3 Simple Steps to "Get Disciplined" in Your Journey
Discipline can get a bad rap because it's uncomfortable to implement in our lives…
But it's NECESSARY!
At it's core, discipline is self-control.
Another definition is “showing a controlled form of behavior or way of working.”
I love that definition because it means YOU are controlling your response to the things around you versus them having control over your thoughts, your emotions, and your decisions.
This is the meaning of discipline that has to show up first — it takes intentionality, it takes time, and it takes mental energy.
but you have to gain control over your behavior
Once you gain control over your behavior, the second meaning of discipline starts to take shape: practice.
Discipline is a practice.
Think about what practice means — performing something regularly to master proficiency. This is the “putting in the work” part of discipline where you DO THE WORK!
After doing the work consistently, having that control over your behavior is habit — something you carry out without much if any mental energy.
This process is applied to specific, seemingly minuscule areas in our journey — like snack time after the kids go down for naps, not pressing snooze, or planning dinners for the week and actually cooking them.
You've got to control your thoughts (self-control), do the work (practice), and stay consistent in those two to create the habit.
This is how discipline plays out, it's nothing scary or intimidating. it's simply saying "Hey… I'm sick and tired of feeling like life is constantly getting the best of me and my journey, so I'm going to do something about it," and then getting your focus in on one habit at a time.
Keep it simple, have self control, and do the work — that's how you get disciplined.
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FULL TRANSCRIPT
[00:00:00] The word discipline can get a bad rap because it's an uncomfortable thing to implement in our journey. It is necessary. So we're addressing that feeling of discomfort around that word today and diving into three, not scary, not intimidating steps to get disciplined in your health and fitness journey as a mom.
Hey mama. Welcome to the Tough Love Mom podcast. I know you're here because you're ready to get consistent and finally lose that weight, and you're not afraid of a little tough love. You know what to do to lose weight, but following through on those things feels impossible. You wish you could just feel like you're strong, confident self again.
And want to be a good example for your little ones, but you get thrown off by mom. Guilt in the unpredictability of motherhood. It's frustrating. Taking on your journey. Postpartum is hard, but it's not impossible. Hey, I'm Liz, and I've been where you are. [00:01:00] I gained a lot of weight in my pregnancies. 90 pounds and then 60 pounds.
I needed to lose that weight to take control of my health, and honestly just wanted to feel like myself again with the sustainable approach to weight loss, simple consistency in working on my mindset. I lost it all in just over a year, both times, and I'm here to help you do the same. I believe that we have an ingrained ability to figure out what we need to do, make it happen, and do it in a way that AWS the world.
If you're ready to stop falling off the wagon, create solid, routine, and healthy. And finally, feel your best inside and out, all enjoying Dino nuggets on your salad. You are in the right place. We're about to transform your journey, my friend. Get pumped up. It is tough. Love time,
discipline can get a bad wrap because it's an uncomfortable thing to implement in our journeys, but it is necessary and that's why the first. Of the tough Love mom tagline is get [00:02:00] disciplined. Because without it, you can't stay consistent and you cannot lose weight and keep it off. You can't lose weight sustainably without discipline.
We cannot set the example we wanna set for our kids, but again, it's necessary and we know it is. So what does it mean? What is discipline at its core? Discipline is self. Uh, a variation of the word discipline in the form of an adjective is disciplined, which means showing a controlled form of behavior or way of working.
I love that definition, the definition of disciplined specifically because it means you are controlling your response to things around you versus those things around you having control over your thoughts, over your emotions, and over your. This is the meaning of discipline that has to show up first. It takes intentionality.
It takes time, it [00:03:00] takes mental energy. You have to put the work into this mentally to get disciplined, but you have to gain control over your behavior first, which we know our behaviors, our actions, the choices we make stem from our thoughts, which stem from our emotions and our feelings. So we have to gain control over that piece of our.
not just our journey, but gain control over that piece of our life before we can move on in this disciplined process and getting more disciplined with our own habits and in our own lives. So once you do, once you gain control over your behavior, and not in a perfect way, but just start to be more intentional, start to be more aware, putting in that mental effort towards, again, that controlled form of behavior.
Once you do that, the second meaning of discipline starts to take shape, and this is practice. Discipline is a practice, and think about what practice means. For a second here, it's performing [00:04:00] something regularly to master proficiency. Like think back to when you played sports in high school or middle school, or if you're a college athlete.
You know when you go to. You are doing reps, you're doing stuff over and over so you can get more proficient at that skill. Like singing. I mean, I, I have no musical talent whatsoever, so I guess it applies to like musical talent as well. You are going to practice so you can get better at what you're doing.
