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The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at York U chapter.

Motivation and discipline are critical in attaining long-term objectives throughout your life.

I used to think discipline and motivation were the same things up until after my adolescent years. Most people know that motivation and discipline are two different things in life, but not everyone acknowledges it.

Discipline is an essential personality trait in everybody’s life. It is a set of rules and regulations that must be followed when doing any type of work or activity. Discipline is a method of being truthful, hardworking, driven, and encouraged when performing any type of job.

Motivation, on the other hand, is the desire to attain one’s objectives or meet one’s expectations. Motivation is essential for breaking bad habits and developing new ones. Finding strategies to improve motivation is critical because it helps us to change our behavior, create objectives, grow our interests, and drive engagement.

Discipline is a lifestyle. Once you master it, no one can take it back from you. Discipline is such a thing that no matter how you put it forth into your life, it starts the process of creating a new you. 

Who wouldn’t like to see a better and improved version of themselves?

Whether it is, waking up early, exercising daily, cooking, or even doing a hobby, if you discipline yourself well enough, you are more likely to be content.

Being in charge of your lifestyle not only makes you feel happier but it gives you a sense of accomplishment. Of course, leading to a happier life, you could say.

Even when one doesn’t feel like it, highly disciplined people drive themselves to focus on their goals every single day. Lack of self-discipline, on the other hand, is caused by an absence of willpower and ambition. For instance, a poor state of health might lead one to try to be disciplined, implying that you must take good care of your health and physique by eating nutritious foods and exercising. 

Discipline consists of the fundamental tools we employ to deal with life’s issues and challenges. Many individuals struggle to succeed since life may be stressful, but here is when discipline comes in handy because motivation is merely bursts of discipline that occur here and there, rather than being consistent.

If you rely on motivation to drive you to work hard at something every day until you achieve it, you may discover that motivation regularly fails you.

I’ll give an example of myself.

During covid quarantine, I stopped working out. I got so lazy within such a short span of time that I lost my self-discipline. There was a trend that I noticed that was occurring. I would get a few days of motivation that “oh, today I’m going to work out, it’s’ a good day”. I would work out for two days, and then bam… back to my same old routine of being lazy. I realized that this cannot continue because I was losing my self-discipline and this was definitely not the way I wanted to continue in my life, whether covid was present or not.

I realized that to become the person of my dreams, I had to increase my self-discipline.

However, it is critical to recognize that motivation is a crucial aspect of our daily lives. Our basic actions and emotions are influenced by our inner urge to overcome life’s problems while setting objectives for ourselves. As we attain our objective, our motivation fosters emotions of competence and self-worth. Lack of motivation can result in mental illnesses. Learning through secondhand experience, no sort of motivation leads to the belief that one’s life is boring and without meaning. That is definitely not something we desire. 

Motivation is the urge to keep trying for meaning, purpose, and a life worth living.

Motivation generates emotion, but discipline generates outcomes. Motivation fades, but discipline endures.

If you desire to achieve anything, motivation is your personal reasoning that compels you to take steps toward that purpose. Discipline is how much work you put in to reach your purpose.

So rest assured, you have it under control. 

Maintaining discipline with everyday routines and habits may appear dull, yet each day you advance one step forward. You’ll be surprised at how quickly discipline spreads to other aspects of your life after you apply it to just one!

Discipline vs motivation? Nahhh. I’d rather say, discipline AND motivation because you need both in your life to progress easily. Why have discipline if you have no motive to accomplish, and why even have motivation if you’re not going to have the discipline to achieve that goal? Sounds maybe a little contradictory, but it is what it is.

Hi everyone! My name is Muskaan, I am one of the newly joined writers, here at Her Campus. I'm so proud to be part of this community!