Discipline: The Skill That Changes Everything

Even though it’s absolutely not swimming weather right now, I was looking out at our pool the other day and thinking about last summer. My triplets were living their best lives. Jumping off the edges into the water. Racing each other. Splashing like lunatics. Full access.

Camila? Totally different story. She’s still little. She hasn’t learned how to swim yet. So it’s floaties, shallow end, and a very tight radius. Same pool. Completely different experience.

And that’s when it occurred to me.

The reason the older kids enjoy the pool more isn’t confidence or personality or vibes. It’s discipline. At some point, they had to listen to an instructor. Learn the strokes. Practice them. Screw it up. Do it again. Repeat it until their bodies just knew what to do. We don’t think about it now because it’s automatic, but discipline is literally what unlocked the fun.

And that discipline doesn’t just let them enjoy our pool. It opens up water parks. Lakes. Beaches. Everything.

Camila’s not missing anything because she lacks desire or potential. She’s missing it because she hasn’t developed the discipline yet.

And then I realized how backwards we think about discipline as adults.

We act like discipline is oppressive. Boring. Something you force yourself into because you’re a masochist or a psycho. But in real life, discipline is what makes things enjoyable.

You’re disciplined with money, so you’re not stressed every time a bill hits. You’re disciplined with your body, so you can throw on a pair of jeans or a muscle shirt and not immediately hate your reflection. You’re disciplined about learning, so people actually ask for your opinion instead of politely nodding and ignoring you.

People love to quote Jocko Willink and say “discipline is freedom.” He’s right. But I’d take it a step further.

Discipline isn’t just freedom. Discipline is the key to enjoyment.

It’s the thing that turns limitation into access.It’s what lets you actually use the life you’re building instead of standing in the shallow end wondering why everyone else looks like they’re having more fun.