respect
from others, number one, their respect for you doesn't matter
nearly as much as your respect for yourself.
Do not forget that number 2, theonly way that you gain respect
from others, the people that youwish would show you more
respect, is the same way that you will earn your own respect.
(05:08):
You will not respect yourself more.
You will not gain more self respect if you try to please
others, but if you try to investin yourself and you do hard
things that develop wisdom, experience, results, you earn
your own respect yourself. Respect goes up and when yours
(05:28):
goes up, you no longer desire the respect of others nearly as
much, but on top of that, they will give you it.
You earn their respect in the same way that you gain self
respect. So start earning your own
respect and stop focusing so much on getting respect from
others because if you create a respectable individual
internally, I promise you, everybody around you externally
(05:51):
will respect you as well. That's a fact.
Now part of building self respect is self-discipline,
right? We go through this process, this
self information process, and today we're going to dive into
self-discipline. I mean, shoot.
Speaking of which, I just took adrink of this shout out to Jaco
(06:12):
Fuel, the sponsor of this podcast.
Discipline equals freedom. That's their tagline.
It's on the can. It's on.
It's probably on this bottle of nootropics too, which I'm
getting ready to send out to somebody who won the the last
one. Make sure that you are listening
to those solo episodes. I don't even know which ones
have it now. This one doesn't have it on it,
but discipline equals freedom. That's their slogan, right?
(06:34):
The reason it's Jocko slogan is not just because he's a Navy
SEAL bad ass, but also because discipline creates freedom in
the sense that you are no longerbound or chained to the things
around. You're not controlled by other
things. You control the decisions that
the problem with a lot of peopleis that they don't, they don't
(06:55):
take control of situations and do hard things that create
discipline and then they feel like they have to do things.
But when you are choosing to do things, you have so much more
discipline and respect for yourself.
So anyway, I digress. Discipline is today science of
self-discipline. That's what we're covering
today. And I want to show you how to
develop self-discipline. I want to show you how the brain
(07:16):
is forming around this. This is neuroplasticity, which
I'll define and kind of get intohere in a SEC.
But I also want to show you thatdiscipline is different than
willpower. Willpower is much closer
attached to self-control and that's this, this ability to
control yourself and it is difficult and you have to do it
over and over again. Discipline's a skill.
(07:36):
It is, it's kind of like a trait, but it's not a genetic
trait. It's not a personality trait
that you're you're just inherently going to have.
Some people are charismatic, that is a personality trait and
it is hard to develop that you just either are outgoing and
what's what's the word if you ifyou just want to what is the why
(08:00):
am I blanking on this word when you want to just stay to
yourself, have nothing to do. You're introverted when you're
outgoing and extroverted versus if you're kind of shy and
introverted. Those are somewhat like traits
that are with you forever, right?
So there's certain people that are going to be introverted and
that's just how they're going tobe.
They can be the most confident person in the world because self
belief is a trait and a skill that you develop.
(08:23):
Confidence is a skill as well. It's something that you rewrite
and rewrite in your brain. But you can be a very confident
in in person who has a lot of self belief, but still be an
introvert, right? So self-discipline, though, is a
skill more than a personality trait, OK.
It is something that you build. It's it's control is momentarily
(08:51):
control is momentarily avoidance, right?
So when we take control of something, we are momentarily
avoiding things. That's self-control.
And when we do, when we use self-control enough, we develop
the skill of self-discipline. But the point of me really
hammering this home of, of self-discipline is not really
just a trade. It is much more a skill is that
I want to hammer home that you can develop it.
(09:11):
And it's very goal specific. Meaning if you have a lot of
discipline in one category, it doesn't necessarily mean that
you have discipline in another category.
It does does help show you that you can, you know, carry that
trait over, carry that skill over to another area.
If you're really good at throwing a baseball, you're not
going to be great at throwing a football because it's a
(09:32):
different size, it's a differentshape and you have to throw in a
certain way that allows you to spiral the ball.
You don't have to worry about that with the baseball.
And in the same, if you're greatat throwing a football, you're
not going to be great at throwing a baseball because it
is different shape, it's smaller, and you have to throw
it with a different pattern because you're not trying to
spiral it laterally. So I say all that to say it's
(09:53):
different. So it doesn't mean it's going to
immediately carry over. It's not a possessive trait that
you just walk in with. But if you have the skill of
throwing, because you can throw a baseball well, you're going to
be able to develop the skill of throwing a football much quicker
than somebody who has no skill behind throwing like myself.
