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I’m not a fan of new years resolutions. Not that there’s anything wrong with goals or discipline or constant and never ending improvement. All those concepts rock! It’s more that I believe if something’s important then it’s important TODAY.

Right now is the very best time to action that thing that will bring you closer to your goals or simply to being a person that makes YOU proud.

Now just because that’s my belief, does not mean it happens naturally and easily without effort! I’ve always got a tool-kit of strategies at my disposal to help me do the do: whether that’s the exercising, the meal prepping or the business related do!

In todays show I’m sharing:

The 5 Best Discipline Developing Tactics I Rely On Daily.

One: Focus on Your Identity Beliefs.

Your identity beliefs are those things you believe to be true about you. You will defend them passionately and strive to live up to them… for better or worse.

James Clear talks about why true behaviour change is really identity change in his amazing book, Atomic Habits. Once you believe “I am the type of person who prioritize exercise whether I feel like it or not” then the “do I?” “don’t I?” exercising decision is eliminated.

Yesterday I woke up a little worse for wear. It was a public holiday here in Australia and I’d been out the night before for a few beverages.

This obviously isn’t the bit where I share how hugely discipline I am! Although I did steer clear of the chips, pizza and beer and instead stuck to vodka and red wine and devoured tempeh mince with baked edamame and brussel crisps when I got home!

Since yesterday was a Monday and Monday is a weights day and I believe: “I am the type of person who prioritises exercise whether I feel like it or not” there was no room for self negotiation. I exercised and do you know what? I felt better for it and I also felt proud of me!

Two: The 5 Second Rule.

Just like a rocket taking off, the 5 second rules gives you just 5-4-3-2-1 to take the better action or (I find this even more valuable) think the better thought. By better I simply mean the action or the thought aligned with the result you want and the person you want to be. 

I first heard about the 5 second rule via Mel Robbins. The obvious examples are 5 seconds to get out of bed as soon as your alarm goes off or 5 seconds to put your mobile back down rather than randomly checking social media. 

I most readily use it in relation to envy. If I see someone (generally online) and my gut reaction is something unhelpful like “Why does he / she get to do / be / have that?” I reframe it immediately to something more inspiring and less of the victim / scarcity mindset. Even better I reframe it to something that will compel me to take the better action. So I might instead think: “Thank you, I’m grateful for the inspiration you provide and each day I will take the actions you take in order to enjoy the success you enjoy.”

Three: One Thing.

At the beginning of each year I’ll generally ask myself: What is the ONE THING that if you committed to doing it daily you’d be blown away by the  results it’d allow you to enjoy?

James Schamko (of superfastbussiness.com) is a strong proponent of the one thing approach and I likely first heard it from him. In fact I started this podcast after attending one of his live events where he asked us all to commit to one thing to take away and implement as a result of his event… mine was starting a podcast.

One thing forces you to prioritise. It also helps you overcome overwhelm. 

Do you know as I consider it now, I actually first heard an iteration of the one thing approach from my dear mum who as a nurse working shift work would always aim to get one thing done for herself each day before or after work. Whether it was baking a cake or re-potting a plant it’s a different angle on one thing however it still guides you away from getting sucked into the hamster wheel of busy’ness where you’re endlessly trudging to just maintain status quo.

I have a one thing for January (5 podcast interview approaches a week) that I’ll maintain throughout the year however each month I’m also going to add a new One Thing. “But that would be ‘2′ One Things wouldn’t it Kate?” you might be thinking? Yes, it would. Then 3, 4, 5… as each month I keep the valuable one things and trial new one things. It’s Kate logic, as I tell my long suffering XT’ers who are regularly amused (?) by the routines I inflict (with love) on them each week.

I can have time for all of this (and so can you) with a commitment to tactic #4…

Four: Your Not To Do List.

In the same way that your ideal day starts the night before (by planning your day to come and getting to bed early enough to get up at the ideal time tomorrow) your not to do list precedes your to do list.

You’re likely aware of the things that belong on your not to do list. The things that suck time and energy away from more important or even more enjoyable tasks and experiences. Yet, a vague awareness floating around in your mind often isn’t enough. Your not to do list needs to be committed to paper and I would even say aligned with a series of identity beliefs too. In this sense these 5 Best Discipline Developing Tactics I Rely On Daily support each other and have a compounding effect. To recap, your identity beliefs will generally begin with “I am…” so an identity belief inspired not to do list might look like this:

• I am a person who prioritises 7-8 hours quality sleep each night.The not to do action item would be: Do not stay up beyond 10pm doing low value activities like watching a Netflix marathon or surfing social media.  
• I am a person who exercises first thing in the morning according to my training plan. The not to do action item would be:Do not hit snooze or choose a sleep in over a scheduled exercise session.  
• I am a person who plans my day to come the night before. The not to do action item would be:Do not get sucked into email or social media before accomplishing my number most important task today. 

