The Discipline Equation 2.0

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Struggling to stay committed to your goals? Ever wondered why your discipline is so low, and how you can improve it? Look no further- this article holds the answers.

In the bestseller ‘Diary of A CEO: 33 Rules for Business and Life’, serial entrepreneur and podcaster Steven Bartlett lays out his ‘discipline equation’; a formula that determines our commitment to our goals:

Discipline = Perceived Value of the Goal + Reward of the Pursuit - Costs of the Pursuit

Our discipline, he writes, is ultimately a result of just three key factors: the perceived value of our goal, the reward of the pursuit, and the cost of the pursuit. Taken together, they dictate how strongly we will stick to our goal and so ultimately, how likely we are to achieve it. Bartlett’s equation is hugely insightful and useful, but I think there are two major ingredients missing. When we add them to the equation, it looks like this:

Discipline = (Perceived Chance of Success x Value of the Goal) + Reward of the Pursuit - (Costs of Achieving the Goal + Costs of the Pursuit)??

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This can help you with any goal you have now, whether it be to run a marathon, save a set amount of cash every month, write a book, or even get married.

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First, it can show you why your discipline is at the level it is. When we look at the five factors, and how they relate, we see why we are more committed to pursuing some goals than others.

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Second, it can show you how to improve your discipline. Once you have identified the areas where your discipline is flagging, you can address these points of weakness with surgical precision. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach. ?

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Perceived chance of success

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How likely are you to achieve your goal?

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We don’t want our efforts to be wasted, or to get our hopes up when there is little chance of success. If we are setting up our own business, we may find our motivation flagging when we reflect on the statistic that most businesses fail within a few years. By contrast, we will be more motivated- all things being equal- if we feel that success is practically guaranteed.

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Value of the goal

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How much does this goal matter to you?

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Our discipline in pursuing our goals increases and diminishes with our belief in their importance. Goals with deep personal significance- like raising happy, healthy children- motivate individuals far more than goals where we don’t have a strong why.

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N.B. There is a close relationship between the value of our goal and the perceived chance of success. When the chance of success is low, the value of the goal must be exceptionally high to compensate for us taking a risk. Where the chance of success is virtually non-existent (an effective 0), then the goal loses its motivational power altogether. In these cases, we may nevertheless still be motivated to do it for the inherent satisfaction of the process itself, which leads us onto the three ingredient.

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The reward of the pursuit

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How enjoyable or satisfying is the process of working towards the goal?

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It isn’t enough for the destination to be valuable. The journey also needs to be satisfying, or else all but the most self-punishing will give up. Consider two people learning to play the piano. Both value the end goal- becoming competent pianists- but one finds practising to be a chore, and the other gets enjoyment from playing beautiful music (however poorly at first) and making small improvements each time they practise. It’s obvious who will be more disciplined and will improve quicker. ?

?The costs of the pursuit

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How painful is the process of working towards the goal?

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Some goals are hugely important to us, yet painful to act on. Paying off significant debt, or resolving a personal conflict, are clearly worthwhile goals, but can be uncomfortable and emotionally challenging. Since we naturally want to put off doing something that will bring us pain in the short term, we find it harder to stay committed.

The costs of attaining the goal

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Are there any downsides to success?

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Perhaps we wish to be CEO but worry about its impact on our family life and work-life balance. Or we want to quit our job and move into a different industry but believe that our parents or friends will judge us for it. When we think of our goals, we weigh up these potential costs of success and adjust our commitment accordingly.

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This way of thinking about motivation is a valuable corrective to our society’s glorification of ‘grit’ and ‘willpower’. These have their place, to be sure, but no amount of willpower will be enough if we don’t believe that success is possible, or if we don’t think our goal is worthwhile. Our commitment is shaped by all these factors, so it is ultimately rational.

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Once we diagnose why our discipline is dragging, we can look at possible cures. Each of the five factors can be hacked. Here’s how:

Perceived chance of success

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Crucially, this isn’t a measure of our actual chance of success, but only of our perceived chance of success. If we have confidence in our own abilities, we will think success is more likely. As a result, our motivation will improve.?

So, how do we increase our self-belief?