So, you know, I am much more likely to be able to kick a
(10:16):
football really well than I am throwing a football because I
played soccer and I can kick really well.
My legs work better than my arms.
I can kick better than I can throw right.
But it's not the same like I, I would have to practice kicking a
football to be a punter, but it would come to me easier than
throwing a football to be a quarterback.
(10:37):
So hopefully that that analogy kind of makes sense.
But we're going to break this podcast up essentially into four
different kind of segments, if you will, and three of which are
going to be study focused. So we are going to cover some
research papers and meta analysis and really just kind of
summarize these things for you. And, and part of what actually
takes me the most time in these podcasts is that part it's
(10:58):
taking the research using some software AIS to like really boil
things down to find the best research studies, the most
practical applicable ones, breaking that down into steps,
reviewing it to make sure that it can give me some talking
points. So those that aspect of this
podcast is going to be really, really helpful.
Segment one, we're going to talkabout rebuilding your brain
essentially. So I'm going to explain how
(11:19):
habits like training in the gym,doing cardio, even just
repetitive routines and habits, they can strengthen your
prefrontal cortex of the brain and actually start to 'cause
this neuroplasticity that I mentioned before to happen.
OK, Segment 2, we're going to get into planning.
And this is really cool because planning is actually something
(11:41):
that can help you develop discipline on a more automated
way. And what I mean by that is that
there's this, it's called if then implementation.
And I'm going to go over that. But if we use this if then
implementation strategy, we can actually just plan action steps
ahead of time. And even though we are planning
ahead and it kind of removes theself-control aspect because we
(12:02):
create a plan, we don't have to decide on the fly or resist
something, it does still developdiscipline because we can use a
plan in the absence of motivation.
And when we take action in the absence of motivation, we
develop discipline. OK, that's really what
discipline is. Discipline is taking action on
(12:23):
steps without motivation, being present in the absence of
motivation that move us towards the goal we want and doing it in
a way that is consistent is, is peaceful.
I mean, like I think Mike Tyson said, it has the quote I want to
say it's Mike Tyson. He says something along lines of
(12:44):
discipline is doing the work to get the result when you don't
feel like getting, no, I'm sorry.
Discipline is doing the work to get the results.
When you're not motivated, don'tfeel like doing the work, and
you do the work with a smile on your face, that's discipline.
And that sounds miserable and toan extent, sometimes it is.
(13:04):
But the beauty of it is next time it's less miserable and
you're not doing things that don't reward you.
And I think that's really important to say here.
You don't, you don't use discipline to do things you hate
or that will give you a bad outcome.
It's always for a good, good thing.
Segment #3 is going to be about growth and the type of growth we
achieve through this resistance that I'm kind of talking about.
(13:27):
So we'll dive into some like actual deliberate practices and,
and why it's super important to push through comfort and, and
really seek discomfort. And I have a whole podcast on
seeking discomfort, which is phenomenal and I would highly
recommend it. But I want to really hammer on
that again, to echo the podcast priorly and, and, and prior to
(13:49):
this one, and, and really just touch on like what your brain is
actually doing and how it shapesyour character as you go.
And then we'll kind of look at, you know, the, I would call it
like the, the, the toolbox or the tips, the tip toolbox or the
practices that we can practically implement.
And we'll talk about how to use these things.
OK. So again, we're going to go over
(14:12):
rewiring your brain. We're going to talk about if
then statements to help you planand automate discipline.
We're going to talk about growing through resistance and
pushing past comfort. And then we're going to close it
out in Section 4 with this, thisreally just like this tip
toolbox, if you will, this this strategy system that you can
really just hopefully listen to this podcast, just take and go
implement. OK, so the first study that
(14:34):
we're going to dive into is about neuroplasticity.
And if you want to look this up,I'll link this in the
description of the podcast. It's about neuroplasticity and
self-discipline through consistent behavior.
So the source is Ericsson, K dotI ET all.
So essentially that's the the researcher is is Ericsson.
(14:56):
And the study is called exercisetraining.
Increases the size of hippocampus and improves memory.
I will link that in the description or or at least
mention the title so that you guys can just literally you can
go to Google and search that up.Some of these you might have to
have access to paywalls. So if you get blocked, sorry,
but you can look up what I wouldsuggest.