By choosing what you will not do and having the discipline and strength of character to stick to it you then get to also choose what you will do. You create the time for those most important actions on your to do list. One of these will be your One Thing as discussed in tactic 3 that brings you closer to your most important goal.

Another one of these I’m experimenting with right now is One Thing to look forward to every single day. The goal here is to get better at appreciating the journey.

I can get very goal focused and often I’ll catch myself stressing about the time and what I’ve got to do next WHILE I’m doing something I love. Can you relate? It’s ridiculous! Saturdays are a perfect example. I’ll get up at 4.30 am to rush in a walk down at the beach to see the sunrise before work. I’ll train 5-6 clients. I’ll do my own workout at Fitness First Bondi Junction – on the balcony – in the sun and all the time I’ll be thinking of getting to volunteering (spreading the vegan love) in the city by 2pm. Once I’m at volunteering I’ll be thinking of getting home and either rushing to meet a friend out or how much “alone time” I get to enjoy that night before I crash.

The ludicrous thing is I LOVE my beach walk. And my Saturday clients. And training at Fitness First. And volunteering with Anonymous for the Voiceless. AND YET, it’s almost like I’m wishing them all away!

So, this year I’m committed to focusing on one thing to look forward to every single day that as often as possible does not have a massive time constraint and also as often as possible is outdoors in nature. The lack of time constraint and the outdoors is important to me as they both help me slow down and be present and enjoy the journey. Additionally un-rushed time moving in nature is how I think best.

I know this sounds hugely indulgent however I have a couple of caveats:

First, If your one thing to look forward to each day is 10 minutes reading before bed or a podcast you love while driving to work then that’s super worthwhile too. 

Second, I’m aiming for daily with the knowledge that even a couple of times a week is going to improve the quality of my life.

Today I got up at 3.15 am to do a Skype interview and my thing to look forward to was a walk along the beach to see the sunrise after that interview. Because I’d made a commitment to myself I spent a good part of yesterday looking forward to todays walk. Equally, today I’m looking forward to my planned run around Centennial Park tomorrow evening. An evening run might not be ‘one thing to look forward to’ for you however, Kate logic right?!

Five: The Anti-Mentor.

The value in mentors who inspire you and push you to broaden your goals, your beliefs, your contribution and impact are well documented. However I’m also a huge fan of observing everything you don’t want to be or do in an anti-mentor and using it as fuel.

If discipline sets you free – I strongly believe it does – then look at the life, the habits, the beliefs of that person you really don’t respect. 

• Perhaps they have an infuriatingly entitled mindset?
• Maybe they are just downright lazy?
• Possibly they accept zero responsibility?
• Potentially they are super judgemental and as such experience a whole heap of judgement reflected back at them.
• They might be overly closed minded, ego driven and stuck in their ways without ever being open to considering new and valuable information.

In the same way that I might ask myself what either the best version of myself or someone else I respect would do in any given situation to compel me the take the better action, I also find myself asking myself what my Anti-Mentor would do. 

They’d skip training. They’d skip meal prep and eat the chips and pizza for dinner. And most of all they’d expect to get the results without the eating or exercising or supporting belief nurturing habits.

One of the lesser spoken about considerations when it comes to your discipline is that it’s like a muscle you either develop or ignore. You’re not just born with it. You don’t get to keep it without effort. You have to work at it daily. 

Equally, like muscles and fitness in general, what might work brilliantly for some are not for everyone. It’s a matter of finding what works for you.

To get actionable today, do any of The 5 Best Discipline Developing Tactics I Rely On Daily sound like something you could get better at? To recap:

One: Focus on Your Identity Beliefs.

Two: The 5 Second Rule.

Three: One Thing.

Four: Your Not To Do List.

Five: The Anti-Mentor.

For more information on discipline and will power I’ve got a whole mega-post here:

That’s it for today in Healthification. Huge thanks to YOU for sharing today with me. I appreciate it with all my heart.

If you’ve enjoyed this show and gotten value out of it I’d super appreciate it if you pop over to iTunes and leave me a review. It helps other people find Healthification and it really does inspire me to power on with the weekly and sometimes twice weekly episodes.

The Healthification podcast is proudly bought to you by my FREE ‘Easy Vegan’ plan. It took me 25 years to transition from a meat eater to a happy, healthy Vegan! You can do it in just 3 days with my simplified ‘easy vegan’ plan!  Get the fit, strong, and healthy plant based body you deserve… while avoiding ALL the mistakes I made along the way!

Till next time, remember Creating a body and life you love is Freedom. (If this ex-carb queen, NON-genetically gifted, naturally uncoordinated VEGAN-chick can do it – so can YOU!!!)

If you liked “The 5 Best Discipline Developing Tactics I Rely On Daily” you’ll also like: Make Yourself Proud

If you’re yet to share the Healthification love – just click here to zip over to iTunes and leave an honest rating and review. It’d help me out big time. With gratitude, Kate.