Discipline has a positive connotation to it.
Rigidity, on the other hand, doesn’t enjoy the same stature.
Olympic gold medallist Ian Thorpe woke up at 4.17 am, daily.
That was his routine for all the years that he was a competitive swimmer.
Though he is one of the most celebrated swimmers of all time, his post-retirement life hasn’t been all that smooth.
He came out of retirement for the 2012 London Olympics but didn’t qualify.
In his autobiography, he revealed that he had battled depression and entered a clinic to treat it.
Many sportspersons find it hard to get accustomed to retirement as do normal people who retire after years of working. That’s because, after years of being disciplined and following a structure, suddenly trying to fill all the empty spaces is a tremendous challenge. In other words, they find it hard to enjoy life without structure and discipline.
There is a very thin line between discipline and rigidity. If you ask a sportsperson to take off practice for a day to have some fun and they refused, would you call them disciplined? Or rigid?
Discipline has a positive connotation to it.
Rigidity, on the other hand, doesn’t enjoy the same stature.
To be disciplined, you need a modicum of rigidity. Discipline means saying no to many things, saying no to distractions, not constantly changing how you do things and adhering to a way of functioning.
Stephen King writes every day and doesn’t get up from his desk until he finishes his quota for the day.
Is he disciplined or rigid?
I understood the difference, courtesy a tough lesson.
For the longest time, I used to pay scant regard to sleep. I would get up in the wee hours of the morning to go for a run — even if I hadn’t rested well the previous night. The results were terrible. I would feel fatigued the whole day and walk around like a zombie but thought I had achieved a lot because I woke up early and went for a run. The whole idea of exercise is to energize you, not tire you to a level that affects your ability to function.
It may have seemed that I was disciplined but the truth was, I was rigid. I didn’t see the detrimental effects of lack of rest and sleep as I was rigid about what a good workout constituted — in this case, a run early in the morning.
If discipline gets in the way of making improvements and starts working against you, then it is rigidity.
We can all be more disciplined and at the same time, less rigid.