(15:18):
So I had a question about this and I want to make sure I, I
mention this. People have asked like, you
know, I've researched or I've searched the study that you you
mentioned and I got a paywall, which a paywall, if you don't
know what that means is like youget there and you're like, you
have to sign up for this, like research a subscription in order
to get access to these. I don't have all of them, but I
have enough to where I can access most research studies.
(15:39):
So if you don't have that and you're stuck at this paywall,
what I would suggest doing is, is copy and pasting the title of
the study and then literally just push, put comma or put
quotes around it and then type summary.
So on this, in this case, you would put exercise training
increases size of hippocampus and improves memory.
End Quote summary. You're going to get like
(16:01):
research reviews from people. Maybe this like if I get after
this airs and I get it on the website, for example, this would
pop up and you would see the podcast, but you might find some
research articles or or researchreviewers talking about it so
they don't have to pay. So anyway, this is about
exercise training, specifically changing your brain.
So the hippocampus is a part of your brain.
(16:22):
And as we go into this, I wantedto define what neuroplasticity
actually is. So the definition of of
neuroplasticity for anybody who's not familiar with it is
the ability of the brain to formand reorganize synaptic
connections, especially in response to learning or
experience or following injury. So how our brain forms and
(16:47):
reforms to an extent and reorganizes different
connections in the brain, right?How our brain is wired.
So in example, following injury,if we get hurt doing something,
we might associate thing with getting hurt.
Our brain rewires this danger signal, right?
The synaptic signal in connection with this thing in
(17:10):
danger, this thing in injury, this thing in pain, right?
And we can rewire that. And this is what is the
beautiful thing about neuroplasticity.
So when we use it to our advantage, we can go through
learning processes, experiences or implementation and practices
that actually rewire it in a sense that allows us to be more
(17:31):
of who we want to become. OK, So the goal of this specific
study was to find out whether regular aerobic exercise like
walking or running can change the brain structure and improve
functions related to memory, learning and self regulation
which are essential to self-discipline.
So this study basically implemented some kind of aerobic
(17:55):
exercise. I wish it would have been more
about strength training, but I think this is a good easy
Safeway to do it. And a lot of times to like
aerobic exercise is nice becauseit's so easy to vary the
intensity. You're either walking, jogging,
running, sprinting, right? There's just an easy way to make
it harder. But they're basically just
(18:15):
looking at how does this change our brain, right?
How does this change the brain structure?
How does this cause neuroplasticity in a good
manner? How does it improve functions
that are related to memory, learning and self regulation,
which are essential factors for developing self-discipline, but
also they're they're kind of unrelated to walking or running.
Does this exercise improve functions that are related to
(18:37):
memory, learning and self regulation?
Self regulation would be definitely a part of it.
Memory, I wouldn't imagine wouldbe too much part of walking or
running outside of like if you're running the same trail
or, or, or pattern or routine and then obviously learning it's
a skill. Running and walking is a pattern
that you repetitively do. So how they did it is they took
120 older adults that were randomly assigned to either
(18:59):
walking or running. I'm sorry.
Or a stretching slash toning control group, which I was
cringing when I read that. But look, this is a study by
researchers that are not fitnesspeople.
So if I got fitness people listen to this and they're like
toning what we know toning isn'ta thing.
OK, so walking or a stretching slash toning group.
(19:20):
So this is going to be like a a stretching slash like light
resistance training group, right?
And that's so they have two groups, walking or stretching
and light resistance training. MRI scans and memory tests were
conducted before, during and after the one year program.
So this is a whole year long, which is pretty crazy.
Researchers measured changes in brain volume, specifically in
the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.
(19:42):
So I'm not going to get into toomuch of A deep dive into these
parts of the brain, especially because I do believe in the next
podcast of the series, Self Belief, we're going to bring
these up in more depth and and really dive into the more of the
anatomy on this. But just know the hippocampus
and the prefrontal cortex are going to play a big role in
neuroplasticity especially. So the ability to rewire our
(20:05):
brains, change the story in our minds, change how we perceive
difficulty, hard work, taking action, taking risks, seeking
discomfort. What is comfort?
The the risk beyond comfort zone, if you will, as well as
the ability to decision makes tothe prefrontal cortex,
especially our ability to make decisions to have memory.
(20:29):
This is much of the reason why you know, for example, it it as
much as like I remember being like, why do I have to be 25?
