A New Self Discipline Journey

Lately I have become convicted about my lack of self discipline in pretty much all areas of my life:

1. Diet
2. Marriage
3. Parenting
4. Spiritual growth
5. Career
6. Sleeping
7. Waking
8. Resting
9. Education
10. And more…

As I’ve meditated on the concept of discipline and how it currently looks in my life I have come to a startling and helpful realization: I am not prepared to be self disciplined because my mind is not prepared. Thus, the predicament I find myself in.

It is amazing how the mind can impact every other area of your life when it is not the first place you start. If your mind is in a healthy place, your brain and body follows suit. If your mind is in an unhealthy place, your brain and body follows suit.

Dr. Caroline Leaf once said:

Patience and self-control as a a lifestyle reduce inflammation in the brain and body. Impatience and lack of self-control (mind in action) cause inflammation in the brain and body, and can lead to symptoms of depression! Mind and brain are separate and mind controls brain.

Dr. Caroline Leaf | Facebook | December 11, 2016

As a doctor who has studied this concept thoroughly through science she also backed this up with some fascinating scriptures from the Bible. Here’s just one:

Moderation is better than muscle, self-control better than political power.

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16:32‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Better to be patient than powerful; better to have self-control than to conquer a city.

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16:32‬ ‭NLT

Instantly when I read her quote and the Proverbs another scripture came to my mind:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2 NIV

Dr. Caroline Leaf is an excellent bible based scientist studying the effects of the mind on the rest of our lives. She has a really great TED talk she did at Oaks Christian School that’s worth 20 minutes of your day to listen to. In this video she talks about her process and the impact the mind has on changing our thinking and behavior. In addition to this, she has a FREE course you can enroll in to learn more about this process (I have personally enrolled in this course as of today to begin my journey).

All of this demonstrates my need to get my minds healthy and renewed (Romans 12:2) so that I can see my thinking and behavior change for the better. If I had to guess, you’re probably seeing that need in your own life.

In addition to enrolling into this short course from Dr. Caroline Leaf (mentioned above) I am planning to do both a morning and evening exercise that I will be posting daily here on eagerforTRUTH.com. I once read that one of the ways you can help yourself is by inviting others in to your process and helping them as well. This provides accountability as well as providing a resource for others. As such, I would love to invite you on this journey with me!

Beginning tomorrow I am going to be posting a daily discipline. I thought, what better way to begin than to start and/or end my day focusing on renewing my mind. These exercises will include the following (and not necessarily in this order):

1. Affirmations
2. Scriptures (largely from Proverbs)
3. Breathing exercises
4. Prayer
5. Daily challenges
6. Links to peaceful instrumental music to listen to while you practice these disciplines

If you’d like to join me on this journey I would highly encourage you to subscribe to my blog so you can receive email updates of when the latest discipline has been posted.

See you in the morning!