One of the most important skills to have, whatever you may do in life, is discipline. And it’s definitely the number one thing I need to work on for myself. All my life I’ve relied on spur of the moment motivation to help me complete tasks and responsibilities, and to say it’s inconsistent is an understatement. Another thing about relying on motivation is that it doesn’t last long, and when you run out of motivation you can be stuck for a long time before you get it back.

If I keep relying on motivation, I’ll spend my whole life starting and stopping, never progressing in a meaningfully consistent way, so I have to find a better way. I’ve been talking with my father a lot about designing a better daily schedule and building better habits, it takes 21 days for a habit to begin forming, but 90 days for you to completely embody it. By building better habits you slowly change how you perceive yourself, and your outlook on life in general. You can’t completely change yourself in one day, so do it little by little, day by day, step by step, but make sure you keep progressing, no matter how slow.

“It gets easier, you have to do it every day, that’s the hard part, but it does get easier.”

In the end, we’re faced with a simple choice, experience the pain of discipline, or the pain of regret. Discipline is actually one of the strongest forms of self-love, it’s putting aside the temptations of current pleasures in order for bigger rewards to come, it’s loving yourself enough to give yourself everything you’ve ever wanted.