part0140

Pitching is what makes me happy. I’ve devoted my life to it. (…) It determines what I eat, when I go to bed, what I do when I’m awake. It determines how I spend my life when I’m not pitching. (…) If it means in the winter I eat cottage cheese instead of chocolate chip cookies in order to keep my weight down, then I eat cottage cheese. I might want those cookies but I won’t ever eat them. That might bother some people but it doesn’t bother me. I enjoy the cottage cheese. I enjoy it more than I would those cookies because I know it will help me do what makes me happy. (…) Life isn’t very heavy for me. I’ve made up my mind what I want to do. I’m happy when I pitch well so I only do those things that help me be happy.”

If something makes you extremely happy, the desire to do it as much as you can will replace or at least greatly diminish the need for self-discipline. Obviously, the thing that you love must be good for you — eating French fries may make you extremely happy, but devoting your life to them won’t be a good idea.

For example, in my case, one of the things that currently determines many of my choices and replaces the need for self-discipline is rock climbing. It’s the number one reason why I perform hard bodyweight workouts (to be stronger to climb better), why I maintain low weight (because it’s easier to climb if you weigh less), why I constantly expand my comfort zone (because it improves my mental game when I’m climbing), and so on.

If you already have such a big passion in your life, link it to your new resolutions. There’s always a way to combine a positive change with an improved ability to engage in your passion (for example, eating better will make you more energetic, which will make you better at everything you’re doing, including your passion), so tap into this resource and let your desire to engage in your passion render self-discipline unnecessary.