I spent most of the academy with shin splints – small stress fractures in the shins that are ridiculously painful.
I had zero motivation to run. It hurt like 🔥HELL🔥 to run.
Before runs, I would chew Advil like it was Skittles. At night, I’d ice my legs like a MLB pitcher ices their shoulder after a no-hitter.
Discipline isn’t what got me through the grueling runs, and the entire academy.
It was momentum.
I got up everyday, and focused on the next thing I could do to achieve my goal of graduating the academy. With every next step that I completed, I created momentum. I created movement. And that movement made the next step just a little easier.
It had nothing to do with discipline.
It’s a fundamental law of science – it’s Issac Newton’s first law of motion: a body at rest tends to stay at rest. A body in motion tends to stay in motion.
Every part of me wanted to quit. I wasn’t disciplined enough to refuse entertaining the idea. I thought of it often.
I justified it every day. Every. Day. Some days, getting to lunch was the victory.
But then I’d gain some momentum and push past the idea of quitting. When I ran out of momentum, I went back to the basics. Sometimes, that literally meant putting one foot in front of the other and counting that as a win – and one foot in front of the other meant I was moving.
Movement creates momentum.
If you’re struggling, in any way, shape or form, you’re likely beating yourself up for not having the DISCIPLINE to overcome your challenges.
That’s a fool’s errand.
Begin by just simply moving forward. One foot in front of the other if need be. Too much? Pull your shoulders back and look forward. Start there. Then move. Now you have momentum.
And momentum creates change.
It’s Wednesday, a day we often lose our steam for the week and get distracted by the nonsense.
Create some momentum and you’ll be fine.