Is discipline and being consistent with training simply checking in with your values?

Today's question comes from something I took a note of either in an email or social media conversation and added it to my topics list without taking note of who sent it in, if it was you, let me know:

“Is discipline and being consistent with training simply checking in with your values?”

This is one of those questions that really gives pause for thought.

I've had highly dedicated athletes struggle to commit to S&C work or rehab work.

I've had people come to me for help with injury and not follow through with their homework

I've failed to keep some of my own promises and follow through on things.

And not many would describe me as ill disciplined

So, yeah, discipline is quite possibly a values question.

Or maybe an identity question.

When people bring up the topic of values, usually I groan because we usually then get a wishy washy lecture about self improvement and manifestation.

But values are real.

I would say values are a way of describing your identity.

By that I mean the success guru's will have you pull values out of your imagination which of course makes them impossible to live up to.

Whereas in my head, values are a description of who you are and what you do, with a nod to how that could be better.

And we all train to be better in some way.

Could it be that training is successful because it genuinely underpins our values and therefore our identity.

When our identity is challenged, by injury or other change in circumstances that may lie outside our control, our values are challenged and our discipline can crumble.

I see this a lot with athletes.

A big injury rocks them, threatening to take away their identity.

For them having a strong support network is essential to them getting back on their feet and committing to the rehab work.

If you are familiar with the BioPsychoSocial model, this ought to make sense.

Bio refers to the physical body, where most medical practice works

Psycho refers to the mind, your personal psychology. Possibly this is what we are trying to affect with talk about values.

Social refers to your network, who is in your corner, and how those peoples values affect you.

A good coach or therapist works in all three areas to help people.

If you're out on your own, either because you genuinely are alone or you have withdrawn from people, then you lose the social part of the model.

If you believe you will fail or you can't beat whatever the challenge is, you lose the psychology part.

And more often than not it's the bio element that is under threat and the reason you need discipline and commitment.

It's a complex topic when you dig into it.

But to simplify and to hopefully give you something actionable, it's worth sitting back and really considering who you are from time to time.

And what better time than at the start of a new year?

Rather than setting resolutions, set values.

What makes you tick?

How did you become the you that you currently are?

Who supports you?

Who doesn't support you?

If you started over again, in a new town maybe with new people around you, would you still be you or might something change?

What are you without your sport, without the gym?

To use a quote from the Avengers:

Steve Rogers: “Big man in a suit of armour. Take that off, what are you?”

Tony Stark: “Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.”

We maybe don't need to be as glib as Tony Stark, but maybe he's onto something.

Without the Iron Man suit, he knows who is.

So should you.

And when you do, the question of discipline becomes moot.

You are a person who does the work or you are not. Discipline has nothing to do with it.

So yeah, values.

They're important

But only if they're real and embodied.

Regards

Dave

www.davehedges.net