Finding Balance: Self-Motivation vs. Self-Discipline

Kate Olson, CPC, CHt, is a Life Coach, Integrative Master Hypnotherapist, EFT & NLP Master Practitioner & Trainer and Reiki Master located in Seattle, at Northern Lights Life Coaching www.northernlightscoaching.net & Embrace Change Hypnosis & NLP www.embracechangehypnosis.com.  Kate offers workshops & classes, as well as, individual and group coaching. Her emphasis is on assisting clients in finding Path, Purpose and Peace. Kate focuses on integration of mind, body, spirit wellness. It is her mission to help clients find joy through connection, creative expression and embracing change.  She is passionate about creativity, travel, personal growth and enjoying life. She has two other wellness-related businesses Salt Works Pods, offering Salt Therapy and Total Wellness Products. offering natural healing products. All four businesses operate as Dba's under Total Well Resources, LLC.  Kate is a speaker, author and retreat facilitator.  She is also a radio show host on Contact Talk Radio,   www.ctrnetwork.com/embracechange  "Embrace Change with Kate ".  

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        As I write this, I am myself grappling with self-motivation & self-discipline. For myself, I much prefer to be motivated rather than having to use discipline.  I guess I am a bit of a rebel, as I always seem to want to balk a little at being pushed, even by myself for my own good!  Perhaps that’s one of those limiting beliefs I should work on?  However, finding the motivation isn’t always easy and keeping it up over a long period of time can be extremely challenging.  Self-discipline is needed to keep up the level of performance we need to reach and maintain our desired goals. This is a push, pull scenario and it turns out we need both the push and the pull to keep us moving productively toward our dreams.
       How can we find that balance between the push and pull where we don’t feel we are either bullying ourselves or get stuck because we can’t find that motivation at times?  First, we have to realize that it is a synergy and not an either/or situation. We need to use both motivation and discipline on a continuous basis and use them as our fuel and tools to accomplish what we want and need. And, maybe if, like me, you have beliefs or ideas that are making things more difficult, work on letting those go!
       As I sit here pushing myself to write this blog, I am reaching for that motivation that will make it a little easier. I haven’t found it yet, so the pushing is needed, but I am hoping before the end some positive and inspiring motivation will pull me up the hill. You can always feel it when it kicks in. It’s like stepping on the gas or something clicking into place or that “aha!” moment when we finally get it!
        I think discipline is harder for me now partly because I have created a life that is pretty motivating and inspiring to me most of the time and that is generally a good thing.  In the past, I had to discipline myself more often because a lot of what I needed to do were things I did not like or want to do.  I could not have functioned without a lot of self-discipline.  I did it, but I wasn’t happy most of the time and I didn’t like my life.  I was pushing myself up hill all the time and it was exhausting!  Now the things I love doing are constantly pulling and sometimes propelling me forward.  Still there are things I need to do that require that push.  Right now, due to some temporary circumstances, there are more of those than I’d like.  I feel a little exhausted looking at the hill I need to push myself up and possibly like there is a mean taskmaster with a whip following behind me beating me up a bit.  How can I change this picture, scenario and circumstance?  

        I am really framing this as I go, and see that some reframing is needed! Can I look at this differently in a way that will change the picture in my head and the reality of my feelings and actions? Luckily, I know that I can and so can you --- with whatever pictures and limiting beliefs you have hanging around in your head making life more difficult and not serving you well!  This is something I learned in a useful context as part of my NLP (Neurolinguistics Programming) training and in studying neuroscience.  So, here I am getting a little excited about seeing how I can change my reality and using these amazing modalities to make my reality a little easier, better or more of an energy flow that feels “good” or “right” to me and removes that resistance or blocks I am currently feeling.  Whoa! That feels good!  I think something is beginning to click and lead me in the right direction to make a big change in my picture of discipline.
        With what I have going on in my life right now, I really need that!  A big dose of self-discipline could propel me forward and make all the difference between a big win and a big crash!  Let me look at the big picture and concentrate more on how that looks, how that feels!  Hmmm? I’m liking that picture! I’m feeling good about how it seems real!  It seems like I could actual get there and maybe it wouldn’t be hard!  Maybe it would be easy with just a little push from me and some self-discipline.  It feels like a reward and not something I want to rebel against.
       I am going with this now and I think it may work! Changing my thinking on the push and pull and the feelings behind it, does change things! We can all do this with whatever is holding us back and keeping us stuck!  We are not limited by our thoughts. They are literally something we have created, and therefore, have control over! It is up to us and that is so empowering!  We just have to start recognizing and using this amazing power when we feel resistance and our energy is not moving and flowing forward for our highest good.
        To break it down, when you find yourself blocked and resisting what you know you need to do, recognize that you are dealing with those push/pull dilemmas where changing the pictures in your mind and your feelings about them is needed to make things work and find that balance between self-motivation and self-discipline. You need to get them working in synergy.  There may be more than one picture or limiting belief involved and you might have to work on all of them to get things in line, as with me, in my current situation I needed to change my picture and feelings around more than just self-discipline in order to resolve the issues blocking my best energy and keeping me struggling.  The process of doing that though is the same. You have to first recognize the picture, thought, or limiting belief that you have created and that it is holding you back. Then go about reframing and changing that picture to one that is going to make it easier to flow forward toward your desired outcomes. Different picture, different thought, different feeling and different actions equal different outcome.  It isn’t easy, but it does work and is so worth it!  Now watch me ramp up my self-discipline and get motivated to change my story in a big and positive way!
 
    “True excellence is a product of synergy!” – Mack Wilberg
 
       Creating a synergy between self-motivation and self-discipline will keep us moving toward our goals and using tools to remove any blocks or limiting beliefs we have created and will allow us to take action and keep our energy flowing positively forward!