The other day Sensei Paul was talking about Discipline at the end of children’s class.

He asked the kids to raise their hands if they tidy up their own toys; raise their hands if they make their own bed; raise their hands if they put their dirty clothes in the laundry basket, and so on…

And it got competitive! In the dojo [the room where karate is practiced] with a mirror, everyone could see who is the ‘most adult’, the ‘most responsible’ and the ‘coolest’ kid on the block.

This is exactly why I love karate.

Its culture promotes friendly rivalry to be the best.

To be the ‘black belt’ of anything in your life, not just in karate.

To strive for success, and quickly get up when you’ve been knocked down.

But that conversation got me thinking about the concept of discipline. Do I make my bed every morning? Nope. But can I call myself a disciplined person? Hell yes I can.

Many people made comments to me throughout the years which are something along the lines of ‘How do you juggle so many things at the same time?’ or ‘Where do you get your energy/motivation from?’, and listening to Sensei Paul gave me that eureka moment.

Discipline + Mindset = Habits

Hear me out!

If you want to smoke, and you go for a break every couple of hours, you develop a habit – you stop planning your cigarette breaks, you just manage to find time.

If you want white and healthy teeth, you will be brushing your teeth, every day – again, you don’t put it on your to do list, you just find the time.

Basically, if you want to do something, and discipline yourself (sometimes inadvertently) to do it on a regular basis, this activity often becomes a habit. You don’t put much consideration into whether you want to do it or not – you just do it.

So how do I juggle so many things? I feel like I can write a separate post about it [comment below if you would like to read it], but let me give you a whistle-stop tour: I’m in full-time employment, have strong social media presence (Instagram, Youtube & 2 blogs) which is very time consuming 🙂 , train in the gym very regularly, recently finished my Postgraduate course, and have now started karate.

For some people it might seem full on, they just want to relax when they get home, so they really don’t understand where I get all the energy to do these things… The answer is nowhere!

Fitness is part of my lifestyle, a habit if you like, and in no way an obligation for me. I’ve disciplined myself to be constantly physically active, and after a day in the office (at the job which I absolutely love), gym isn’t a chore, gym is a pleasure. I’ve committed and disciplined myself in the beginning, and now being active is just a habitual thing – I’m used to juggling things around!

We only have one life, and we better live it to the fullest! What do you want to do? What do you want to be proud of?

It takes only 21 days to develop a habit, so you only have to discipline yourself for three weeks. Obviously, as long as you have positive mindset, and want those changes.

Then you can achieve absolutely anything ❤ .

Lots of love,

Po