It’s been a while since my last post and that’s mostly because of the summer holidays, juggling children and work. But now I’m back in the office and enjoying seeing different people every day! It’s still a novelty and I get excited as I head in every morning.

This new season has made me really assess where I have good habits and where I’ve gotten lazy and into bad habits! It’s easy isn’t it to make excuses for why we haven’t gotten up early to work out or why it’s ok that you’re eating chocolate on a Wednesday afternoon!

So my evaluation has meant I’ve made some changes and has made me ask myself what helps me to stay disciplined. I’ve realised the biggest thing is getting enough sleep! At one stage in order to wake myself up with my alarm I made it so that my alarm would only turn off if I did an arithmetic sum! That was evil first thing! Sean didn’t appreciate it at all, as sometimes it would take several attempts to get it right all the while it’s beeping. My brain doesn’t work first thing!

Now what I do is sit up as soon as my alarm goes off. Don’t give my brain time to argue or rationalise that it’s too early or think of an excuse why it would be better to stay in bed! It’s always easier to stay in bed! I wish I could say it gets easier, I’ve heard lots of people say it does, but for me it never has! I love my bed! I don’t love to work out!

Whatever you choose to be your discipline, it’s important to be kind to yourself in it. If you don’t manage it one day don’t beat yourself up and don’t think that means you should give up completely. Every morning is an opportunity to start again.

Our minds are very good at thinking up excuses, so maybe it’s best to get ahead of them and decide to do it anyway! Whether that’s in terms of exercise, eating or reading. I know that my disciplines lead me to a happier life. Exercise makes my body healthier and reading my bible every morning makes by spirit healthier. Both are a choice and both mean I have to take action.

What are your disciplines and how do you keep them up?