Recently as we were with one of our coaches, Brent Turley, he was talking to us about the pains that we face in life. He pulled out his phone, dialed his teenage son and asked him this one simple question, “What are the two pains in life?”

His son, quickly, without hesitation stated, ” The pain of discipline and the pain of regret!”.

YOUR CHOICES

You see, it is really simple. Every single minute of every single day we are faced with choices that we make in our lives:

  • Eat this or that
  • Exercise or not
  • Drink water or soda
  • Think positive or negative thoughts
  • Take action on opportunity or wait
  • Get a good nights sleep or stay up too late
  • Be kind or be mean

The list could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. When faced with those decisions, each one comes with either the pain of discipline or regret. If I eat vegetables instead of the juicy hamburger, I suffer the pain of discipline by missing out on the delicious burger, but if I eat the burger, over the long run I suffer the pain of regret with excess weight, digestive issues, health problems and even the immediate feeling of sluggishness after eating it that robs me of my productivity.

When it comes to exercise it is the same thing. You either remain disciplined, which can cause sore muscles and costs you sometime in your day or if you do not you suffer the pain of regret with low energy, excess weight, poor health, depression, etc.

THE BETTER CHOICE: WHAT WILL YOU DECIDE?

It becomes clear very quickly, that every single decision we make comes with these two pains and we must choose which way we will go. Often the pain of discipline is immediate and so we choose the pain of regret which may be delayed in appearing in our life.

We can always benefit by believing in ourselves and having the confidence to take the action that respects our mind, body, and goals. This will lead us step by step to the end results we are looking for and we can have the promise of never looking back and saying “what if” or “if I had just…”.

So be brave and tackle the pain of discipline head on each and every time you make a decision. This will lead you to a life free of regret!

 

4 Comments

  1. Marsha Pearson on January 31, 2018 at 2:45 pm

    Hi Craig and Jenn! This is such a great article. Short and sweet – but asks that one question I never even thought to ask myself. The funny thing is – we all know what we WANT to answer, so why do so many people DO the opposite, even if they want to have it all?

    Here’s what I find interesting – discipline is in the moment – in that moment you decide to choose an apple over a donut. But regret is something that only comes afterward. That is, once a person has made an unfortunate choice, they feel regret. So the challenge is, how to always keep discipline at the forefront so that one has to never feel regret.
    Therefore, we can’t actually choose discipline over regret. Instead, we have to “shore up” our ability to have discipline to avoid a later feeling of regret. Does that make sense?

    Reply
    • Craig and Jenny D on January 31, 2018 at 2:55 pm

      Hi Marsha! These are such important points that you make. We completely agree! It is so true that we feel the pain of discipline right now in the moment, and yet, the pain of regret is an unknown risk that lies ahead in our future. We may not be able to see it or feel it because we haven’t considered how it may impact us in the future. Thanks for your thoughts!

      Reply
  2. Kim Worrall on February 28, 2018 at 6:55 pm

    I love this article and the discussion points afterwards! Really going to action these two words in my mind! And of course focus on the DISCIPLINE choice! Love it! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Craig and Jenny D on February 28, 2018 at 6:57 pm

      So glad it was helpful for you! Thank you for the feedback!

      Reply

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