Hello Steemit, long time lurker here. Steemit really helped me a lot with cryptocurrencies and this place is dropping knowledge bombs every day. Truly amazing and thank you. The valuable lessons that I learned from certain people that write here were invaluable. However, it's time for me to try to return the favor.

While anything written here may not be a surprise, I wish to give my perspective on the topic of Motivation and Discipline, since if I had heard this when I was just starting out with my bussines, it would have personally helped me a lot.

`Just a bit of background.`

I'm no big shot, I'm not your guy if you want advice how to make millions. I'm not there, yet. Anyone giving advice on something that they have not achieved, for how someone else should achieve is a shot in the dark at best. However, I have a taste for experimenting. I've tried things on myself, I've seen other experiences. Their thoughts. Their insights. Their process. And after so many "experiments" you start seeing patterns.

The one I want to talk about is Motivation and Discipline and how to use them to your advantage in life.

What surprised me the most is I noticed that everyone seems to have a different opinion on this and how they go about it. Some run purely by motivation, some make it simple by absolute discipline to get things done no matter what. And a lot of opinions are either one or the other, with rare cases saying anything else.

This is where I would like to give my perspective on this and how I was able to get my mind (mostly) where it needs to be to move me forward in life.

For a refresher before we start. Motivation is a feeling. It's nothing else. Like anger, love, hate, grief, happiness. It has the same properties as them. Discipline however, is a habit. Just like washing your teeth, going to the gym every day, making your bed everyday. That's it. Let's go.

Let's start with motivation first.

Motivation - What is it?

For motivation, because it is a feeling, it is often confused with excitement and joy.

It is a very strong tool that marketers use to get people to buy.

It is a tool they aren't afraid to use and if you aren't careful it will be used against you.

Now, because it is a feeling, it doesn't last long. But at the same time, when motivated, your work ethic might go through the window and nothing stops you. Until it runs out that is.

The popular advice is to "keep applying it". This means watching motivational videos, reading motivational posts on Steem (khm, khm...), listening to motivational tapes like Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar, Napoleon Hill, Eric Thomas, Les Brown, Jim Rohn just to name a few, reminding yourself of why you are doing this in the first place and so on.

This approach works extremely well for the "hustlers on the ground". The advice to live in your car also comes to mind. To make your life so miserable that your priorities change completely, that your desire and pain from living this way literally breaks you through the top. The desire to escape pain is much stronger than the desire for happiness as weird as that sounds.

People have become millionaires doing this. But at the same time only the best are very vocal about it. And those that don't quite make it are tossed aside as "wasn't motivated or passionate enough". Either way, it can be a strong tool if you learn to use it correctly.

How To Use Motivation To Your Advantage

Here are a few actionable tips that seem to work for me and a few others:

As said before, pain. Status quo is very problematic as it can make you comfortable without you stretching yourself, while giving you the illusion that you are doing good. Maybe you are, but there is always room for improvement. Pain is a short term feeling, so use it to motivate yourself when work needs to get done.
Be prepared. There will be bad days and there is nothing you can do about them. You can however, change how you will react to them by either being mellow, or use the emotion to really improve your game for that day. This is the only way to be semi-consistent with motivation, if even on a crappy day you can motivate yourself to get things done.

Don't fill your mind with "garbage". News (constant fear mongering so they can drive more views, because would you know it, fear/pain is a strong emotion, if it is essential for you to know it, you will know it by other means.) and People (simply put, if they make you feel bad, slowly remove yourself from them. This can't be done for everyone like close relatives, but you can always limit the time spent with them.)
Find what makes you tick, and then use it. For me, the desire for monetary gain as a whole has no effect on me. What does have an effect is what this monetary value gives to me, like a certain level of options and security for my family. A new car might be the best thing in your life that you are willing to devote hours and hours of work to and that's freaking amazing. For me? Nope, I want to invest in an asset that has the potential of making me more money in the future (you guessed it, cryptocurrencies). Does that mean your goal is wrong? Not at all. I wanted to be fueled by material stuff, because it's much easier that way. But it just didn't tick for me, so I found what did and used it to fuel myself. Do the same, find what makes you tick and use it.
Read/listen to good stuff. If you only read about murders, robberies and the likes, you will believe the world to be that way, even if it really isn't. There are over 7 billion people on the world, and while there's a whole lot of really "bad" people, there's also a whole lot of really good people too. Again, you hear about some schmuk beating his wife everyday.. But when a millionaire donates 2 mil to a charity? Maybe it'll get mentioned once in a blue moon. And don't worry, real life will assure that you won't become reverse-jaded (that's when you only see flowers and butterflies and rainbows), because remember, it's nothing but a tool to get things done/achieve your goals.
Create long lasting goals. I'm not talking long-term here, but goals that you can upgrade and continue to be willing to work at it. For example, if you decide to break through using pain as motivation, know that unless there are other factors in play(not just survival), you might become comfortable and lose the initial drive. If not, awesome, I'd want to have that drive, always.

In conclusion, if used correctly, motivation is very useful, especially for those who are just starting and might need that extra drive to get through the roadblocks ahead (and trust me, there will be).

Now we get to the second one... Discipline.

Discipline - What is it?

Discipline is a completely different beast.

