The Difference Between Motivation And Discipline And When To Harness Them In Your Business
- Oct 16, 2022
- 4 min read
Written by: Samantha Hearne, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
In this article, there are two main concepts that come up when running your own business; motivation and discipline. Taking a deeper look at how they influence our actions, momentum and results. This is perfect for you if you are looking to create more consistency within your business, but also unpick the ways you have been working so far and ensure you are optimizing your performance VS the results you create.
As we approach the end of the year, you will be seeing A LOT of language and content around;
Countdown to the end of the year
You can still make it count
Get ahead for 2023
Set your goals early to achieve them
Don’t end the year in a slump
Make 2023 your year
And so on...
Now I am not discrediting these statements or messages, but I want you to think about the other 8-10 months of the year that don’t get this airtime and how you can harness your business success, progress and momentum, irrespective of what time of year it is.
This is where I talk A LOT about motivation VS discipline as a business owner and I firmly believe we need to be talking about this more when it comes to truly understanding what will help set your business apart from the progress you do or don’t make.
Firstly, finding a synergy between the two will always be your sweet spot but that isn’t always possible. You won’t always feel motivated and ‘up for it’ when it comes to tasks and things you need to do in your business and when this is the case – how does your business continue? How do you continue? How does momentum keep building?
And that is where discipline comes in (our very much misunderstood hero of the story!)
Discipline allows professional athletes to keep training even when the weather is bad, they aren’t feeling great and they could be doing so many other things that would be easier.
Discipline allows students to study for deadlines and exams, even when they really want to be out partying!
Discipline allows actors to learn their lines even when they know that scene could get cut.
Discipline plays a huge part in keeping people doing what they need to do, even when they don’t want to.
Now, this isn’t about punishing yourself or forcing yourself to be miserable – that isn’t discipline.
Discipline is the sweet spot between truly understanding that if you want to achieve the goals you set yourself, if you align with your end vision, if you genuinely want to reach the goal you are aiming for – there will be times that discipline has to rule the show. Discipline is what tells your present self, ‘my future self will thank me for this’ and knows deep down that this is moving your future self forward (when if current you had your way, that wouldn’t be the case right now!) because you are relying on motivation.
This also allows you to identify with why not everything you may do in your business will be fun or what you want to be doing. Try to work on the 80-20 rule (depending on how far on in business you are and how established your business is).
80% of your time can be spent on what lights you up, your zone of genius, your real passion and flow, whilst 20% is to be spent on the elements of your business that need to be done that you may not enjoy as much.
And as your business grows, this 20% can be what you then delegate, which leaves you a new 20% to start on projects and tasks that never took priority but now you can dedicate time to.
From this basic breakdown above, you can see that discipline can actually become the scaffold for you to ultimately progress in your business, whether or not together is a full-on powerhouse day or a day of meh – does that make sense?
You don’t want to be building a business that is reliant on how you feel; you want to be building a business that is reliant on processes, systems, procedures, and templates that you can follow (or people you then bring in) without needing to be full of beans every day. This is where discipline manifests for the long term in your business.
How can you put this into action for yourself?
I would invite you to create 2 columns with the following headings.
What do I want to get done in my business – no matter how my motivation is doing | what I want to bring to my business when I am firing at all cylinders to give it that extra punch |
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This can give you just a starting point to decipher between what you want discipline to take responsibility for and then how your motivation can pack a punch when you’re ready for it.
And if you want to take this further and learn more about how you can really implement this for your business, make sure you follow my Instagram, as I also share podcast episodes on this topic, as well as free live training ready to watch right now on my Instagram feed.
Samantha Hearne, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Samantha is a best-selling self-published author, qualified coach, and mentor who works with female entrepreneurs to build a business of sustainability, wealth & ease. Samantha runs 2 mastermind programmes, 1:1 mentoring programmes, and a self-study business success school. Samantha supports her clients with; organic marketing, building a brand and engaged community, creating consistent sales (usually without launching), increasing profit within their business over time, creating balance, ease & fun, as well as a huge focus on mindset and performance habits for success.
As an ex-teacher, Samantha prides herself on differentiation, simple teaching strategies, and encouraging her clients to reach their fullest potential.
