Some form of “Discipline > Motivation” is a perennial feature of “self-improvement” and especially “fitness journey” social media. It is not as helpful as as it is pumped up to be.
It is not helpful because people think of “discipline” as some version of “will power” or a problematic conception of “self-control.” The narrative is:
- I should do a thing.
- I don’t want to do the thing.
- But because I should do the thing I force myself to do the thing despite my lack of motivation.
No one does this for any real length of time. It is a boastful myth. It gives credit to the person for his success as if he conquered an unwilling person and forced him to be his slave. We could even attach Bible verses to this like: “But I discipline my body and keep it under control” (1 Corinthians 9:27a). That the ESV. The footnote gives a more literal translation: “I pummel my body and make it a slave.”
So why do I object to the narrative?
Because if anyone had to expend as much continual effort in maintaining a person in slavery as they did in first capturing and conquering that person, slavery would never have arisen as a worldwide institution in history. People would only have engaged in extermination warfare. There would be no incentive to let conquered enemies live. Rather, slavery exists because, through experience, many become reconciled to some extent to being slaves. They may take advantage of opportunities to gain their freedom, but in normal life, they perform as slaves because it is in their best interests to do so. Keeping a prisoner is far easier than catching a criminal.
Discipline, in the sense of “will power,” is only available for a limited time and in limited intensity. If you have to force yourself to do something over and over again with the same strength and resolve required in the first instance, you will never adopt the practice.
So the analogy doesn’t work the way people think. If Paul makes his body his “slave,” that doesn’t necessarily justify thinking of motivation as opposed to discipline. Perhaps he engages in a process that changes his body’s “motives.” Even if that is pressing the analogy too far, Paul certainly wouldn’t subdue his body if he wasn’t motivated to do so.
And it won’t do any good to claim the alleged “moral high ground,”of “just doing it anyway” despite a lack of motivation. Those who are motivated always do it better than those who aren’t motivated. When Paul points out that “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7) he doesn’t seem to discount motivation. While I doubt Paul’s command to give “not reluctantly or under compulsion” was an absolute prohibition, he was certainly pointing out that the goal for, and ideal way of, giving involved positive motivation. Indeed, he spends time writing about a potential motivation his hearers/readers should consider (9:6, 8, 10, 11). God wants wholehearted obedience because, among other things, half-hearted obedience is not as effective, just like half-hearted piano practice is never as effective as it could be in leading to proficiency.
Half-hearted obedience isn’t inferior to outright disobedience. But encouraging anyone to settle for half-hearted obedience by a misleadingly austere “discipline over motivation” may prevent a far better potential outcome. Obedience, after all, is practically more like a volume knob than an on-off switch.
So what happens when we lack motivation to do something we think we ought to do? Usually, these factors are present.
- We realize we want (i.e. “are motivated) to become a new kind of person who does the thing, even if we don’t have the motivation yet to do the thing.
- We use what motivation we have to develop a new habit that either involves us doing the action or gets us closer to doing the action.
- By definition, when an action becomes a habit it becomes easier to do.
- So the action requires less motivation. In fact, sometimes it is difficult to refrain from the action even though some factor requires you to temporarily stop.
- Eventually, you may experience the culmination of these actions and that satisfaction will also increase your motivation to continue them.
So the point is that, if something is to hard for you, you need to find ways to make it easier. That will take some effort (discipline as will-power), but it won’t always be so hard.
It might help to think of discipline as “a discipline” or “disciplines” in the plural. When I speak of “disciplines” usually the word is virtually a synonym for “routines.” Once they are established, routines don’t require that much effort or will power. Otherwise, we wouldn’t call them routine.
Thinking of discipline over motivation by that definition would basically amount to “habit over effort.”
The “problem” is that “habit” lacks the heroic edge. It is hard to boast in doing an easy thing.
But the Bible has warnings against boasting. And it tells us, no matter how much progress we think we have made, there is always a lot more room for improvement. There are plenty of new habits or new improvements of habits that God will call you to spend your effort on, once you get some routines nailed down.
I began this post mentioning “fitness journey” social media. As I pointed out in my book on Proverbs, that is a relevant concern for godliness:
Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
1 Timothy 4:7b–8 ESV
Obviously, being more godly is more important than being stronger or faster or having greater physical endurance. But Paul seems to think that training for godliness is analogous to fitness or sports training. Athletes work on themselves in the hopes of getting better, and their strength and skills improve with practice. No one expects to win a competition on the strength of their will or motivation during the event. They know that daily and weekly training is the only way to actualize their potential. They make it a part of their routine to regularly hone themselves.
Paul encourages Timothy and us to value such routines so that we may become more godly. Through that process we make godliness easier. Then they move on to other challenges.
Not that I have already obtained this or am already mature, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
Philippians 3:12–16