On the surface, discipline looks like a cage. You wake up at 5:00 AM while others sleep; you choose a salad over a samosa; you work when you’d rather scroll. It feels like restriction. But look deeper, and you’ll find it is actually the skeleton of freedom. Without a skeleton, a body is just a heap of flesh—unable to stand, move, or go anywhere.
There lies the Paradox, Constraint is Capability. If you want the freedom to play the Mridangam beautifully, you must first restrict yourself to hours of repetitive practice. Without the discipline of practice, you are not free to play music; you are only free to make noise. To put it in a nutshell, Restriction is Saying no to distractions & Freedom is Getting a Skill to create something beautiful.
Differentiating between “Acting with Discipline” and “Acting on Impulse”, most people confuse impulse with freedom. If you eat every sweet you see, you aren’t free, you are a slave to your cravings. If you spend every rupee as soon as you earn it, you aren’t free, you are bound by financial stress. Once again to put this in a nutshell, Leading an Undisciplined Life ends up with you at the mercy of your moods, the weather, and your laziness. On the other hand, leading a Disciplined life, You are the boss. You decide where your life goes, regardless of how you “feel” that morning.
If a money plant grows on the ground, it gets trampled and stays small. But if you give it a trellis (a stick or frame) to climb, it restricts its growth to a specific direction. Because of that restriction, it can climb higher than it ever could alone. Discipline is your trellis. It guides your energy upward instead of letting it scatter on the floor.
Some personal lessons:
Discipline of being on time isn’t just a habit – it’s a message. When you show up when you said you would, you are saying, “I value your life and your time as much as my own.” Respecting Boundaries It takes immense discipline to hold your tongue, listen without interrupting, or step back when someone needs space. Discipline allows you to suppress your ego to make room for someone else’s comfort. I am very proud that in 37+ years of my professional life, there has not been a single instance where I was late for work. In fact, arriving 30 minutes ahead of expected time also allows me truly person time to plan my day to the “T”. To recall there was an instance when my boss, the Managing Director was so sure I would be in by 7:30am in the office and made a call to my phone (those days it was Landline), to let his driver into his office on the campus to pick something that he had forgotten. Similarly, in an organisation that I worked earlier which had 90+ branches (mostly sales and service) across the country, Their operations depended heavily on clearance from corporate office and a half hour delay in clearance means their sales goes for a toss. Most importantly, being on time is not for others. You get a high yourself when you become predictable in all respects.
During COVID as a State Citizen Coordinator and also as a Vice-Chairman of task force, I learnt discipline required on shared spaces. India did extremely well to control the pandemic considering our population and density. Personally, I attribute it to our extremely good Personal hygiene as against pathetic social hygiene. We just dump stuff on the street while our homes are spotless clean. One of the messages that we strongly drove across is importance of both. Even the best of perfume stinks when you are surrounded by filth and dirt. A semblance of discipline was established. It appeared restrictive, but it definitely saved thousands of lives.
Discipline in respecting the shared environment, often in our communities. Whether it’s maintaining silence in a library, following traffic rules on a busy road, or keeping public spaces clean—these are disciplined actions that show you respect the strangers around you. You earn respects just by disciplined and provide comfort to everyone around you.
True discipline is quiet. It’s the decision to follow the queue even when no one is looking, to do your work when your boss is not watching. It’s the choice to listen when you’d rather speak. We think discipline is about me, but it’s actually about us. When you master yourself, you honor everyone else.
To wind up, sharing the interpretation of the first Sutra of In the Patanjali Yoga Sutras – Atha Yoga Anushasanam, by Pujya Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji of the Art of Living. The journey of Practice of Yoga begins with that single, powerful sentence – Atha: Now and Anushasan: Rules that we impose on ourselves (Shasan: Rules imposed by others, like rules and laws). Real yoga isn’t about following a others’ orders; it’s about self-sovereignty. It is the transition from being a slave to your whims and habits to being the master of your own mind and body. Anushasan isn’t a cage of rules; it’s the training that gives you the freedom to not be a victim of your own mind.
When you are disciplined, you become predictable and reliable. Others can count on you. Others will love you and being around you. That reliability is the highest form of respect you can give and get to/from a team, a family, or a partner. It also ensures that our personal freedom doesn’t become someone else’s burden.
That is the Power of Discipline! You get a Natural High