I am having one of those days. You know, one when I don’t feel like doing anything. When my body and mind have teamed up in deep resistance mode.
Like a young toddler who has set their mind on saying “No” to everything.
For the past few years, to stay mentally and physically healthy, I have committed to 20 to 30 minutes of yoga and 30 minutes of meditation and prayer each day.
Through experience, I have learned that unless I honor this practice most days, I will suffer the consequences: a racing mind and a stiff, sore body.
In other words, honoring this habit is non-negotiable if I want to stay sane and physically vital.
Typically, I start my days with this morning routine, even before I open my phone or laptop, to set myself up for a good day.
And if I, for some reason, can't (or sometimes consciously choose not to) do it in the morning, I usually do it later in the day.
Today, however, as I woke up, I couldn’t bring myself to either get on the mat or sit my butt down to meditate.
In fact, it was an effort just to get out of bed and start my day, letting the ego convince me that I would probably get into the “right mood” later.
The right mood, however, never presented itself. Huge surprise, right?
What We Feel Like Is Inconsequential
As Spiritual Warriors seeking internal and external freedom, we cannot let what we feel like in any given moment determine our choices.
That’s the entire foundation of being a spiritual warrior, being unwavering and unstoppable, right?
However, the ego is such a slick trickster, and given the chance, it will do all it can to convince us not to stretch ourselves outside the known and familiar.
It has a whole range of stories and excuses ready to be blasted into our awareness to keep us within both our comfort zone and comfortability zone.
And as long as we give our mental and emotional experiences the power to run us, we will remain exactly who and where we are: reactionary, mindless drones.
Which is the exact opposite of being a spiritual warrior, living a life of ever-expanding peace, love, joy, harmony, wholeness and abundance.
"If you want to achieve the core 5% of execution that most people fail to reach, you must be willing to do what 95% of people are unwilling to do." - Robin Sharma
I am not suggesting that we never pay attention to our emotions. On the contrary, we want to always seek to be aware of our mental and emotional state, lovingly embracing and allowing whatever is to be as it is.
However, being aware of our emotions is not the same as being run by them.
We can be fully aware of feeling like not doing something, and yet consciously choose to do it.
In fact, that is exactly how we set ourselves free. Especially if the thing we don’t want to do is the very thing that will help transform the quality of our life.
Pause and Reset 🧘🏾♂️
Let’s pause here and take a moment to practice breaking free from any mental and emotional attachment.
I invite you to close your eyes, bring a smile to your face, and join me in taking these three deep conscious breaths.
Breathing in… and releasing.
Breathing in… and releasing.
Breathing in… and releasing
Now that we have reset our minds, I invite you to say with me:
All is Well
Something Wonderful is Always Happening
Everything is Working For Our Highest Good
Perfect Preparation and Unfolding are happening now, always, and forever
Discipline Is Nothing But A Mental Muscle
When talking about discipline, I love referencing world-class athletes, because they are true warriors in the sense that they are world-class for the simple reason that they, for years, have been unwavering and unstoppable in becoming world-class.
Take any world-class athlete, in any sport. They have spent years and years honing and perfecting their game. Countless days, not to mention hours, practicing, repeating the same move, play, or whatnot, again and again.
Did they always want to? Did they always feel like it? Of course not.
We all have moments, days, and perhaps even periods, when we feel uninspired and unmotivated. When we don’t feel like doing what we need to do to move toward our impossible dream or vision.
Did they let these thoughts and emotions stop them from doing what they needed to do? Obviously not, or they wouldn’t be the world-class athletes they now are.
Were they born with that level of discipline? Some of them maybe, but most developed it over the years.
One of my earliest teachers, the late Mr. Bob Proctor, used to put it like this:
“Discipline is giving yourself a command and then following it”
Discipline is nothing but a mental muscle, and like any muscle, it can be strengthened.
It isn't an innate personality trait; it is a physical brain structure. Every time we consciously choose rather than react, we physically pave a smoother road for new levels of conscious choice.
True, past programming and conditioning may play a part in cultivating discipline. If we had important role models growing up who displayed a high level of discipline, we are more likely to have emulated them and developed it ourselves.
But just like anyone can learn how to read or write - regardless of whether their parents could - any of us can learn to cultivate the discipline to follow through on our goals and intentions.
The Struggle is the Fluid in Our Wings
When we experience internal resistance, the ego frames it as a sign to stop. But if we look at nature real quick: when a caterpillar emerges from the chrysalis, it needs to squeeze its way through a tiny opening.
That challenging physical squeeze forces fluid out of its swollen body and into its wings. If a compassionate onlooker expands that tiny opening in the chrysalis to ease the struggle, the butterfly will emerge weak and crippled. And it will never develop the ability to fly.
