Becoming consistent and disciplined

My journey so far

Yukta Parikh
March 29, 2024

I’ve been on my disciplined journey recently, and this time it’s actually sticking. If you know me, you know I have many goals at any given moment. I credit that to being a Capricorn, ENFJ, and Enneagram 3. That doesn’t mean that I always stick to those goals or stay consistent. When I started running, I began my journey of learning discipline. Now, I’m on the journey to becoming disciplined.

I’ve been keeping track of my progress the last couple of weeks on TikTok with my Discipline Diaries (which is so fun so follow along). My main goals with this have been to wake up consistently daily, stick to a morning routine, practice Spanish, study regularly, work out, and spend less time feeling bored or doom scrolling.

First, I’ll share the habits that helped me achieve my goals. Second, I’ll share what I’ve learned about discipline and myself so far.

Habits

These are the small things I’ve been doing to keep myself on track. I learned all about creating effective habits from Atomic Habits by James Clear. So thanks king, I owe you my whole life at this point.

Here are those small habits:

Picking out my outfit the night before
Laying out my workout fit in the morning for my post-work gym trip
Keeping my gym bag packed and ready to go on the days I go to the gym
Listening to an audiobook while making breakfast
Setting out my morning skincare the night before
Making my bed immediately when I wake up
Place a glass on the counter when I empty the dishwasher for the water I’ll need to take my vitamins
Journaling for 5 minutes before getting into bed

These are super small, but make my days so much easier.

I used to spend too much time picking out an outfit in the morning. And I work from home! Now I barely spend any valuable morning time on it, I just take that time the night before.

Getting to the gym used to be so annoying to me because I would have to pick out another outfit. After finishing the workday, it felt like a huge drag to me, but now I don’t have to think about it.

These habits feel like I’m automating my life, and I love it. It gave me time to read a book or get ahead on lectures before starting work. I’m a busy girl, so 10 minutes before 7:30 am is a huge win.

Discipline lessons

Not enough women are talking about it

The personal development, habits, growth, productivity, and discipline space doesn’t have enough women. Most of the books out there are written by men. Most of the posts on LinkedIn are from men. Most of the podcasts are made by men. But men aren’t the only ones who want to improve and develop. And their advice doesn’t click for me, and I’m sure it doesn’t click for many women out there. While I’m not married nor do I have kids, I do know that women carry a different mental load than men do. Women need advice that is made for them. Women of color need advice that is made for them. And if you saw what just came out about Andrew Huberman then you get it.

Discipline doesn’t mean perfection

I grew up with parents who made it clear that outcomes were more important than process. They wanted A pluses and awards without thinking about what I needed to do to get there. They told me the outcome they wanted and gave me 0 tools to make it happen. I love my parents, but they couldn’t give me those tools. They helped me where they could, but they were immigrants and didn’t understand most of what I was learning and doing. But because I also didn’t know what I was doing, I never learned how to be disciplined, but I did know that I needed to be perfect. So I tried to be perfect. And I burned out. In hindsight, I could see it from miles away. Now, I’m leaning into imperfection and consistency. Do it badly, but keep doing it.

It’s a balancing act

Natasha Romanoff said it best, “you can’t be all things to all people all the time.” You can be some things, and not at the same time. Before focusing on discipline, I thought I needed to be able to do it all. And when I couldn’t do it all, that negative voice in my head would tell me I needed to be better. I needed to be perfect. Some days, I’m just student yukta or just work yukta. On other days, I have time to be work yukta and student yukta. It’s all about making the time where I can and putting my needs above it all.

Prioritizing self-care

I can’t be on 24/7, otherwise I will be on the fast track to burning out. I need time away from all my responsibilities and stress. Trying out a new workout class, getting my nails done, taking an everything shower, cleaning my room, and drinking a glass of wine with my roommate are just as necessary. But, self-care isn’t always fun! Sometimes, it’s forcing myself to do my taxes because I’ve been procrastinating (I promise, I’ll do them ASAP). It also means not feeling guilty when I take a break!! Self-care is productive.