Hey, my friend! What's up? Welcome back to the Do Life Big Podcast. I'm so glad that you're here today. Today's episode is going to be a really good one, as usual. I mean, they're all good. Come on, let's be real. But we are only a few months into the new year. And I know you probably have a list of things that you told yourself that you needed to work on or get better at this year. Right? I know. I did that for myself. And you're probably going through all these different things in your mind right now. Like, oh, shoot, I said I would get better at eating healthier or, you know, not drinking as much soda or not drinking as much alcohol or, you know, exercising more.
But one of the big ones that I hear a lot of my students told me is that they need to be more disciplined. They say I just need to get more disciplined in my business. I need to get better at setting boundaries. And this is a struggle for so many people. So I want to talk about this in today's episode. And I know it's going to really help you.
So, I'm going to go back to a time where I was really struggling, getting disciplined in terms of making sure that I was drinking enough water and just eating healthy foods. And I got really good at procrastinating and being busy so that I couldn't spend the time planning ahead for the week. You know, in terms of looking ahead and being like, “Okay, what am I going to eat for dinner this week?” That always tends to be the area of weakness, the dinners, right? “What are my snacks going to be?” “What am I going to have for lunch?” “Let's plan the grocery list.” “Now, let's make sure that we get all the right groceries.” “Now, let's make sure that we plan some healthy snacks that are going to be good for me to grab on the fly throughout the day because I'm just so crazy busy all the time.” Right? And I didn't do any of those things. And I was just grabbing and eating what I wanted on the fly, which, you know, is never good. And I'm sure you've probably heard that saying before (maybe not) that – “When you fail to plan, plan to fail.” And I did.
I failed miserably in terms of the nutrition area. For years, I spent so much time just making other things a priority for me and making up excuses as to why it was okay for me to just kind of eat whatever the hell I wanted and drink more Captain than usual. Don't get me wrong. I love my Captain, but I was doing it a lot, a lot more than now. And it was just kind of stress-related. But life is always going to happen. You know, there's always going to be some kind of curveball thrown your way. And if you don't have a plan in place, and you don't have good habits in place, it's just gonna go to hell in a handbasket. And that's what happened. And I was disciplined with my workouts and working my business every day and all the things that mom life brings, but not when it came to my nutrition.
And discipline is really just about being able to control yourself and just resist those distractions. You know, you go out to dinner, for example, and you're trying to eat healthier, because you're not at a healthy weight, and you just don't feel good, and you know it. But if you're disciplined, then when you're out to dinner, you're going to choose the healthier option. You know, or what I like to even do is if I know where I'm going ahead of time, right? I like to go and online and look at the menu and just kind of scroll out exactly what they have there and kind of already put into my mind what I'm most likely going to be eating, right? So you're out to dinner, and you're disciplined in terms of eating healthier because it's a goal of yours. And so, you know, you focus on something like just getting something grilled or a salad, fish, lots of veggies as a side versus like the fries. And yes, you're going to still get the drink. I will always get the drink, but you don't go and just order this big basket of fried food with three huge ass margaritas when you're disciplined with your nutrition, right? No.
So being disciplined is really just knowing yourself really well and then creating the right habits. So you don't have to try so hard anymore, right? It will actually become easier for you. So establishing new habits to create discipline is key. Learning how to prioritize. That is the main thing. Because at the end of the day, we all do and fit into our schedule every day the things that we consider to be a top priority for us. And so that area that we know that we need to get more disciplined in, we need to really change our thinking and our mind around the fact that this needs to be a top priority, like this needs to be non-negotiable, this needs to be something that happens every single day. And if you're not disciplined in an area of your life that you know that you need to be, the result of that lack of discipline really trickles down into so many different areas of your life.
So, for example, I'm going back to the nutrition piece because, I mean, it was a big downward spiral for many years. But, when I wasn't disciplined with my nutrition, it just led to a 30-pound weight gain. But it wasn't just about the number that I saw on the scale, right? It was, each time I walked by a mirror, I looked into the mirror and be like, “Holy shit! You need to really get it under control, Kathi, like it's time to rein it in.” And I just felt bad about myself, like I didn't feel good. Because I didn't like the way that I looked. I didn't like the way that I felt. Or I go shopping for clothes, or even just try on clothes in my closet to go out and meet friends, and nothing would fit me right. And there's nothing worse than feeling uncomfortable in your own clothes, right? And it led me to not want to hang out at social gatherings because I just didn't feel good about myself. And I wanted to avoid drinking and eating all the crap because I just knew that I didn't have the discipline and the willpower to say no to those things. Because it had been such a habit of mine to just go out, eat what you want, drink what you want, whatever you only live once, that kind of mentality, right? And my motivation and energy were so down. My confidence was down.
And here's the real kicker, I was actually living in Florida when this happened like I had on my vision board to move to Florida from Massachusetts because I love the beach. And I love the warm weather and the sun and the palm trees, the ocean and all of that. And I'm finally down here. And because I feel like such crap about myself because I couldn't get disciplined with my nutrition. And I felt so bad about myself. I never wanted to go to the beach. I'd be damned if I was gonna put on a bathing suit and go lay on a beach when I couldn't even handle walking by a mirror fully clothed. I couldn't handle that. So why would I go lay on a beach, so I just like wouldn't even go, right. I just didn't feel like I had control. And I just hated the way that I felt. I'm sure that you can relate to this. I feel like this is a common one too. And all because I lacked discipline in that area of my life.