Discipline is a skill or habit that is more popular with those that have a desire for constant, reliable, measurable, quantifiable results. It is cold, and while emotions can enhance it, it can work without them. That is why businessmen swear by it, as in businesses there are things that need to be done every day, no matter how you might "feel" at the time.

Tasks that you might not even like, but they have to be done or else the whole operation might fall apart.

Imagine your electrical company suddenly have everyone stay at home because they all "felt sleepy" and turn everything off. In only one day, the irreversible damage to many households and the profit lost would be mind blowing. Imagine doing that in a nuclear reactor with no fail safes?

That's why discipline that is often attributed to having a "real job" is also very essential if you want to become a writer. Because no matter what, it's all a job. It's up to you on how you want to frame it. In essence, you do what needs to be done no matter how you feel about it. A complete opposite of motivation which is completely reliant on how you feel about it.

When you think about it, this makes it another powerful tool in your arsenal. It however, has little to no short term benefits, which is why discipline is still a very problematic area for many people around the world, because we are wired to initially want things right now, not later.

Simply told, it's a tool not to be ignored no matter what your monetary value is at.

How To Use Discipline To Your Advantage

Consistency. (There really is no easy way around it, you need to be consistent so it changes into something that you "just do everyday". For example, if you brush your teeth before going to bed.. What would you feel like if you couldn't do it one day? For me it was a constant itching and I had to eventually get up and do it. If you can copy this to what you want to do, you are golden. Remember, it will get easier over time, the first few times you do it are the hardest)
Attach a feeling to it. (As said before, discipline has little to no short term gains. So to combat this, you can attach a positive feeling to it or do a pleasurable activity after it. For example, after you finish writing your daily minimum of code, you go sit in a comfy leather chair, you pour yourself a fresh cup of coffee and you enjoy it. You feel good, you earned it, it's great. If you don't do it, none of that. None of the feel good right now thing. Use the primal urges that we all have to your advantage, don't let them control you.)
You Failed? Try again. (You have to consistently keep improving yourself and keep trying, whilst learning from your failures. This however, may be negative to your discipline habits, as you might attach the emotions of failure to your tasks. When I was starting out I also made this error, tying the feeling of failure to my efforts so whenever I started working on a task the only thing that would go through my mind are thoughts like "is this even worth it", "why am I even trying" and the like. While disciplines strong point is to thrive without emotions, having a negative work-style takes its tool after a while. So fail, but fail in a way so that you learn from it, and then apply it to improve your next shot.
Exercise? (I am probably biased toward this, but exercise does wonders, even if it no longer gives me the "rush". It completely destroys the after-lunch drowsiness which makes doing everything much easier. We all know all the benefits and so on, but making it a habit has improved my life as a whole.)
One Step at a Time (Your body doesn't like change on its own. Unless you have a will of titans, adding a few habits, usually not particularly pleasurable, will make your body fight it with everything it's got. While again, discipline is to be done without emotion, having positive emotions attached to it makes it a whole lot easier. So instead of trying to do everything and making your body go insane, do it one at a time.)
Do It First (The advice is to do the most annoying task first, or "eat the frog", and it works for many people because your mind knows that everything after it will be more pleasurable. Personally, I do them in the order I have them set, so this advice holds no weight for me.)

And that's about it for discipline.

Now, the issue I was having at the start of my journey was the message a lot of people have tried to preach, that some swear by discipline and some swear by motivation.

Should I go for motivation, because I'm super motivated right now and I totally want that new Tesla?

Should I go for discipline, because every business book and big CEO bosses preach it all the time?

And in the midst of all this, a lot of opinions of either choosing one or the other.

Well, after a few years (at least), dealing with my mind, subjugating it to both of these and experimenting the effects, I'd like to give you my perspective.

Motivation VS Discipline - Which One is Better?

Simply put, I think comparing of which is better is unnecessary and creates nothing but confusion.

It's like comparing apples to pears. They both have their benefits and downfalls.

They are nothing more than tools in your toolbox that you can either use, abuse or let them use you.

There are people who have done wonders using only motivation, many millionaires and billionaires claim for it to be so (but as said before, think about all those who didn't and are quiet, to be cast aside).

That said, discipline is a more reliable and constant tool and since it does not have as many up and downs, those who achieve what they wish usually aren't loud about it. If businesses use it to produce great results, why shouldn't you and/or your employees do the same if that is how you wish to go about it. But then, why do you think a lot of people are miserable in their 9-5 jobs where discipline reigns supreme with repeatable tasks, that require discipline and habits to continue being done?

There really is no right or wrong answer here, the only thing that we can "measure" are results. If you can achieve these results only with motivation, that's great. I personally can't, but that doesn't make you wrong or me right. If however you wish your life to be more scheduled in habits, then discipline is the right thing for you.

Personally, discipline by itself doesn't work for me because it becomes "bland" after a while.

The possibility is also to use both at the same time, where discipline gives you the constant results you desire, but motivation gives you the "kick" that makes doing it much more enjoyable.

It's all up to you and please don't let anyone tell you what you "should" do.

Yes, that even includes me.

Take the advice you receive and test it on yourself. Use what works best for you.

Because remember.

In the end, we are all just meatballs floating on a lump of rock.

Motivation vs Self-Discipline - A Perspective and How To Use Them