It has been a very long time since you decided to stop whining and start doing. During this time you have woken up at 4:30 am without fail to start with your routine with minimum exceptions. Day after day. Week after week. Month after month. But today?

Well, today you don’t want to. Today, you don’t feel like it. Today, you don’t feel like sticking to the routine. Today is a pleasant day and you wanna remain in bed. Today, you feel like letting it go. But again, you are not a quitter so you begin your routine by 5 am. Here’s what it takes to have this mentality.

Control your mind

Your brain is talking to you in all kinds of ways. It wants to control you and pull you in different directions. Consider every thought you have as a recommendation/advice, not an order. You have to be the one who tells your brain where to go, what to do and how to do it. Right now, your mind is recommending that you feel tired. It is recommending that you give up. It is recommending that you take an easier path. However, your mind is also suggesting that you will feel very good about accomplishing this work once it is done. It is suggesting that you will respect your future self when you stick to the routine. It is also saying that you can finish this task, even when you don’t feel up to it. Remember, none of these are orders. They are merely options. You have the power to choose which option you follow.

Pain & Discomfort are Temporary in Life‍

It is easier now than it has ever been. 1000 years ago, if you didn’t kill your food and build your own house, you would die. Today, we whine about forgetting our mobile’s charger and not being able to go to Mcdonald’s.

Maintain perspective

‍Your life is good and your discomfort is temporary. Step into this moment of discomfort or despair and let it strengthen you. Let it grow you. Why? Because pain is temporary. It may last for a minute or an hour or a day or even a year. But eventually, it will subside and something else will take its place. If you quit, however, it will last forever. I dare you to take a little pain.

At the end of pain is a success. No Regrets Mamba Kobe’s philosophy was,

Work hard every single day so that when you retire, you have no regrets. That is the most important thing, to not leave a single stone unturned.

Now, what we do is that we want our work to be helpful and respected, but we do not want to struggle through our work. We want a well-toned body with six-pack abs, but we do not want to grind through another workout. We want the final result, but not the failed attempts that precede it. We want the gold, but not the grind. Yet, despite your wish to not do it, you will never find yourself feeling worse after the hard work is done. You will feel pride and self-confidence once you achieve your task after overcoming your resistance. There will be days when it’ll be damn hard to start, but it will always be worth finishing. Sometimes, the simple act of showing up and having the courage to do the work, even in an average manner, is a victory worth celebrating.

Life’s Reality Life is a constant balance between giving in to the ease of distraction and comfort or overcoming the pain of discipline to move forward. It is not an exaggeration to say that our lives, our identities, our worth and greatness are defined in this delicate balance. What is life, if not the sum of a hundred thousand daily battles and tiny decisions to either gut it out or give it up? This moment when you don’t feel like doing it? Life is not a dress rehearsal and this moment is your life as much as any other moment. Spend it in a way that will make you feel proud of yourself.

Let your Discipline make the noise

‍So, what do you do when you feel like giving up? You show up. What do you do when it hurts? You stay hard and persevere because it’s temporary. What do you do when you don’t see results? You put faith in your discipline and grind harder.

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