Keep Devotion at the Center of your Discipline

What happens when we distinguish our devotion from our discipline? I find that placing these side by side is what allows us to better tune into where our motivation comes from. Devotion, for example, appears to have more humility than discipline. There’s a bowing down to something greater than self, to a larger force that extends beyond me or you. Even within yogic tradition, we use the name devotional warrior and humble warrior to denote the same posture. The difference, from my perspective, lies in where we source our motivation when operating from each one. Devotion is humble whereas discipline is seemingly more egoic.

Yes, our discipline is important in order to achieve what we desire. We’re disciplined about our work ethic to succeed in our careers, disciplined in our spiritual practices in order to achieve a more transcendent way of being, disciplined in our exercise and diet so we may achieve our fitness goals. Yet, we run into trouble when the discipline is not derived from a greater source of devotion at its core.

Devotion to showing up as our strongest selves requires a sense of discipline in how we train our minds and bodies. But a disciplined routine without devotion to something outside ourselves can easily shift into rigidity and self-righteousness. The same can be said for devotion to our loved ones. When we are devoted to being reliable friends and partners, we use disciplined approaches to communication and presence. However, we could be disciplined about showing up to our family gatherings without deriving much of our fuel from any true devotion to them. If it’s no longer humble, but rather self-serving, perhaps it’s discipline for discipline's sake and void of any sincere devotion.

Get curious about distinguishing where the two fuel your life. And then get honest with yourself. Where has discipline begun to deceive you into believing this is still worth your while? Where are you over-disciplined in a way that no longer has a clear devotional component? With this type of practice, we can begin to grow clearer about how we make choices with our limited time and energy.

Seek the devotion that lives beneath the discipline and shed the rest. Releasing the practices of sheer discipline will likely lighten the load and I have a feeling our devotion will sustain itself a lot longer than any discipline will.