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First, we can look outside ourselves for evidence: has anyone with similar resources and skills done something like this before? Those who have achieved similar feats aren’t so different to us. Instead of asking, ‘Why can I do it?’ ask ‘Why can’t I do it?’

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Second, turn inward and examine your own track record. Have you achieved something similarly difficult before? Asking this question allows you to gather evidence from your own life that proves your capabilities.

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Value of the goal

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Understanding why we value our goal is essential for maintain our commitment and enthusiasm.

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There are two primary drivers for motivation: approach and avoidance. We have approach motivation when we are driven by a desire for something positive. Avoidance motivation is all about escaping a negative consequence.

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Consider two reasons why someone may want to make a lot of money. The first is an approach motivation-

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‘I want to have high social status.’

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Another is based on avoidance-

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‘I don’t want to worry about money.’

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Both motivational strategies are powerful, so we ought to tap into them to sustain a strong emotional connection to our goals. For each goal you have, consider: what do I want to get out of this? And what I am trying to avoid? Keeping these in mind can help us to sustain our efforts through challenges and setbacks.

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The reward and costs of the pursuit

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I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.' (Muhammad Ali)

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We tend to glorify people who make huge sacrifices to achieve something great. There is nobility, and power, in suffering now for a better tomorrow.

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However, this shouldn’t lead us to neglect the simple fact that most people who have experienced amazing success enjoy what they do. Most professional boxers like boxing. Most film directors love making films. Most successful lawyers enjoy lawyering, and so on.

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Achieving any worthwhile goal requires hard work. However, what Ali’s quote suggests- and what many subconsciously and falsely believe- is that hard work is painful work. This isn’t so. People who are very successful usually enjoy their hard work and are all the more productive for it.

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Every action involves either some present or future benefit, or present or future pain. This gives us four possibilities:

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Short term pain, long term benefit

(The Worker e.g. studying for exams)

Short term enjoyment, long term pain

(The Addict e.g. taking harmful drugs)

Short term pain, long term pain

(The Slave e.g. drudgery)

Short term enjoyment, long term benefit (The Player e.g. doing ‘work’ we enjoy)

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We ought to avoid activities- where we can- that have no benefit either now or in the future. Similarly, we should be wary of doing something that gives us a temporary high but leaves us worse off in the long run. Clearly, it’s better to not be an Addict or a Slave.

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However, some people overvalue the Worker mindset, and downplay that of the Player.? If Muhammad Ali resembles the stereotypical ‘Worker’, Walt Disney represents the archetypal ‘Player’. He once said, ‘We don’t make movies to make more money. We make money so that we can make more movies.’ For Disney, the journey was part of his motivation.

?It wasn’t about sacrificing now for a better tomorrow.?

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To increase our motivation, then, we should ask: Is there anything we can do to make our pursuit of our goals more enjoyable, and less painful? When the pursuit of our goals feels good, we hardly need any ‘discipline’ at all.

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To increase our pleasure in the pursuit of a goal we might:

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-?????? Break our goal down into small easy wins and tick them off to achieve forward momentum.

-?????? Connect with a supportive community.

-?????? Turn our work into a game. Make it more playful, and approach it with less seriousness.

-?????? Do things that put us in a state of ‘flow’; a state of complete absorption in what we are doing, where we lose track of time.

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To reduce our suffering, we might:

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-?????? Remove ‘pain points’ that put us off specific tasks (e.g. work out at home instead of driving to the gym).

-?????? Pair activities we don’t enjoy with those we do (e.g. listening to music while doing boring admin tasks)

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The costs of attaining the goal

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First, get some clarity: what are the possible costs of attaining the goal? Write these down.

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Then set about questioning them.

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-?????? Assume that you do incur this cost, would it still have been worth it? (If so, focus on the benefits of the goal)

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-?????? Is there anything you could do to prevent or mitigate the costs? (If so, draw up a contingency plan for it)

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Ultimately, our discipline matters because it helps us to become the kind of person we want to be. Whether it’s excelling in our career, nurturing our well-being, or building better relationships, the goals we set are building blocks towards our desired future. If we can improve our commitment to these goals, we can build this better future.??

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