Hustle culture will tell you that you must always be hustling…but for what exactly?
Have we actually stopped to think about that?
For many years, I thought discipline was getting something done whether or not you feel like it.
And a large part of discipline is exactly that. It means being able to follow a diet, workout routine, or any other endeavor that takes consistent effort, regardless of how you feel on the day.
That's a skill you need to learn and improve.
But there’s another layer to discipline that people don't talk about much: If you want to do something, hit a goal, or achieve something, it might be good to pause and reflect on why. Please don’t just jump in unquestioningly. You will burnout if you don’t have a reason that comes from within you.
Find the reason that comes from your gut, free from the approval or opinions of others. You don’t even need to explain this to anyone. Just yourself. Maybe it’s literally just a feeling. Maybe that is your reason.
When you strip away the justifications, it’s actually about your own self-respect.
It sounds counterintuitive, because for some of us discipline feels a lot like denying yourself things, like a break or a pause. Soldier on, no matter what, right?
But if you pour into something with ironclad discipline without knowing what (or whom) you’re actually doing it for, the world might reward you, but you may not like the circumstance you find yourself in. You might find yourself asking, “Why did I even do this?”
Being truly selfish about it is completely okay. It’s okay to say, “actually, what I really want is to look and feel my best.” Or “I want to have more than enough money to live,” or “actually, I want that for everyone else too.”
‘I want to get better at this for me’ is a valid reason, and maybe the best reason to do something for yourself. It can keep you going even if the money isn’t coming, the relationship isn't there, or the result people say you should want isn't materializing.
Something like this is likely in your life. You might rationalize not doing it. People might actively tell you not to do it, but inside, you may actually desire to do the practice, job, thing, or hobby that’s pulling you.
It’s okay to follow that pull.
What does this have to do with the environment?
Why am I, an environmental journalist, blogging my opinion about discipline?
I think the connection is that following instructions or playing by the rules can make us conform to standards, paths, and things not meant for us, that take us away from what is at our heart.
It can make us tacitly buy into systems we don’t actively want or bother to question.
It is how we can find ourselves in a world where we care more about whether the stock market rises and falls than whether everyone on the street has a roof over their head, or whether we’re razing rainforests to make room for cows to export more meat, instead of protecting them from being overexploited.
What, in actuality, are we doing this all for? Who or what is actually benefiting from this anyway?
It’s a critical question too many people don't ask, and I’m not pretending I’m impervious to blind spots. But if we fail to ask it in our daily lives, and articulate that exact reason, how can we ask governments and institutions to be accountable for the same question?
What does it bring to the world? To yourself?
What really is that thing going to get you?
What promise are you making to yourself and to others? Why?
These are not rhetorical questions meant to discourage you. They are meant to be asked and answered.
If we don’t ask them now, it will be much harder to answer them later.
Mike