Discipline
The next three words of the mnemonic are, “the martial artist”
Rocky could’ve thought, “I might land a lucky punch,” or “I’ll just try to go the distance,” believing that willpower alone would be enough. He might have even planned to enter the ring for the money, play defensively, and wait for a chance to fall and stay down. Instead, he decides to give it his best shot.
Agreeing to fight the heavy weight champion of the world is the kind of decision that will shrink your asshole and cause the fear rat to eat at your gut. If you have ever trained for any athletic contest, you can identify somewhat, but signing up to have yourself pounded by hard, fast punches adds to it. You know you are signing up for a world of hurt.
His values and purpose drive him. He knows that without proper preparation, he’d be defeated by Creed. To face this challenge, he needs discipline.
Rocky’s commitment to self-improvement sets him apart. He refuses to fake the fight for money. This value gives rise to purpose, which is ultimately about transformation. The goal that helps him achieve this is fighting Apollo Creed.
He knows he must become the man to face the challenge. What does he need?
He needs the training that only discipline can provide. There is something in Rocky, that deep quality, that values what he is, over what he has, so he doesn’t just fake the fight and collect the money.
And this value gives rise to purpose. The deep purpose is of course transformation, the goal that helps toward it is fighting Apollo Creed. The vital third ingredient is Discipline.
And this Rocky displays. He controls his diet, trains every day, pushes himself into pain. And you see and hear this in the movie. This effort is discipline defined for you. When you think on it, you can hear the Rocky training music; see him running through the streets, and expressing his triumph when he gets to the top of those stairs.
This training and discipline are so much a part of the movie, that it would fail without that segment. Just imagine that the training segment of Rocky were removed or reduced ninety percent. See that in your mind’s eye. He agrees to fight, a few training scenes , and then it cuts to the ring with Rocky and Creed facing off. That would be a nothing movie, and without discipline you will have a nothing life.
How do you get it? And have you had difficulty with it so far? Perhaps that might be because you are pursuing a false purpose [small p], rather than you major Purpose.
Or your Value might be hidden from you by a fog of words and the meaningless opinions of “intellectuals.”
Again, I have to repeat that Value, Purpose, and Discipline are not just words, but deep parts of your being. And this is why you like those movies we discussed. They are not words, but part of the process of being human, which is why the myths and legends of all peoples refer to them. That is why those myths ring true with you. Look inside, find these characteristics, and develop them.
We are going to develop Discipline as part of our program. It will take only will and intent. You will not be fighting or engaging in combat. But if you do, what you learn here will serve you well.
“Better a life of Discipline, than one of regret.” The point is that learning and change take time. These habits you are working for are
Obviously our movie is Rocky. Notice that these movies we are using are award winners that had a major impact when they first came out. That is because they speak to a deep part of us. And now we shall have a micro-exercise to begin our martial arts training.