Discipline = Freedom | How Getting Woolly Might Just Change Your Life
I don’t like sweating. Of all the things in the world that I have to put up with on a regular basis, sweating is probably the worst. Especially living in Missouri, where the humidity goes all out like some awkward athlete going for gold while rocking a body type clearly not suited for their sport. It’s like me running cross country or competing in the high dive. (Great! I’ve rabbit-trailed myself like never before...now humidity is like me, I can’t…’scuse me, I have to get off this train now.) Hopefully, this quote by Norman Schwarzkopf helps…
“The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.”
Ah! There’s my point, sweating isn’t fun. But it's far better than bleeding! In fact, given the choice to sweat now or bleed later, I’d like to say that I’ll always choose to sweat now. But, in fact, that’s rarely the case! And I’m not alone in my aversion to choosing the difficult. In a recent article, I discussed the trickiness of trading current reality for future possibilities and how we tend to pick current comforts, remember? This tendency to overvalue what’s RIGHT NOW is why the struggle exists and why clearly stated, easily understood quotes like the one above go unfollowed. We, humans, are wired to choose easy, but we’re not fulfilled when we do.
Let’s Take a Time Machine
Let’s imagine ourselves roaming the wilderness with our hunter-gatherer ancestors. In those days, “easy” looked like languishing in the comfort of a dry cave and relaxing by the fire all day because it’s safer. On the other hand, “hard” was chasing the woolly mammoth off the cliff and bringing home the bacon. One is safe, kind of boring, and predictable. While the other is wild, exciting, and profitable. When we look at our lives through the lens of dreams and what we would like to accomplish, we always envision ourselves chasing woolly mammoths. But, when it comes time to make a choice and lace up those running shoes, pick the salad, save the money, or do the hard things we know we need to do to “get woolly,” the humidity, the struggle, the sweat is there to entice us to ease, and we frequently choose the path that doesn’t lead to fulfillment.
When we choose NOT to “get woolly” (seriously, Imma have to get some stickers made up with that or something…), we often fail to realize that we’re still making a choice. Instead of engaging with the discipline required now to prepare us for future success, we take the easy route. Invariably, this sacrifices some future good thing.
Pick Netflix over a workout? You just picked a future (yet to be determined) amount of decreased fitness, athleticism, and cardiovascular health.
Pick pizza or Nashville Hot chicken instead of a salad? You just picked a future (yet to be determined) amount of fat padding your midsection (and elsewhere).
Pick the easy conversations over the difficult? You just picked unresolved tension and a powder keg of emotions waiting to explode down the road.
Pick scrolling social media over starting that project or side hustle? You just picked the future frustration of unfulfilled dreams and a (yet to be determined) amount of disappointment in yourself.
Starting to get the picture?
Get Woolly
On the other hand, when you choose to “get woolly” NOW, you are opening yourself up to freedom, happiness, health, wealth, and so many more intangible benefits down the road. See, discipline today equals freedom in the future. Working out and eating right will give you the freedom to do more, go more places, and live better down the road. Starting that side gig now and putting in the time, will give you a sense of accomplishment, purpose, and income down the road.
That’s what makes this particular paradox so insanely powerful. We overestimate the current pain and ALWAYS underestimate the future payoff. Can you imagine what might happen if you were to flip that script and “chase the mammoth” today instead of hanging out in the cave near the fire drawing pictures of the hunters that are out there getting it done?
The practical takeaway that I want to end with is simply this:
Think about how different your life would be today if you had spent the last 12 months “getting woolly” on the things you KNOW you need to do. Got it? Now, write that down.
Then, post that in the comments, shoot me a message, or tape it to your bedroom wall so you see it every morning as you get out of bed.
Every single one of us has the heart of a hunter, the dreams of a creative, and a supernatural purpose living inside of us. We just have to lean into it, leave the cave behind, and start FIGHTING to accomplish what we’re meant to achieve by executing on what we can do TODAY.
Let’s GET WOOLLY!
* * * * *
If this has impacted you, I’d love to connect with you. Please be sure to sign up for my newsletter by clicking here! Share this with a friend you would like to inspire today and don’t forget to follow me over on IG!