Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Inga Stasiulionyte
November 7, 2016
Many people wonder how I manage to stay so disciplined. They think my life must be very hard because I’ve always followed a strict
schedule, from when I was training to be an Olympic athlete to now, since I’ve co-founded Onbotraining, an online coaching service that
helps people achieve their goals.
But I don’t see it that way because I love what I do. My journey to the Olympics showed me what it takes to become skilled at something, and
I don’t mind replicating that journey in my professional life. I have never minded the struggle because I know it offers me the opportunity to
reach my goals.
I worked full time while I trained full time for the Beijing Olympics. I am not an exception in the world of elite athletes—many support
themselves with dual high-level careers and live their dreams by achieving their Olympic goals. They push their capabilities to their limits and
enjoy lives of purpose.
These athletes know how discipline works, how it shows you are in control of your life. It’s the path to get anything you want.
So how do you maintain a discipline? By combining an automated brain program—doing whatever needs to be done—with an incredible
commitment to your goal.
It becomes increasingly harder to be disciplined in a society that prizes instant gratification. We are more concerned about feeling good all
the time, so we seek immediate pleasures, whether it’s a new car, an exotic trip or a new partner. Our long-term goals are not so important
anymore. We get comfortable and wait for a special event to give our lives meaning, happiness and success.
Discipline is the difference between being in control of your future and letting your environment dictate your destiny.
Discipline means freedom and happiness. It gives you the ability to do what you want because you know you can learn how to achieve any
dream you set your mind to. Discipline teaches you how to control your thoughts—and how to be happy in any situation, to visualize positive
emotions and trigger an optimistic mood. Discipline builds self-confidence, mental and physical strength, and inspires you to grow as a
human being. With growth comes the ability to enjoy life in deeper, more meaningful ways.
Anyone can develop discipline. It’s a skill and it’s not complicated—you just have to train yourself for it.
Here’s how:
6. Plan a routine.
Create a routine that becomes second nature, automatic, normal. Athletes, for example, know what hours they train, when to break for
lunchtime and dinnertime, and when to rest. In training, they know they have to do a warm-up, main training, and cool-down and recovery. By
following the same routine, it becomes second nature—the discipline preps them to win. Planning your own routine—and sticking to it until it
becomes automatic—can prep you for success, too.
7. Commit.
Discipline was instilled in me by my mom. When I would ask her if I could start art, dancing or volleyball classes, she would say, “Be careful
in choosing where you will spend your time, because you won’t be able to quit. You will have to follow through with it until the end, and do it
well.” So I really considered whether I would be able to commit to something for a long time. And when I knew, when I chose the one thing I
wanted to do, it made me want to figure out how to keep getting better at it—it made me want to commit.
9. Go above feelings.
The hardest part about discipline is maintaining the actions needed to achieve your dream or state of happiness. It requires constant hard
work and fighting against comfort and instant pleasures. To do so, you have to separate yourself from the feelings that stop you, like fatigue,
laziness or self-pity. You have to go above them, even if your feelings tell you that you are tired, stressed and alone in this struggle.
Discipline is the direct training of a fighter.
So many people quit too early. Success is all about persistence, and discipline is what gets you to your final destination—the realization of
your dream. The more you learn about your craft and your capabilities, when you start seeing yourself improve, the results will make you
hungry for more. Self-improvement is an amazing drug.
I love discipline because it is a source of power. It is an engine that helps us understand and explore our capabilities and life’s opportunities.
Discipline is not boring; it’s the freedom to put all our energy into creating something meaningful and beautiful.
It’s up to us to choose the life with discipline or without, with a goal or without, with a dream or without.