So what I want you to do is I want you to think of that area in your life where you know that you need to get more disciplined in, right? And I'm going to list off some examples right now that maybe it might help you think of what yours is – if you don't already know. A lot of people already know. But sometimes it just takes hearing some examples for you to be like, “Oh my gosh, yeah, that's important to me. I really need to become more disciplined in this area.” But things like exercising or limiting alcohol, getting more organized, not using social media as much, creating a schedule, and then actually sticking to it; creating a list of things to do this week, setting goals for yourself or setting 30, 60 or 90 Day goals, using a planner or schedule, then sticking to a specific schedule. Maybe sticking to a specific sleep schedule. You know that you're not getting the sleep that you need to get, and you promised yourself this year that you would go to bed earlier. And you wouldn't be watching so much Netflix or you wouldn't be scrolling TikTok on your phone so much. You'd go to bed early, and you'd go to sleep and get plenty of sleep that night. Planning your meals, your water intake, maybe minimizing clutter, creating better boundaries for yourself, setting up accountability, prioritizing your health. How about prioritizing your “Me” time doing things for yourself? How about prioritizing your spending habits? I mean, these are just so many different examples of things that we could all become more disciplined in, but you need to think about YOU in your life.
What is that one area in your life that is important to you that you need to become more disciplined in? And I'm going to give you five ways that you can start to cultivate more self-discipline in your life, and you can start this today.
Alright, so number one, ask yourself this question first. What is the goal that you want to achieve, and why is this goal important to you? And why is it important that you get disciplined in this area? So think about that and answer that question and write it down. Why is it important to me that I am disciplined with my nutrition? Right? If I think back to a few years ago when I was stuck at that 30-pound weight gain, feeling so awful about myself, for me, it was how I felt. it was important that I became disciplined with my nutrition, because it wasn't about my outer appearance; it was because I felt like such crap about myself. And my energy was down, and my confidence was down. And my self-esteem was down. And I just felt lethargic. Also, yeah, I didn't like the way I looked. But I didn't do it just because I didn't like the way I looked, it was because of the feeling, right? Usually, when we want to change things in our life, it's because we don't like the feeling that we have around it, or we want to create a new feeling that makes us feel better. So for me, that's what it was.
Number two, focus on creating a new habit around this. So some people think that discipline and motivation are enough. And they just aren't. Because motivation comes and goes, so if you want it to stick, you need to replace your old habits with new ones. And so, for me, when I think back to when I was struggling with my nutrition, I wasn't making it a priority. I wasn't disciplined in following a plan, sticking to and eating healthy. It was simply just drinking a big thing of water first thing in the morning. You know, that was a new habit that I could establish right off the bat, drinking a big thing of water first thing in the morning, and just make sure that I have lean protein with every meal. That's kind of where I started.
The third one is to practice now your self-discipline in this area every single day. Here's the thing. We aren't born with self-discipline. None of us are. It's something that we need to learn. It's a learned behavior, and you can learn it. And just like anything else that you want to master or have already mastered, it comes with daily practice. So practice, practice, practice, and remember that. You can't go wrong.
Alright, number four, focus now on baby steps each day. So have you ever heard of that saying, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.” It's exactly the same thing when you are trying to get disciplined in an area of your life. And so for me, when I was going through that whole phase, where I was struggling with my nutrition, because I wasn't disciplined in it, and I had all these bad habits that I needed to break, I couldn't just go out there and change everything at once, because it would be too much. And it would just be too difficult. And I would most likely fail. I had to create just small changes daily and then gradually add on. So just like I said, it started out with, Hey, make sure that you drink water first thing in the morning; make sure that you're getting half your body weight in ounces of water every single day. Make sure that you have lean protein with all of your meals; make sure that you have some healthy protein snacks prepared ahead of time, which means, hey, on Sunday nights, make sure you got all your hard-boiled eggs all set and ready. You've made your chocolate superfood protein balls, right? For you to snack on throughout the week, when you have a sweet tooth, things like that. I couldn't just go ahead and change everything all at once. It's just too much. So start small - baby steps.
And the last one is to allow yourself some grace if you fall short, or life happens, because it's going to. There's going to be ups, and there's going to be downs. It happens to all of us. It's natural. But the key is to keep going, don't let yourself get wrapped up and guilt and anger and frustration because if you do that, then those emotions are only going to drag you further downhill.
So just learn from your mistake that you made. It's no big deal. We're only human. We all make mistakes. Life is going to happen. Ups and downs, curveballs, it's okay. Forgive yourself. And get your head back in the game and just keep going. The thing is, when we don't do the thing that we know we need to do, it really just kind of messes with us internally, right? It doesn't make us feel good. And we don't feel complete. We don't feel like we can actually relax or that we can accomplish anything because of the thing that we know that we need to do. We're not doing. We keep postponing it and putting it off and making up excuses for ourselves as to why we can't do it or why we shouldn't do it, or why it should wait. When we know deep down that this is an area that needs to change. That this is an area that we need to become more disciplined in.
Being disciplined isn't about getting more things done and being busier. It's just about prioritizing what's most important to you. That’s all. And then being smart and being efficient, so that it makes your life easier. It's all about being in alignment with how we want to feel because how we feel is everything.
So just to recap, the five ways to cultivate your self-discipline that you can start today are:
1. Asking yourself, “What's the goal that you want to achieve? And why is it important to you? Why is it important that you get disciplined in that area?”
2. Focus on creating a new habit around this.
3. Practice your self-discipline in this area.
4. Focus on small baby steps each day.
5. Allow yourself some grace. If you fall short or life happens, just get up and keep going!
Listen, motivation is what gets you going but discipline is what keeps you growing. So I hope that you enjoyed this episode. If you did, go ahead and share this with one of your besties right now. Tag me on Instagram at @katherinereuter. And you know, I love you. Thank you so much for being here. Keep crushing it. I believe in you. I think you're doing awesome. And I will see you the next time. Alright, bye.