Because I would I started travelling for these training
seminars. I think why do I have to be 25
to rent a car? This is stupid.
I still kind of think it's kind of dumb but it makes a little
bit more sense because we don't fully develop the prefrontal
cortex of our brain till our late 20s, early 30s, like
(20:51):
towards around the age 30 which is pretty crazy if you think
about it. However, God knows why we can
vote for a president at 18. That blows my mind.
No 18 year old knows what the hell they want for this country
or what should happen to this country.
I know I didn't. I barely even know.
I'm still confused so that blowsmy mind.
But it's an easy example of, youknow, our brain's ability in the
(21:15):
prefront cortex to make decisions, right?
That's and that makes why it kind of makes sense for driving
because you need to be able to make good decisions when you're
renting a car anyway. If choose hard resonates with
you, you love the idea of pursuing challenges to not just
develop your body, but also develop your mind.
And you want the constant reminder to not just yourself,
(21:38):
but everyone around you that choosing hard is the catalyst
for all growth in your life. Well, then there's nothing left
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(22:00):
I wear it on date night with my wife.
I wore it to church last weekend.
Because this is the hat. But better than its style and
its comfort is the message it represents.
Because you and I both know thatchoosing easy in the moment
often leads to a hard life lateron.
But choosing hard in the moment always leads to an easier life
(22:22):
later on. And if you believe that you want
to be reminded of that and you want to spread that message as
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Grab yourself a hat today and start representing the movement
with me. OK, now let's get back to the
podcast. OK, So what did they find in
this study? And another thing I like about
this study is that out of the the groups, 120 older adults.
(22:45):
I like that because I love when research studies use, they use
participants that basically eliminate any of our Yeah, but
I'm this special snowflake because of XYZ, right?
There's a really good study on aggressive fat loss that uses
women who are postmenopausal in their 60s, sixties, I think it's
(23:07):
late 60s. Yeah.
And the cool thing about that isthat, OK, this is an individual
who probably will struggle with some fat loss because their
metabolism has slowed down a bit.
Their hormones are going throughsome pretty crazy changes, and
they're typically less active. They are the prime example of
somebody that can say, hey, fat loss is probably going to be
harder for me. So I'm possible by any means,
but it's harder for me. Yet this study shows these
(23:29):
extremely positive results with a fat loss diet, especially in
an aggressive setting, compared to a more conservative pace, a
slower pace, which is awesome. And this is awesome because if
you can rewire your brain at an older age, anybody listening to
this, you can rewire your brain too.
It doesn't matter how old you are, what your age is.
So what they found is that thosein The Walking group showed
(23:50):
significant increases in hippocampal volume.
So the memory and emotional regulation aspects of their
brain and their ability to rewire and, and create this
neuroplasticity of memory and emotional regulation, executive
function and cognitive performance improved across the
board. So executive function and
cognitive performance, I would define those as cognitive
(24:11):
performance, your ability to focus and stay on task and be
productive. And I would say executive
function, there's a lot of different definitions for this
and way to look at this, but I like to associate this with
having a high agency. So executive function is your
ability to make decisions, take control, take action, choose for
(24:32):
yourself, be in control of your own thoughts and your actions
and your words, stuff like that.And that's what high agency is
in these areas. This is what they also found.
These areas of the brain are central to habit formation,
decision making and emotional control.
The core elements of self-discipline.
You cannot develop discipline ifyou don't learn to form it.
Habits that require and pursue and build self-discipline.
(24:56):
If you can't make decisions in difficult times and you can't
regulate your emotions. If you can't do those three
things, you will not develop discipline.
And what they found is that mostof these are developed in both
groups groups through general exercise.
But those in The Walking groups of the cardio based group
actually showed a significant increases compared to the other
one in hippocampal volume, whichis the memory and emotional
(25:20):
regulation. It's another reason to do cardio
apparently. And so the take away here is
pretty simple like your brain adapts to self disciplined
behavior. So when you are acting in
accordance with behaviors that require self-discipline, your
brain is going to rewire. So just like muscles, brain
areas responsible for disciplineto grow and strengthen, they are
(25:41):
going to developed through repeated low friction habits
like daily movement. And the brain physically adapts
to disciplined behaviour throughrepetition.
