Discipline and motivation are two important aspects of human life. If progress must be made in our daily activity one will have to practice or use both. Motivation has to do with how you feel about things, while discipline has to do with the action applied to achieving a result. They both have a separate effect on human activities and lifestyle, while motivation is more to do with emotion, discipline produces character over time.
Motivation
Motivation is based on your current situation. It has to do with feelings. If you don’t feel like doing a thing, then you don’t start it. If you don’t start something, most assuredly, you will not get it done.
Motivation can also be an inspiration to accomplish great things or try something new. When you lose that inspiration, it can affect whether you continue on your start path.
Everywhere you go, people are trying to get motivated to do something, to make a change in their life. They read something, watch something, or attend a conference and come away motivated or inspired. But that only gets them excited; it doesn’t move them to action.
If motivation is not backed by action, then it is only a temporary emotion. You don’t need to be more motivated; you need to be more disciplined.
Discipline
Discipline is what you do.
Discipline is the ability to correct your behavior or character to reflect your ultimate goals. It is simply adjusting or regulating your actions for the sake of improvement, which in the long run becomes a part of your identity.
With discipline, improvement can be made, a result can be achieved, and success can be obtained. Control comes with a strong will and is based on thinking and is backed with action.
Discipline helps you do the right thing at the moment even when you want to do something else. This work will assist you in your long-term goals. Those lacking control are slaves to moods, appetites, and passions. Self-discipline is a muscle that gets stronger the more you flex it.
Discipline is Consistent. The consistency of training is what makes it discipline. You go out and do it, day after day. It doesn’t just happen. It’s intentional, and it’s repeated. Every single day.
Examples
If you want to lose weight, you can watch inspiration videos, read magazine articles, and talk to friends that have lost weight. That is your motivation. Once you sit down and make out a plan for healthier eating, working out regularly, and being accountable, you have to stay disciplined to do it daily. It is the regular repetition of eating right and staying active that get you to your goal and keep you there.
The same thing is true for finances. You may want to get out of debt, but merely wishing you were debt free will not make the bills go away. You can watch debt free screams of the Dave Ramsey Show and hope you are there one day. However, taking action through the baby steps to financial freedom must be done on a day-by-day basis. Then, maybe at the end of the year, you will find yourself with $35,000 worth of debt paid off. Yes, you CAN do all of these things, but you have to take the small steps consistently.
Summary
Motivation being an emotion vs. discipline being a character trait is more like saying motivation is the thought that says “You can.” Motivation is the start, but if it’s not solidified into a discipline, it usually fades away quickly.
When you lose your initial inspiration, self-discipline will keep you going because it is a habit that has been formed. To commit to discipline, it’s your initial motivation that says it’s worth it. Once strong actions become a character in a person, then it is easy to accomplish what initially motivated you.