Discipline and Perseverance Beats Talent...Pondering The Way Forward

Discipline beats talent...words I heard spoken on a training call last week.  The speaker was explaining that discipline, steadfast adherence to your plan will win over raw talent.  This got me to thinking...especially over this past weekend while I was doing another two day cleanse.

How many of us, myself included tend to fail, not because we do not have the talent to succeed, but because we find ourselves lacking the discipline to persevere when the going gets tough...especially when it comes to dieting, losing weight?  It was not like I woke up one day and said, "I want to be fat".  It was a process, and being honest with myself, a process that involved "lack of discipline" on my part...despite my ever expanding gut, despite the lack of energy and the lethargic reality of my life, I did what it was that I wanted to do, ate and drank what I wanted do, exhibiting zero SELF CONTROL...another way of saying I was exhibiting no self discipline.

My own journey of self reclamation is teaching me self self discipline...but what if there is more to the word, and the concept of discipline?  Why was I succeeding in my dieting this time, when I had failed so many times before...the clue's to my answer could be found in looking up the word online.

Discipline as defined is systematic instruction intended to train a person in a craft, trade or other activity, or to follow a particular code of conduct or "order".

But then I read further...

Often, the phrase "to discipline" carries a negative connotation. This is because enforcement of order–that is, ensuring instructions are carried out is often regulated through punishment.

I was ALWAYS TAUGHT and TOLD, that successful dieting requires self control and discipline...what if subconsciously we fail at our diets because of our interpretation of that phrase, ""Successful dieting requires self control and discipline"?  Could it be, that we see dieting AS PUNISHMENT for years of no self control? Could it be we resent dieting because it is seen as a PUNISHMENT, and could it be that I am actually succeeding this time around because I have seen my Isagenix program, the products the company has created not as dieting, but instead as a means to getting healthy?  Like the old adage says, change the mental picture, change the results.

If you are lost, just stay with me another couple of minutes...

None of us are perfect, and we all put on weight for various personal reasons...poor food choices (some times voluntary, sometimes not), eating as a means to find comfort, and though we maybe do not want to admit it, eating to hide ourselves or make ourselves less attractive...think abuse.  I myself looking back think I indulged myself for a few reasons...

1.  I've known starvation...not hunger, but starvation.  When I was a child, times were more than rough, and there were some periods of time when a few potatoes shared among seven of us, or some oatmeal was all there was for supper at night even though we had not eaten all day.

2.  As a child, food was used as a weapon by my father...getting a beating was bad enough, but imagine getting a beating and then being sent to bed without supper.  

3.  Food was/is a emotional comfort for me...I used to hoard treats such as cookies, carefully hiding my secret stash, and then late at night under my blankets allowing myself to break off one little piece, savoring it like manna from heaven.

Looking back on all of this I can understand some things.  Firstly, sitting here today I can see why I have avoided anything to do with discipline...to me, subconsciously discipline meant not just punishment, but a beating.  Sitting here now, though he has been dead for some years can hear my fathers voice as he screamed across the table, "Get your ass down stairs son, I'm going to show you some discipline you will not soon forget."  The word was a trigger...still is.

Looking back over these past four months, realize I am doing more than just losing weight.  I am, though self assessment looking at some very hard truths, and after close examination am doing some very important things as I make changes in my life and attitudes:

1.  I am understanding my past relationship with food, and in some ways redefining that relationship.   Food in my life and my view of it has always existed on the far opposite ends of the spectrum...finally, through some hard work I am finding a nice comfortable middle ground that lets me love it, rather than using it as an emotional crutch.

2.  I find myself redefining, or perhaps using a different word than discipline...I have always seen discipline as meaning punishment, and in turn punishment meant beatings, and therefore discipline meant beatings...is it any wonder then that I have rebelled against discipline of any sort in my life?  Some would say, You need some discipline" or "You need some self discipline" and every cell in my being instantly heard "BEATINGS".  

Change the mental picture, change the results.

Sorting Through Old Baggage

What triggers from your past have kept you from being successful in dieting, in losing weight, in getting healthy and happy?  Could something as simple as redefining the journey be all that is needed for you to find that beautiful person who is hiding inside of you?  For me, the word discipline was not working, and on some levels is still not working for me...so rather than run from dieting, I've chosen to re-frame the discussion, chosen to find words that work for me, that allow me to find the success I deserve.  Some examples...

1.  Successful dieting is as simple as believing in yourself (myself).

2.  Self control and dedication will always see you through to your goals.

What emotional triggers are holding you back in accomplishing your goals...in dieting...in life?