So the cool thing about this is that we can really just boil it
down. It's, it's like the, I actually
posted this the other day. I had this thing in at the last
slide. It said literally the the phrase
(26:04):
or the saying it takes money to make money literally applies to
everything in life. So it takes discipline to
develop discipline. It it's you have to take action
to get good at taking actions. You have to try and memorize
things to develop good memory. You have to try to be productive
(26:24):
in order to develop a good senseof productivity.
So it really be simple, your brain adapts to self-discipline
behavior. So you have to choose behaviors
that are going to require discipline and then you have to
repeat those things in bite sizeportions until they become
really easy. And I would suggest keeping
upping the ante until you develop as much discipline as
(26:44):
you need in that category and then you move on to something
else. Because once something becomes
habitual, it doesn't really require much discipline, which
we'll get to in a SEC. But the point is, is, is we have
to choose low friction habits and we want to really work
through these repetitively. So do the same thing over and
over again until you develop thediscipline you want and then
move on to something else. This isn't just like you do it
(27:06):
once and you're good for, for, you know, forever.
It takes discipline to build discipline and it also takes
discipline to maintain discipline, right?
We have to keep doing it and then also just say that
obviously exercise in general isgoing to develop this not only
from the standpoint of when you do hard exercise, it is
difficult and that requires you to be disciplined many times
'cause you're not always going to be motivated to do it.
(27:27):
But also just the ACT, the internal Physiology of your
body. When you are moving and you are
doing hard activities, you're doing cardio, you're doing
training, there is a neuroplasticity effect that is
going on internally that is aside from whether or not you
wanted to do the exercise and you were motivated or not.
OK, All right. So the second segment today in
(27:47):
the podcast is going to be implementation intentions.
So this is cool. This is like what I would say is
the whole like automating discipline part, and you can use
these if then plans and the source is oh gosh, goal.
Witzer, PM and Sharon Sheeran, 2006.
(28:08):
The study, if you want to research this and look it up, is
implementation intentions and goal achievement, a meta
analysis of effects and processes.
And this is from the advances inexperimental social psychology.
So the goal of the study is pretty simple.
They just wanted to test whetheror not creating these very
specific if then plans actually helps people stay consistent
(28:31):
with their goals, especially when motivation drops.
So they wanted to see is if we implement these if then plans,
are they more likely to achieve their goals and are they also
more likely to follow through with the plan?
Well, if the other group wouldn't have a plan, so I guess
I should say, are they more likely to still achieve the goal
rather than not achieve the goal?
(28:51):
If they have a if, then plan when motivation drops.
So when they're not motivated towork towards the goal, does it
help them to have an if then plan?
Are they more likely to do the work if they have a plan?
Right. So the an example of this is of
an if then plan if it's six AMI go to the gym, right?
(29:12):
If I brush my teeth, I do my hair.
It's it's habit stacking in a way, but you're discipline
stacking. OK, so how it was done, The meta
analysis looked at over 90 studies that involved over 8000
participants, which is really cool across various behavior
goals, health, work, relationships, academics, all
(29:33):
kinds of stuff. So 90 studies looking at over
8000 people. This is really, really big
compared outcomes between groupsthat used if then plans versus
general goal setting. So they just were like, hey, set
a goal. They didn't give them any any
way of setting these goals, but they still had goals.
They knew what they were after, but they didn't have an if then
plan that was associated with the goal.
(29:55):
And this is pretty cool. What they found was that the
implementation intentions significantly increase goal
completion. So implementation intentions is
the IF then. OK, so if then blank.
When they had those set up with their goals, they were
significantly more likely to accomplish their goals.
They also found that it helped people follow through even in
(30:16):
stressful, distracting and unmotivated moments.
And lastly, they found that the strategy worked across
demographics and life domains. So basically they found that the
vast majority of people do better if they have an IF then
plan associated with a goal. They found that it significantly
increased goal completion with everybody.
(30:36):
They found that it significantlyincreased goal completion when
unmotivated, AKA when you desperately need discipline
because you don't want to do it.And they found that this
strategy worked across everybody.
They did so ages, demographics, all kinds of stuff.
It didn't matter what you did, what you were trying to achieve,
what goals you had in mind, whatthe exact if, then plan was, as
(30:58):
long as you did have a goal and there was an if, then a plan
associated with it. You are more likely to achieve
your goal when you were motivated to do it and when you
were not motivated to do it. And you need to discipline.
And so the cool thing about thisis that discipline isn't just
about grinding your teeth and using willpower.
Like you can't just grind through, you can't just use grit
(31:21):
all day long, right? It's also about systems, it's
about structure, it's about planning.