You get better at the skill. Discipline is a practice. This is the putting in the work part of discipline. It's where you get your hands dirty and do the. So the first part about self-control and developing that takes the mental energy. It takes intentionality on the mindset side, and the practice is simply putting your feet on the ground and saying, I'm doing this and I'm gonna keep doing it until I get better at it after doing that work consistently.
Because remember, there's no consistency without [00:05:00] discipline, and that's how consistency plays into all of. You know, the taglines get disciplined, stay consistent, and lose weight. Those things have to happen in that order. So you've done the work of self-control, you're doing the work and practicing and getting better at it, and as you stay consistent after doing the work and having the control over your behavior, it becomes a habit.
something that you carry out ritualistically without much, if any mental effort. That's all a habit is. It's something that you do without a lot of thought, if any at all. So this process is applied. This process of getting disciplined is applied to specific, seemingly minuscule areas in our journey, and that's why it gets looked over a lot.
And that's why we will try really, really hard to just be perfect for a couple days and then, you know, something happens. Comes up and you fall off in a sense and put it like quote fingers there. You fall off and get frustrated with yourself and you're like, man, I just cannot get disciplined. [00:06:00] It's because you have to walk through this process and it takes time.
It really does. That first piece of gaining self control over your behaviors. Yeah. Showing up in a controlled way in your actions takes a lot of time and as does the putting in the work part and staying consistent with it. That takes months. Honestly. It really does. so seemingly minuscule areas. For example, snack time after the kids go down for naps and being more intentional there, uh, not pressing snooze in the morning when you really just know you should get up planning dinners for the week and actually following through and cooking those meals.
These are all minuscule areas where we can apply this discipline process in our life that we often just look over because in the moment it's hard. In the moment we don't feel like doing it. You've got to control your. That's that self-control piece. You have to do the work aka practice. And being consistent in those two creates the habit.[00:07:00]
It's what makes it ritualistic. It's what, when you get to that point where you're like, no, it's just second nature. This is just how I show up, and you have to go through those steps. One of them cannot be missed. You can't skip. Controlling your mindset piece and getting your thoughts in check. You can't skip that part.
You won't get disciplined. It won't become part of who you are without taking those steps. This is how discipline plays out. That's all it means, . It's nothing scary or intimidating. I think the main reason it is intimidating, it's because it is a long process. It's not a hard process. It just is long. And I know lengthy things can seem a little intimidating because it's a.
but I know you're committed to your health, to the health of your kids. And setting that example. And all it is, is simply saying, Hey, I'm sick and tired of feeling like life is constantly getting the best of me in my journey, so I'm gonna do something about it. And then getting your focus in on [00:08:00] one habit at a time.
That's all you gotta do. Keep it simple. Have self-control and do the work. That's how you get disciplined. It is not more complicated than that. And. Keeping it that simple, keeping it simple, having self-control, doing the work, being consistent. Make it a habit. That's all it is. It's not scary, it's so doable.
You just have to stay the course. Man, I really hope this is something that. you needed to hear at the beginning of the year. I hope this year is different for you. I want it to be, I want this to be the year that you make real change for good. I wanna equip you with the knowledge. I wanna equip you with the practice, the skills, the follow through, and the encouragement.
I can do that here on the podcast, but I also have a totally free text list that will give you encouragement and mindset. Mindset checks like this on a weekly. So, and we can even chat back and forth on there if you've got, you know, you just, it's something you needed to hear and you wanna let me know that it really hit home.
I love hearing that. So if you want those tough love texts on a [00:09:00] weekly basis to get reminders like this to get these kind of mindset gut checks where you're like, yeah, I needed to hear that today. If you want that, make sure you text the words two separate words. Tough. To the number 2 0 5 8 0 9 7 3 0 0 so you can get this on a weekly basis.
I want you starting this year confident in how you're approaching your journey because you know you're doing it in a sustainable way, and I want to continue to speak into you. So let me send you those tough love texts again, the words tough love to 2 0 5 8 0 9 7 3 0 0. And until next time, mama, get after it.
Before you go, thank you for spending this time with me on the Tough Love Mom podcast. If this episode encouraged you in any way, the number one way you can thank me is to leave a review letting me know how this show has impacted you. Then send this episode to another mom friend, or. Take a screenshot, post it on social media and tag me so I can personally thank you for [00:10:00] helping me on this journey to impact thousands of moms.
I'm so grateful to be on this journey with you, sister. Until next time, get after it.