"Action is the foundational key to all success. It’s not about perfection, it’s about execution." - Tony Robbins
We are all a unique, perfect, and whole emanations of the Divine. We were all created with everything necessary to grow, unfold, and expand, and the friction of doing what we don’t feel like doing is the exact mechanism that drives that growth and expansion.
Neuroscience confirms this biological truth. Deep within our brains is a structure called the anterior mid-cingulate cortex (aMCC)—the physical seat of human willpower.
Brain scans reveal that the aMCC does not grow when we do things that are easy or enjoyable. It only expands when we step out of our comfortability zone and consciously choose to act even when we don’t feel like it.
“If we only do what is easy life will be hard. When we learn to do what is hard, life will become increasingly easy”. - T. Harv Ecker
Discipline is not a punishment. It is the physical and spiritual muscle of self-mastery.
Every time we consciously choose to act even when we don’t feel like it, the aMCC expands, we build our discipline muscles, and we step out of emotional reactivity into spiritual and inner freedom. Into being a Spiritual Warrior.
We Need To Want It Enough
The key to cultivating discipline is wanting something enough. If our level of desire and wanting is too low, there is really no reason for us to push ourselves into doing something we don’t feel like doing, right?
On the other hand, when we truly and deeply want something, the price to “get it” can never really be too high.
This is why some people choose to pay huge amounts of money for an item that most others wouldn’t even look at twice.
Or why some individuals push through seemingly insurmountable challenges to achieve something that others have no desire to achieve - and wouldn’t even consider achieving even if someone offered to pay them.
Motivation is the driving force behind almost everything we do, so if we find ourselves unable to muster the discipline to do something we said we would, we are wise to examine our underlying motivation.
Are we doing it because we feel we should? Or because someone else expects us to? Or to get something back in return?
Or are we doing it simply because we have a deep desire to?
There are two sorts of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic.
Intrinsic motivation is when we want something because it makes us feel good, brings us joy, or gives us some kind of satisfaction.
Extrinsic motivation is when we want something either out of fear, to get something; praise, approval, acknowledgment, or to avoid something such as a penalty, shame, or embarrassment.
"A person's success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have—and the number of uncomfortable actions they are willing to take." - Tim Ferriss
While both are powerful motivators, external motivation often comes from a sense of not being or having enough. We need that something to feel fulfilled, to feel alright.
In my case, the motivation for my daily mental and physical health regimen is primarily internal. First, I need it to stay mentally sane and my body to stay vital, strong, and healthy.
Second, I want my children to understand the value of meditation, and I want them to see that aging does not necessarily mean getting out of shape.
Who Won, The Ego Or Me?
So who won, me or the ego?
I am happy to say that this time, I won. True, it was a rather long battle, and I had to overcome a lot of excuses to get on the mat. But the moment I took the first pose, every ounce of resistance dissipated, and I thoroughly enjoyed the full hour.
In honesty, it is not always that I come out on top, but over the years I have cultivated a level of discipline that allows me to at least emerge as the victor far more often than not - even when I don’t initially feel like it.
Pause and Reset 🧘🏾♂️
Let’s pause here and take a moment to reclaim our minds through coming back to the nowness of this moment.
So I invite you to close your eyes, bring a smile to your face, and join me in taking these three deep conscious breaths.
Breathing in… and releasing.
Breathing in… and releasing.
Breathing in… and releasing
Now that we have reset our minds, I invite you to say with me:
All is Well
Something Wonderful is Always Happening
Everything is Working For Our Highest Good
Perfect Preparation and Unfolding are happening now, always, and forever
🎧 Complementary Audio Treat
The complimentary audio for this post is a talk called “Discipline - The Hallmark Of Freedom”.
Conscious Game Plan
Being forearmed means being prepared, and having a game plan you can lean on when your motivation falters is a powerful tool to overcome the ego.
List between 3-5 things you can do to overcome the ego’s excuses and do what you have committed to - even when you don’t feel like it.
Now that you have your conscious game plan, I invite you to commit to implementing it whenever you need to - no matter what.
If you want to make a written commitment, you’re welcome to do so in the comments or in the community chat.
I read and respond to all comments.
I’d love to hear what practice you are choosing to claim today. Drop a comment below or come say hi in our Community Chat so we can support each other as we expand our wings!
If this article resonated with your heart and soul, I would deeply appreciate your support in expanding this work—whether through a financial contribution or by sharing this blog with someone who might benefit from it. All support is received with deep gratitude.
Until next time, my fellow Spiritual Warriors, I bless, bless, bless our days, and I bless, bless, bless our ways. Knowing that All is Well, that Something Wonderful is Always Happening, that Everything is Working for Our Highest Good, that Perfect Preparation and Unfolding are Happening, Now, Always and Forever.
With much love and many blessings,
Namaste ✨💜🙏🏾
daniel roquéo