#008 – Why You're Struggling With Discipline & How to F**k Up Your Day

Welcome to the Five to Thrive newsletter

I share 5 interesting ideas every Thursday morning to ignite your curiosity and drive your growth in productivity, business, and all things peak performance.

read time 3 minutes 

#008 at a Glance:

• Quote that will get you thinking: Free Education vs Desire to Learn

• Podcast you should listen to: Mark Bouris x Tobi Pearce

• Mental Model: Sustainable Discipline

• Hack you should try: Joe Rogan’s Instant Cure for a Lack of Motivation

• Tweet I liked: 9 ways to F**k Up Your Day

Quote that will get you thinking:

Podcast you should listen to:

Mark Bouris x Tobi Pearce

I loved this chat. Definitely one of my favourite episodes from Mark Bouris’ podcast catalogue.

Why?

It’s just two highly successful entrepreneurs sitting in a room, talking about life. No bullshit, no fluff, just honest conversation.

• Both Mark and Tobi have sold their respective companies for over $400 million (Mark in 2004 and Tobi in 2022).

• Both are big on perpetual learning.

• Both are big on health and fitness.

• Both are big on jiu-jitsu.

• Both are looking to continually improve in every facet of their life.

• Both are what society would generally classify as ‘high-value males’.

• Both of them admit they have a long way to go.

This episode was a real eye-opener for me into the minds of high-performing entrepreneurs. What makes them tick, what occupies their brain, what worries them, the different structures they put in place to ensure they can always be at their best, etc.

Listen on Spotify here. Listen on Apple Podcasts here. Watch on YouTube here.

Mental Model:

Sustainable Discipline

The other day, I posted a reel on Instagram of Chris Williamson where he said, “Doing the thing in spite of not wanting to do the thing IS discipline.”

It got me thinking about discipline and this idea of having to “push through” hard days when you feel flat or lacking inspiration – and I totally get that, one hundred percent, completely agree.

But having said that…

I wonder how many people are forcing themselves to be disciplined and form a new habit WITHOUT any real understanding or appreciation as to WHY they’re actually doing it.

And that a lack of purpose is the reason why they’re struggling to be disciplined.

I’m not talking about “I’m going to go for a run because I want to get fitter”. That is extremely shallow. What I’m talking about is going a little deeper. I’m talking about knowing precisely:

1. Why you’re going for a run as opposed some other type of exercise?

2. Why you want to get fitter in the first place?

When you’re able to closely connect the action you’re taking (e.g. running) to the outcome you want to achieve (e.g. getting fitter), as well as understanding your purpose for taking that particular action (e.g. knowing exactly why you’re going for a run instead of lifting weights), you’re significantly more likely to reach what I like to call Sustainable Discipline.

[Literally just came up with that phrase then… I like it. I’m going to keep using it.]

Very simply, my thinking behind Sustainable Discipline is this:

The more conscious you are of the purpose behind your actions, the easier it will be to remain disciplined over time. Your actions begin to feel less like a chore and more like a necessary stepping stone to what you ultimately want to achieve.

Hack you should try:

Joe Rogan’s Instant Cure for a Lack of Motivation

I heard this on an episode of Joe Rogan recently. It goes something like this (keep in mind, I’m paraphrasing):

When you’re down and lacking motivation, imagine this scenario: You’re being followed by a documentary crew. They’re following you around for the sole purpose of documenting your success that is to come. Someone in their team has seen into the future and knows that you’re going to be successful, and now they’re following you to showcase your meteoric rise to the top and catch you in the act. How would you conduct yourself? What would you do differently from what you’re doing right now? What would your daily habits be?

Tweet I liked:

That’s all for this week, thanks for reading!

Grateful for your support.

Stay hungry, stay humble, & stay curious. ⚡

Do you think someone else will enjoy reading Five to Thrive? Forward them this email!

Was this email forwarded to you? Subscribe to receive them in the future!

Have some feedback or would like to get in touch with me? You can email me at [email protected] or find me on Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn.