You Don’t Need More Discipline. You Need a Bigger Dream.
The real reason discipline feels hard (and how to fix it).
Discipline is easy.
People often comment on my life and say, “Phil, you’re so disciplined.”
They see the 5 a.m. wakeups. The prayer rhythms. The dates with my wife. The daily habits carved into my life like deep riverbeds.
And honestly? I don’t boast in it at all.
Because I don’t even think of myself as disciplined.
Discipline isn’t the engine behind my actions.
It’s not even in my subconscious vocabulary.
What drives me is the end goal.
When your reward is greater than your pain, discipline flows naturally.
This is why world-class athletes, entrepreneurs, and spiritual leaders seem superhuman. It’s not because they’re freakishly disciplined. It’s because they found a vision worth sacrificing for.
The problem isn’t your lack of discipline.
The problem is you haven’t articulated a goal worthy of your discipline.
A vision worthy of your pain.
Paul understood this when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:
“Run in such a way as to win the prize.”
He wasn’t running aimlessly. He had his eyes locked on a crown that would never fade.
If you’re struggling with discipline, I can almost guarantee this:
You don’t have a goal yet that’s big enough, beautiful enough, burning enough.
What’s your goal for your spiritual life?
What’s your goal for your family?
What’s your goal for your ministry?
Do you want to hear the words “Well done, good and faithful servant”?
Do you want to see your children transformed by the love of God?
Do you want to live out a ministry that actually matters?
Find a goal worth bleeding for, worth sacrificing for.
Once you do, the habits, the practices, the rhythms — they will become easy.
Because you’re not thinking about discipline anymore.
You’re thinking about the goal.
You were made for goodness,
Phil