The Goods: Redefining Discipline
“The Goods” is a monthly edition intended to share the love and spread the word about people, products and services I authentically support. It’s my hope that by sharing with you some of the things that are inspiring and supporting me, you’ll give them a try in your own life and experience some of the same benefits I’m receiving.
So often, I hear “I’m not disciplined” from my community and friends.
It may be true. You may not have very strong will power. According to the ‘Human Design’ personality typing system, will power is more of an energy center and not something you can easily cultivate– you either have a readily available potential for it, or you don’t.
However, will power and discipline are two separate things, with a very different undertone.
My favorite definition of discipline is: to be a discipline unto yourself.
This is what I want for you. Because if your discipline is rooted in devotion to your highest Self and the best and highest outcome for all involved, you are WAY more likely to actually show up and do what needs to be done... with a heart full of delight and gratitude.
Without further ado, this month’s edition of The Goods holds a few personal recommendations, from my heart to yours, on how to cultivate and strengthen not your will power, but your inner Disciple.
1. Interval Work Sprints
I learned this method from my mentor Monica Shah, and now I’m teaching it to my own clients, with the same rave reviews and incredible results I myself have discovered. If you feel like you’re “just not good” at focusing on the work in front of you, give this method a try. It’s designed specifically to work with our natural neural patterns, giving us time for breaks and setting the pattern to enter a flow state.
Here’s how it works:
- Decide ahead of time how many intervals you’ll do, and exactly what projects or tasks you’ll work on for each interval.
- Set a timer for 25 minutes. Press go, and work straight through those 25 minutes.
- Do not get your butt out of the chair and do not stop working. Period.
- When the timer for 25 minutes ends, immediately set your timer for 5 minutes.
- Take a break! Even if you’re in the flow, get up, move your body, take a bio break. Don’t engage in conversation during this time or start any other tasks that will take longer than 5 minutes.
- When the timer ends, immediately set another timer for 25 and start again.
- Rinse and repeat!
I like to carve out 2 hours or so and plow through 4 intervals in a row. And I’m always amazed at how much work I get done.
A few extra tips:
️ Don’t use this time for research or anything where you need to hop around online or do ‘digital wandering.’ This time is best used for hyper focus on writing projects, brainstorming, designing, etc.
️ Be specific around what you’ll work on, so you know exactly what to do and not do.
️ Keep a journal and pen handy, and use them to jot down
Any resistance or saboteurs that come up (ie. desire to get a snack mid flow, checking FB, looking for a photo when I’m supposed to be writing…)
Random tasks that you need to attend to. Write them down so you don’t forget, but whatever you do, DO NOT abandon your task at hand to go respond to that text, answer that email, change the laundry, etc)
This interval work sprint method has been a complete game changer for me. I hope you love it!
DM me on Instagram (@brittagreenviolet) and let me know if you end up trying it out…
2. Ritual Reset: a 40-day practice with Briena Pearl, Rock & Roll Therapist
Inspired by a traditional Kundalini yogic sadhana, a 40-day devotional practice is basically a divine discipline bootcamp for your Higher Self. It’s an incredible opportunity to release habits that are holding you back and step into patterns of nourishment for your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.
I’ve done several of these 40-day practices over the past 5 years and they’ve been life-changing. Briena is a dear friend, a certified Kundalini instructor, a movement therapist, an addiction and recovery specialist and a complete and total badass. She’s been offering this work to private clients and is opening up a group container for the very first time.
If you’ve been noticing some negative self-talk around your own ability to be disciplined, and if you desire a deeper level of devotion in everything you do, this program is for you. It begins November 11th and concludes on the winter solstice… just in time to get your mind and mood right for the new year!
3. Morning Pages
In 'The Artist’s Way', author Julia Cameron teaches a method of journaling called “the morning pages”-- 3 pages of stream-of-consciousness writing, first thing in the morning after you wake up. This is part of a bigger curriculum in TAW book (which I also highly recommend!), and this one practice will make a big shift in your amount of brain noise moving into your day, as well as the accessibility you have to your creative energy.
The practice is simple. Either set a timer (15 minutes at a minimum) or commit to filling 3 pages of a designated notebook. Put pen to paper and don’t stop writing until you reach the time or page limit. Even if you need to write “blah blah blah i hate this I’m bored blarg…”, better out than in! So often we’ve got a constant stream of loud and annoying thoughts running through our head, with nowhere to go. Give those thoughts an outlet, and watch what magic can unfold as a result.
Alright love, I hope that inspires some radical self-care and devotional action for you this month.
Autumn is a time for completion, for harvest, and the beginning of the time of year perfect for introspection. Take this season to hone your skills as a disciple unto yourself, so you can show up in a big, beautiful way for your people and your mission.
From one disciple to another,