It's about having a plan and building systems within your
plan that allow you to execute even when you're not motivated
and when you're able to execute even when you're not motivated.
What that is, that's proof that you can do it without any
(31:44):
abnormant, unnormal or rare or special type of motivation
present. It doesn't matter if that's
there or not. Is that going to help you?
Of course, if we can be motivated all the time or more
often, that is definitely going to help.
That's awesome. But this shows that we don't
need motivation to reach our goal, which is helpful for a lot
of people because they won't actunless they're motivated.
(32:06):
This also means that planning really does program your brain
to follow through without needing to feel ready.
So if you have a plan, you're more likely to execute, you're
more likely to follow through, you're more likely to do what
you said. So if you this is, this is the,
the most important thing I can say.
And This is why I believe it kind of automates discipline to
an extent because it does preserve our mental energy.
(32:28):
It it requires less mental energy in the moment when we
have a, a plan specifically. And if then plan as this kind of
talked about, which I would, I would even say like in general,
it's just a very specific plan, right?
And, and it doesn't always have to be.
If then when I get to work, I will blank.
So when blank, I will blank. Simple.
(32:49):
It's the same thing. The, the concept is, is there's
a specific moment action environment scenario in which
you will display what action that leads you to your goal.
That is the specificity behind this.
That's the important part of this whole thing, right?
And it preserves our energy because if if my thing is when I
(33:10):
get to the office at 8, I will execute this, this and this in
this order so that I can complete blank and reach my
blank goal by end of the week. That is very specifically
written out. I can use that as a template
because I can change the time and the place when I get home, I
will blank for my daughter so that blank and we can blank by
(33:32):
the end of the week. It can be in any category of
life, but it's so specific that it removes all this mental
energy that I have to use in themoment to figure out what to do.
And it does help me because I can just read the plan and
execute, right? It's, it's automated, but it
still develops discipline because you're still doing the
work. Because once the work's done,
you can look back and say, I didwhat I said I was going to do.
(33:54):
And that is what creates not just self-discipline, but also
self belief, which we'll get into next time.
But the point is, is that when Ilook back and see that I can
prove myself wrong, I can also remind myself, like, damn, you
weren't really motivated at all,bro, And you still crushed it.
That shows me I don't need motivation.
That shows me I need a plan and I need a reason why I want to
(34:16):
achieve this. And if I have those two things,
I'm unstoppable. That creates discipline because
I didn't want to do it. So this is really, really,
really cool for developing discipline and automating this
process and just accomplishing success in general.
OK, so we can literally, we can literally automate discipline to
(34:38):
an extent, right? You're not always going to be
able to do this right? Certain times you're going to
need self-control and that's going to carry over into
discipline. But we already touched on that.
So now we're talking about what practices can we do to just
rewire our brain to possess morediscipline in the areas we want.
Obviously, movement, exercise, walking, those things are part
of it. Planning ahead and getting the
(34:59):
very specific that encourages you and almost guarantees that
you're going to not just take action, but actually achieve the
result. That's a big part of the study.
They achieved the goal. They had to achieve the goal,
right? And there's so many people that
proved in this. Love that one.
OK, so #3 the third one, the final study is about deliberate
practice. So building discipline by
(35:21):
pushing just beyond your limits.And again, I've done a whole
podcast on the science of self-control.
And I'm sorry, the science of seeking discomfort.
And I just, I highly, highly encourage anybody who has not
listened to that podcast, a linkin the description, go listen to
it. It is, I believe, such a
profound podcast to prove to youthat you need to get
(35:42):
uncomfortable in life. But also it just, it's such a
good encourager. It will encourage you to step
outside of your comfort zone andand show you how great you can
become and how awesome the life you can build and the results
you can achieve are when you do that.
So this was again from Ericsson.This is back from 1993.
So this has been a thing. This one has always been
(36:02):
important. The study was called The Role of
Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert
Performance, and this was in psychological review.
So the goal of the study was to find what separates top
performers in music, sports, business, all kinds of
industries from everyone else and whether discipline is born
(36:22):
or built. So again, this kind of goes back
to what I said initially as well, not just how to create
discipline, which we've already broken down two ways to exercise
and planning ahead. But this third way is probably
the most well known. And that's seeking discomfort,
that's stepping into discomfort.But also it's, it's, it's
(36:44):
proving that it's, it's not born, it is built.
