Jocko Willink is someone that I love to listen to. He's got amazing content that he puts out through the Jocko podcast and one of his core ideals - and a book that he wrote - is "Discipline = Freedom".
This is something that I carry with me regularly throughout my life. Discipline is one of those interesting things in life where you know you want to have it but you also have some incredible resistance holding you back from being better at it.
Steven Pressfield wrote "The War of Art" and in it, he talks about resistance and the muse.
He talks about resistance and how it holds you back from the work. He doesn't romanticize it. He talks about how to overcome it and Jocko will give you quite the same advice:
You overcome it by overcoming it.
The Struggle is Beautiful. Mastery is Freedom
Struggling can be a beautiful thing. Why do you think we love to watch the Olympics? Why do we love to watch Tennis or Basketball, Soccer or Football?
We love to watch other human beings struggle.
It's not because we like to watch them suffer. No, we like to see how an athlete is a master of their craft. Whether we consciously realize it or not, we love seeing hard work embodied through these athletes.
There is something ultra divine about a person who puts in the time to master their craft. They seem happy. They seem tranquil. They seem free.
We all desire this at some level. How can we achieve it in our own lives?
We can achieve it simply and with ease: put in the work. Never be afraid to work hard and put in the hours it takes to achieve everything you want out of life.
So many of us make excuses for doing the work. Instead, just sit down and do the work. In that work you shall find the true meaning of discipline = freedom.