What Will Smith Taught Me About Discipline

This morning, during my morning walk, I played a YouTube video that showed up on my phone. It was a motivational talk from Will Smith.

I like Will Smith. "Yeah I'll give it a shot," I thought. So I put my headphones on and pushed play.

I'm glad I did.

Will Smith was talking about self-discipline and the importance of having control over your mind and your actions.

He laid it out in a way that really resonated with me. I'm paraphrasing...

To me, self-discipline is a form of self-love. Imagine you're having a conversation with yourself. You see a piece of Pizza and you say to "naahhh man, I love you too much to let you eat that slice of pizza. You have an early morning workout and if you eat that pizza, you'll feel like shit."

Or all your friends are going out and they invite you. You say "You can't do it. You got a test in the morning that you've been studying for and if you go out tonight, you won't get the sleep you need and you won't be ready for your test. I love you too much to let you do that."

If you discipline yourself, you are treating yourself well.

You are setting yourself up to succeed in the future. You are giving your future self the opportunity to get to where you want to go. Without discipline, all you're doing is getting in your own way.

Would you ever intentionally try to destroy your best friend's dream? Would you ever wish to see your loved ones fail or not live up to their fullest potential?

Then why is it that we accept that from ourselves? We block our own dreams by letting ourselves off the hook. Without discipline, we are fucking ourselves over.

Why?

You don't have to like it. You just have to do it. Doing the things that are good for you is a form of self-love. Doing the things that are comfortable is a form of self-neglect.

Love yourself. Do what is hard.