Eric Ritter

As a follow up to my recent post about why Fitness is about discipline and not motivation, I wanted to share one of my favorite videos that gets me going..

TCU Baseball called discipline “The Grind” in 2012. The beginning of the video perfectly describes why discipline is so important when it comes to fitness.

Rise and shine. It’s 6 a.m. and your hand can’t make it to the alarm clock before the voices in your head start telling you it’s too early, too dark, and too cold to get out of bed.

Aching muscles lie still in rebellion, pretending not to hear your brain commanding them to move.

A legion of voices are shouting their unanimous permission for you to hit the snooze button and go back to dreamland.

This is exactly the way we all feel when we hear the alarm go off  in the morning – especially if it’s earlier than absolutely necessary. The easy thing is to do what we have always done: sleep in as late as possible while still making it to work on time.

But you didn’t ask their opinion.

The voice you’ve chosen to listen to is one of defiance. A voice that’s says there was a reason you set that alarm in the first place. So sit up, put your feet on the floor, and don’t look back because we’ve got work to do.

Welcome to The Grind.

Living “The Grind” is about discipline. Fitness is about discipline.

When I started to think about getting in shape I would ask people for their thoughts. Every single person told me that the key is motivation. And once you have that you are guaranteed to be successful. I quickly came to realize that motivation is important and that it comes in many different forms:

• Motivation gets you mentally prepared and ready to get into fitness
• Motivation gets you pumped up about getting in shape
• Motivation is the first step of doing anything

I felt a switch flip inside me that led to my current journey of fitness. And while I felt extremely motivated I couldn’t buy myself anything for that. Being motivated is a great feeling and made me want to change my life for the better.

Motivation is not enough

But, over the course of my journey I’ve come to realize that motivation alone is not enough: Fitness is about discipline. Only discipline will actually change your behavior and lead to real results.

Motivation might get you to the gym for week, or two. But, it’s discipline – consistent discipline – that will get you to the gym or working out day after day.

I’m proud to share that for the last year I’ve gotten up at or before 6 a.m. to workout at least three to four times a week. This discipline is what has lead to great fitness results for me.

Defining discipline and motivation

The definition of the two words gives insight into the relationship between motivation and discipline.

mo·ti·va·tion
noun
the general desire or willingness of someone to do something

The words to focus on here are “desire” a willingness”. Having those makes you want to do something, but does not mean that you are actually going to do it.

dis·ci·pline
verb
train oneself to do something in a controlled and habitual way.

On the other hand, the phrase to focus in on for discipline is “to do something”.

While motivation gives you desire to do something, discipline actually gets you to do it.

And. I’ll even take it a step further. While discipline is good, consistent discipline is great. You need to realize that the journey to fitness is a long and winding road that never ends.

Conclusion

Want to get into fitness? Then, find your own personal reason to get motivated. Then once you are motivated, ensure success by developing consistent discipline.