Deep Questions with Cal Newport Ep. 125 (podcast)
discipline
https://overcast.fm/+b1V3dGnY8/33:30
discipline: not taking options away. when it’s self-imposed, it’s you, with full autonomy and agency saying “i’m going to do this because i care about what it’s getting me towards” the things you want. it’s not the opposite of freedom, it’s the definition of it. if you can’t, on your own, move towards the things you want, you’re not really free to pursue your goals.
how to get it: work backwards from a goal that you fully buy. that is so compelling that you can feel it. you need to visualize what this discipline is getting you and have to want to get to that place. the vision comes first. (but it can evolve). find the things you want in your life (look around, see something, and say, “i want that in my life”) then decode those intimations/wants and figure out what it is about those characters or those characteristics that speaks to you and operationalize the steps to getting to them.
once you can pursue what matters under your own authority, you can push your life in whatever direction you want. that is freedom. this is why “discipline is freedom“.