I've asked myself countless times how and why I exercise. I've also wondered how I've been able to remain this consistent over the two years I've been actively exercising. In the beginning, I decided that I needed a little structure in my life. I was spending upwards of six or seven hour a day in front of my laptop playing games or watching a show. It was slowly taking a toll on me. I needed to teach myself discipline, and working out was seemingly the easiest way to do this. Its not as easy not for sure!
It's a Skill
Discipline is a skill, as I have come to learn. Only a few possess it, and many of those who do go on to do extra-ordinary things in life. I'm trying to wedge myself into this elite group of people. There are many things I do today to force discipline. I fail, sometimes miserably, but I always try to pick myself up. This is an instinct that comes with discipline. And with any skill, you have to exercise it on a regular basis if you are ever going to get any good at it. What I'm slowly realizing with time is that discipline is slowly doing things until they become habits. You do not have to start big. The smallest thing you do everyday compounds over time into something amazing. The things we do today pay off in the future, but only through consistency and discipline (For the curious among you, I challenge you to look into the power of compound interest.)
Build The Habit
How do we build habits? By using the proven methods from hundreds of psychology studies - introduce a cue and a reward for the behavior you want to build. This simple method is used across so many things and industries without our knowledge. Why do you wake everyday to go to work? Money. The bills, even the alarms in the morning are the cue. The reward? The pay at the end of the month. We use it when we promise your kid a bike for good school performance. The cue can be the books, the test or even the school. The bike is the reward. These two exist to create a behavior. Over time, we develop a craving, the anticipation of reward. We eventually learn to expect an income at the end of the month, and this solidifies our going to work.
At the start of my journey towards self discipline, I had no idea what I was doing. But the best thing I did was to adopt this mechanism of habit formation, albeit unknowingly. I promised myself a yoghurt, a banana and some fries every week after I had hit the workout goals. It wasn't much, but this worked to reinforce this behavior a lot. Eventually, the behavior was driven by my desire to achieve something in my life. I was looking for wins within myself, since there were so little elsewhere. I'd punish myself if I didn't workout when I was supposed to, and would work out at 11p.m just to say I had worked out that day. It did get unhealthy at some point. I wasn't training optimally. But everything's a learning process, and even though my workout today is a lot better and safer, I don't think its even close to perfect. I iterate everyday. As a friend said to me 'buda, bora usipate kitambi! Abs wachia Chris Hemsworth.'
The Experience So Far
Has it taught me discipline? More than anything in my life, outside of my family environment. Were it not for exercise, I wouldn't be able to sit down and write this article. My motives have changed over the years. Looking healthy (not good), while not something I'm proud to acknowledge, has become part of the motivation.
So find something that can help reinforce a good habit. This can be anything from a saving culture to a self-care habit. It doesn't have to be exercise for you too. It can be anything that will take considerable effort to do, on a frequent basis. If you are able to carry it out, I promise you can do a whole lot more. Challenge yourself!