You hear this all of the time. It’s not that hard to be disciplined. Some people just don’t have the willpower and are satisfied with wasting their life away. Look at that waste of space, they could turn their life around, they just choose not to do it.

This is wrong. Deep down in all of us is the ability to deny ourselves of instant satisfaction for long term gratification. This is easier said than done and this day in age, in my opinion, it is harder to be disciplined than ever before. We have everything at our fingertips. There is stark difference in the convenience of every aspect of our lives right now, than it was for our parents and grandparents. This is good and bad. One thing I do know is convenience breeds apathy, and apathy breeds laziness, and laziness if left unchecked will stack upon itself until you are under a weight you can’t seem to budge.

Don’t get me wrong. I am a champion of a disciplined life, and I think many people make excuses and place blame on others rather than taking responsibility for their own actions. I am a huge advocate of guys like David Goggins and Jocko Willink. These men and others like them are the embodiment of what it means to live a life of discipline. Both are former Navy Seals who knows what it means to take extreme ownership over yourself and your life. If you ever need a reason to be more disciplined, look no further than those two.

Stanford health psychologist Kelly McGonigal, PhD, took a closer look at the science of willpower and examined the latest research on the topic. She says that Psychologists have found that willpower is a lot like stress. It’s not just a psychological experience, but a full-blown mind-body response. The stress response is a reaction to an external threat. An example would be a fire alarm going off. In contrast, the willpower response is a reaction to an internal conflict. You want to do one thing, such as smoke a cigarette or supersize your lunch, but know you shouldn’t. Or you know you should do something, like file your taxes or go to the gym, but you’d rather do nothing.

We can all relate to this. Every day we are faced with dozens of choices where we are entrenched in this internal conflict. 75% of these choices as simple and insignificant as hitting the snooze button or having an extra bag of chips. I have come a long way from being an insecure unhealthy man tipping the scales at almost 300 pounds. It started with deciding to face this daily internal conflict head on. One decision changed it all. I had to decide to either get up and run mile, or stay on the couch. One mile turned to two, then 10, then 100. Three years later I have run 10 races including 4 half marathons, one full marathon, and a 50k this summer. In total I have run about 1,270 miles. Roughly the distance from Casper Wyoming to the Pacific Ocean. I have come a long way, but I still struggle with my self discipline every day. My old unhealthy eating habits have crept back little by little. It is a good thing that I have a strict running and workout regimen to balance what often times seems like daily moments of weakness.

Even those most dedicated a disciplined people struggle. How do we promote willpower in our lives?

Harness the power of convenience.

By nature, our lives are convenient. I have found that you can use the power of convenience for good. A good example is snacking out of convenience. We often go for the most readily available snack. The easiest to get to. It doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with health. So make that bowl of fruit more prominent and easily accessible. If you can’t completely cut out unhealthy stuff, at least put it on the top shelf out of the way. This principal is universal in any area of your life. If you make the right thing to do more convenient, you will be more apt to do it.

Mold your prefrontal cortex.

I think discipline is like a muscle, and you can train your body and mind to be more disciplined. I have found that this can only be done by maxing your speedometer so to speak. The only way for you have more willpower is by doing things that make you more resilient to stress. Regular exercise – both intense cardiovascular trainings and mindful exercise like yoga start to mold that prefrontal cortex. The more comfortable you are with being uncomfortable, the more discipline you gain.

Stack up wins.

Like I said before, each day you are presented with dozens of opportunities to do what we know is right, or take the easy way out. Most of opportunities seem small and insignificant.

You start the day and wake up to your alarm, that's a win.

You decide to do some morning stretching and reading for professional development, that's a win.

You decide on a more healthy breakfast, that's a win.

You decide to advocate for yourself at work, that's a win.

You take an hour out of the day to be a more present father, that's a win.

The more wins you stack up each day, the closer you will be to being a person you can be proud of. We aren’t perfect and won’t win them all, but we can absolutely win more than we lose each day.