The desire for freedom lies at the heart of many human behaviours. We want to make money to free ourselves from financial burden. We want to save time so we can spend our lives as we choose. If something doesn’t cost anything, then it is literally termed “free”; it’s as if we associate freedom with a life of no repercussions or hardships. Paradoxically, however, the works of some modern-day thinkers argue that the path to freedom comes at a great cost, which prompts an interesting cost-benefit analysis: is it better to make the necessary sacrifices to live a life of freedom, or shy away from this responsibility and remain content as victims of our own circumstances?
Discipline as Precursor to Success
Jocko Willink—author and former navy SEAL—has seen success in a wide range of pursuits throughout his life, and attributes these successes largely to his strong sense of discipline. In an interview with Dan Schawbel, Willink stated:
“My career in the SEAL Teams was not based on some intrinsic gift, but rather on the willingness to do what needed to be done, and to do that day after day.”
According to this philosophy, it would seem that unrelenting consistency is not only a substitute for raw talent, but is a far more powerful means to achieving success and fulfilment. Luck or talent are both valuable assets, but only discipline can enable you to maintain high standards of work for sufficient periods of time.
This sentiment is echoed in the works of Ryan Holiday, an author who taps into the great minds of the past to produce works such as Ego is the Enemy and The Obstacle is the Way. In a podcast conversation on Chris Williamson’s Modern Wisdom, Holiday conceptualises success as a “lagging indicator” of one’s ability to be disciplined in the present moment:
“All the work that you’ll do in the future is, in a sense, dependent on the work that you’re doing now and how long you continue to do it.”
This implies something interesting about our perception of an optimal life: perhaps the most effective people around us don’t work ridiculously hard in short bursts, but remain regimented for long periods of time to ensure they continually progress toward their goals. However, if achieving your goals comes at the cost of dedicating a large chunk of your life, is it even worth it?
Is the Price of Discipline Worth the Payout?
Pay attention to the wording of the heading above. Often implicit in the desire for success is this flawed idea that wealth and freedom are events that occur in someone’s life. You sell a company for fifty million dollars, you get signed to a label, you land a high-paying job. The downfall of this assumption is that anything worthwhile is worthwhile because it takes consistent time and effort. Raising a family provides immense meaning and fulfilment, but it requires sustained effort for many years. Entrepreneurship can be a path to financial freedom for some, but it requires large amounts of risk, time, and effort. To this extent, cultivating a strong sense of discipline is the best method of succeeding in any given pursuit.
But why should we care about success?
As a word, “success” often has unflattering connotations of mindless greed and consumerism. I have no doubt that this is the case in some instances, but our interpretation can be more nuanced than this surface-level analysis. Anything we choose to do in our lives, whether it be forming relationships with others or working hard in our careers, requires hard work. In this way, success is not necessarily the accumulation of wealth or status, but the ability to identify and achieve any given goal. When you adopt this view, the only alternative to striving for success is to remain content with our current lives. Of course you should be proud of yourself as an individual, but it’s also important to orient yourself towards a goal that provides value to your life according to your current priorities. Therefore, the price of discipline is not only worth the rewards, but it is the only price you can pay if you want to bring about sustainable fulfillment in the lives of yourself and those you care about.
Never stop thinking.
- Will