The Freedom of Discipline

At first glance, freedom seems like the very opposite of discipline. Most people think that way. They assume that if they were to enter into a discipline, it would deprive them of their freedom. Since discipline involves procedures, following procedures, and doing so consistently, and regularly, resiliently, and persistently, that seems to completely eliminate the freedom to choose other alternatives, other options. That’s how it seems.

But how it seems is not always the way it is. That’s because sometimes what we posit as opposites when we fall into the over-simplicity of either/or thinking blinds us to the more complex reality.

• How much freedom do you have when you drive off the road and try to pioneer your own trail across town or across the country?
• How much freedom would a train have when it gets off the tracks?
• How much freedom does an Olympiad gymnast have when she forgets the routine and tries out new options whether on the floor exercise or on the unparallel bars?
• How much freedom would you experience if you decided on a new way to tie your shoes every day?

Actually the strange fact is that the only true freedom is in the art of the discipline. Doctors spend years learning every fact they can a bout the body, its anatomy, the inter-relationships between different parts, and how different medicines interact with the body’s neuro-chemistry. They learn all sorts of procedures that have been developed over the years— procedures that have been practiced thousands of times, refined, streamlined, studied, etc. The doctor’s freedom and skill and expertise lies precisely in his ability to do a procedure with precision and accuracy. The discipline itself enables the doctor the freedom to be successful.

The more you know “a course of study” and “a course of action” (discipline), the more freedom you have to demonstrate expertise and to be productive. It’s that well-trained discipline after years of practice which frees you to understand, to think, to creates, to evolve, to take the procedure to a next level. The order is— first discipline, then freedom. If you put freedom before discipline, you are only free to muddle around. First you learn to play the scales, then you can make music. Too many people turn the order around and condemn themselves to incompetence and being unproductive.

What’s the difference between a human and a zombie? The human thinks, chooses, and learns a discipline and can now live a creative life. A zombie robotically moves and reacts, he sees but doesn’t see. The human is free to think, to create strategies, to figure things out. The zombie has no true freedom, he can only grunt and thirst for blood and walk stiffly into his preordained future.

Now ultimately, because you are only as free as you are free in your mind—free to truly think and to do your own thinking, your ultimate freedom is a disciplined mind. Given that, how free are you, really? The discipline of freedom requires several things:

• Awareness of what is, capacity of yourself, your thoughts,
• Power Intentional to think, to value feel, speak, act.
• Purpose to adapt to express what’s important
• Flexibility in the context in your environment
• Opportunity in a Discipline

= Freedom

This is the discipline required to be a fully functioning person. It arises from your conscious awareness of things, your developed capacity for functioning, the purpose you set for a compelling outcome in some area of life (the discipline you desire), your flexibility to then adapt in your environment to take advantage of the opportunities around you. True freedom is a freedom to something, it is not merely a reaction away from what you don’t want. We can also call this responsible freedom because you are “able to respond” from your values and beliefs and invent the life you want.