You have to develop skill. So how it was done, They
reviewed the training habits of elite violinists, chess players,
athletes and professionals. I think it's really cool that
they did like more physical athletes.
They did like CEOs, professionals, business owners,
but they also did chess players and violinists because those are
(37:04):
two skills that I think are under appreciative appreciated.
I, I mean, I don't watch either of those things.
I don't listen to violinists andI don't watch chess.
But I do know just cause I've read so many books talking about
the brain and talking about discipline and all these things
and the amount of times they bring up like not just
violinist, but multiple different instruments that are
(37:25):
in the orchestra that are just crazy hard in chess being so
hard and your brain working so hard, it says a lot.
So that's they, they reviewed those people.
They tracked the number of hoursthey spent in deliberate
structured practice, not just casual repetition.
So how often do these people deliberately practice?
(37:47):
So go through difficult practiceand skill development of their
their craft and practice and then examined how often they
worked on tasks just outside their comfort zone with coaching
or feedback. So out of all those things, how
much of them were also difficult, right, They were
outside their comfort zone. Here's what they found.
(38:09):
Elite performers had logged over10,000 hours of deliberate,
practice focused, goal driven and mentally taxing training.
If you've ever heard of the 10,000 hour rule, this is one of
the studies that it really founded that and created.
That's part of the reason why I chose a study and I went back to
1993 to pick a study is because this is like, you know, the they
(38:32):
talk about like the 10,000 hour rule is, is kind of like the
mastery rule. If you want to master anything,
if you want to become a master of your craft, you have to spend
10,000 hours of deliberate practice.
That's been a very well known thing.
And so this study found that elite performers did just that.
They logged over 10,000 hours ofdeliberate practice that was
focused, goal driven and mentally taxing training.
So they were focused similar to the first study and I did this
(38:55):
on purpose. And it's this is how this kind
of stacks, right? Study one, we talk about being
focused in exercise. You have to be focused on every
step. You have to be focused on the
program. You have to be focused on your
intensity. You have to be focused on what's
around you 'cause you're moving outside.
We're focused, right? Then we move into goal driven,
which is the next one. We looked at goals and
specifically planning very specifically for those goals.
So we're driven to accomplish a goal enough to make a very
(39:17):
deliberate plan. And then now we have mentally
taxing, adding to this, this, let's call it orchestra of, of
this, of this really this like series or this build up this
practice to create discipline, right?
They constantly worked at the edge of their ability, not on
what they already knew how to dowell.
(39:38):
So that means that they would goto the edge of their comfort
zone all the time, right? We're going to the gym and we're
going to push it to our limit and then some.
We're going to push it to the the end and then try to progress
a little bit. That's the whole point.
The people that developed the best physiques, what do they do?
They achieve progressive overload very consistently,
meaning they are constantly pushing themselves in the gym to
(40:01):
the limit and then trying to adda little bit right?
So they constantly worked at theedge of their ability, not on
what they already knew how to dowell.
Long term. This created more grit, focus
and a stronger tolerance for discomfort.
This is so this is like really, really cool and I want to just
review this again 'cause I savedthe best study for last.
(40:22):
I think the. One of the best ways, if not the
best way, to develop discipline is getting used to repetitively
pushing it to your limits and beyond your limits when you can.
Pushing your limits on a regularbasis is the best way to develop
(40:44):
discipline because it steps intocomfort.
It forces you to step into discomfort.
I'm sorry all the time. You're constantly moving into
discomfort when you do this. So when you push beyond your
limits, or even just to the edgeof your limits, you are
literally tiptoeing on the edge of comfort on a regular basis.
And that is the best way to develop discipline.
(41:05):
And in this study, they looked at the elite performers who
logged over 10,000 hours of deliberate practice that was
focused, goal driven, and mentally taxing.
They did it on a very regular basis, constantly pushing their
limits to the edge, if not over the edge of what they could
already do. And over the long term, it
(41:26):
created more grit, focus, and a stronger tolerance for
discomfort. And along that tolerance of
discomfort, they developed discipline, which is the ability
to do everything I just said without motivation, without
wanting to do it. And the takeaways are just that.
self-discipline grows at the edge of discomfort.
(41:47):
Love that line. self-discipline grows at the edge of discomfort.
You do not build self-disciplineby repetitively doing what is
easy. You build self-discipline by
stepping into discomfort, by pushing your limits in the gym,
(42:08):
by challenging yourself in all areas of life, by constantly
focusing on growth. Because growth requires you to
do things that you have not done, or do things you've done
at a level that you have not done yet, or figure out how you
can progress what you've alreadydone.
It requires you to do that through proper planning and
(42:31):
structured, intentional actions when you don't feel like it.
Because discipline is is really.Discipline is a skill that is
developed by you acting in alignment with your outcome or
your goal when you don't feel like doing it when you're not
motivated. Discipline is developed by
(42:53):
taking action in the absence of motivation.
That is just it. If you take 1 main thing away
from this podcast, it's that discipline is developed as a
skill, not a personality trait. You are not born with this, it
is built. It is a skill that is developed
by taking action deliberately when motivation is not present.
(43:20):
And if you can develop that discipline, you will be able to
act in alignment with your goalsin each area of life to be more
successful in each area of your life.
In fact, research correlates a greater level of both
self-control and self-disciplinewith high performers and high
achievers more so than academic success.
(43:40):
Meaning you can go through high school and college and get
straight A's. And that correlates less to life
success than somebody who possesses a lot of self-control
and self-discipline. So hey, go get good grades,
don't get me wrong, but you better hope that you're also
developing self-control and self-discipline.
And this is a shout out to the parents to step up and help
(44:01):
their kids develop self-control and self-discipline.
Because if you don't, the schoolwon't and they will be less
likely to be successful. As brutal as that sounds.
It's probably the best advice I could give on parenting.
Not that I'm a parent coach or anything, but it's, it's
science, it's fact. And that's just that you got to,
(44:23):
you got to stretch your, your capacity, you got to stretch
your ability. So, you know, tying all this
together, like to, to wrap this up, you know, in these studies
and everything like that, right?So I have like a couple bullet
points I just want to touch on real quick.
So #1 remember that self-discipline is a skill.
It is not a personality trait that you were born with #2 is
that the brain literally adapts to discipline behavior through
(44:45):
repetition. And this is when neuroplasticity
happens. So when you repeat any kind of
difficult action, but especially, especially through
exercise, you are going to rewire your brain in so many
positive ways. And I only touched on the ones
that lead to discipline, but your brain and the
neuroplasticity that happens foryour benefit through exercise is
unbelievable. There's, it's endless #3 you can
(45:11):
automate discipline to an extentby simply planning things out
ahead. If you're not planning, what is
the saying? If you don't, if you fail to
plan, you plan to fail. Everybody knows that, right?
It's true. But also planning can save you
when you know you need discipline and you're just worn
out. So if you got a lot going on or
(45:31):
you know you need to acquire anddevelop discipline in multiple
areas of life, start creating plans.
If you need to create a if, thenplan right?
And this is a intentional implementation plan.
All that really means is that I'm attaching things
specifically that lead me to my outcome.
When I get here. I will do this in this way so
(45:52):
that I can accomplish this. When the clock hits this time, I
will take this action. When I see this person, I will
say this thing. When I go to the gym to do this,
I will also do this like just habit stack with discipline
actions. So it's like action stacking,
right? Really simple.
And then the last one is that your strength, you strengthen
(46:12):
discipline when you stretch beyond your, your literal
capacity for everything, right? Whatever you're doing and
whatever you're trying to build discipline in, push yourself
beyond your comfort zone. Go listen to the Seek Comfort
podcast Seeking Discomfort podcast.
There is so much benefit to challenging yourself.
That's why this podcast is called Choose Hard.
That's why I'm so passionate about helping people choose hard
(46:33):
because I want to show people that no matter who you are, no
matter what your experience is, what are, what your education
is, what your background is, what your lifestyle is, you have
the choice to choose hard. And the more often you choose
hard in alignment towards your goals, the more successful you
will be in every area of life. I hope you guys enjoyed this
(46:55):
podcast. Go leave us a five star rating
review if you have not yet. Make sure you share this podcast
so other people can gain this free insight into
self-discipline. And just remember, this is Part
2. So we had self-control Part 1.
Go check that out if you haven'tyet.
We have Part 2 right now, which is self-discipline.
We are going to go into self belief next and the science
behind self belief, which is confidence.
And then lastly, my favorite self respect and the science of
(47:19):
what self respect is, how that is earned and how you can do it
yourself. I love you guys.
I appreciate you guys. Thanks for listening.
I'll catch you next time.
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