Far 2 Fabulous

The Only Pillar That Makes Every Wellness Habit Work Is Discipline

• Julie Clark & Catherine Chapman • Episode 102

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Episode 102

Stop chasing magic bullets. We’re starting the year by reclaiming a word that’s been hijacked by grind culture and diet rules: discipline. Not as punishment, but as self-respect. Not as perfection, but as small, repeatable actions that honour your future self. We dig into why comfort feels so irresistible, how modern life nudges us toward ease, and what it really takes to tip the scales past 51 percent so change becomes automatic.

We map a practical path from intention to identity. Think brambles and footpaths: the first steps scratch, then the route clears, and eventually the new way is the easiest way. Along the journey we tackle boundaries as a vital discipline, especially for women balancing work, care, and expectations. We unpack the two-day rule to keep momentum without shame, and we explore how energy systems—nervous system, adrenals, thyroid—set the ceiling for sustainable effort. No more burning through willpower; we want aligned routines that protect bandwidth.

You’ll hear how seasonal rhythms shape discipline, why “I am” statements lock in identity-led habits, and which microhabits deliver the biggest wins: water on waking, protein-forward breakfasts, phone-free nights, and simple meal prep to reduce friction. We also talk values, self-worth, and the quiet power of accountability—because you don’t have to do this alone. By the end, you’ll have a kinder framework to build consistency, a fresh lens on discomfort versus pain, and a set of actions that help you keep your promises to yourself.

If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a review to help others find us. Join our free Facebook group to buddy up, post your first small step, and stay accountable. Here’s to a year of aligned discipline and steady wins.

Got a question or comment? Send us a text message here!

Thank you for listening.

You can continue the conversation with us in the Far 2 Fabulous Facebook group. Come and connect with other women on a journey to empowered health.

For more information about Julie Clark Nutrition, click HERE
For more information about Catherine Chapman, click HERE

We look forward to you joining us on the next episode.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to Party Fabulous. Opportunity and Catherine. Join us on a mission to embrace your fabulousness and redefine wellness. Get ready for some spiciness, inspiration, and chat, and humour as we journey together towards empowered wellbeing. Let's dive in.

SPEAKER_00:

Happy New Year! Happy New Year! We are back. It's January 2026. I don't know where where last year went, no. But this year's gonna do the same, right? So we better start taking some action now. So welcome back to the far too fabulous podcast. Today we're just because it's the very first episode of our new year, we want to come at things from a different angle. You know, we we don't like to follow the what everyone else is doing, do we? No, out with the new year new me. Yeah, new year new me can f off. So yeah, so we are not talking about willpower and motivation and restriction and limiting yourself and dry January and no. Yeah, no, we're not taking anything away. No, we're not absolutely not. But we did come across this post on Facebook. Well, we both really reacted to it because it kind of ties into a lot of things that we do. But the question was what is the singular most important pillar of health? And then it listed things like movement and nutrition and sleep and hydration, you know, all the things that we tell you to do. It's like what is the most important? And what did we say?

SPEAKER_01:

We said, mic drop, the only core pillar of health is discipline.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, because we were saying that you can't pick one of those as being more important. No, there isn't one pillar of health, but what underlies all of those is you've got to have some discipline.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, absolutely. And so if you are a little bit like me and the word discipline makes you prickle just a little bit, we feel like it's been kind of hijacked by like bro culture or by like diet culture, that hustle, that grind, like yeah, it sounds horrible.

SPEAKER_00:

Discipline reminds you of being a child and being told off, doesn't it? Yeah, like the cane being whacked or something like that. Yeah, so you don't think of discipline. I don't think we tend to think of discipline in a very positive way.

SPEAKER_01:

No.

SPEAKER_00:

And perhaps we should.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, absolutely, that's really unhelpful because, like that post said, it's absolutely right that it underpins all of it. You can't we couldn't possibly have chosen one of those pillars. They were all equally as important. However, without the underpinning discipline, you could none of them work.

SPEAKER_00:

None of them are possible without some discipline. I mean, we may use some other words for discipline like habits and self-care, being being good to yourself, that kind of thing. But I think discipline at this time of year, when we're starting to think about all these changes we want to make, I think it just it keeps coming back to that discipline side. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

And that it's not a it it gives a feeling of being quite a rigid word, and what we want to kind of flip it on its head and get you to think about it differently, that it looks different for everybody from every angle at every different stage. So, discipline for a 35-year-old or a 25-year-old looks very different to a 45-year-old or for me.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm gonna be 55 this year, so yeah, it's looking very different from my perspective.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, absolutely, and then it has to work for you, like you have to have your reasons for doing it. It doesn't you can't just kind of like pick something out of the sky because somebody says that that's what you're supposed to be doing, and then think I'm gonna be really disciplined and I'm gonna do that, because that's that's not gonna work. There needs to be a genuine reason, like a why.

SPEAKER_00:

Yep, there does need to be a purpose, and then we need to throw in the word consistency here as well. So it's not about beating yourself up and depriving yourself and working harder because you want to be thinner and you think that's gonna work. It's nothing to do with that. So I think we almost need to redefine discipline, really.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I think that you are you're absolutely right, and yeah, and just give it a little bit weirdly, and it sounds totally opposite. I was gonna say give it a bit of fluidity. And does that sound like we're letting ourselves off the hook? Well, yes and no. So is that like what I've been taught for my entire life, just talking here?

SPEAKER_00:

Quite possibly. I think we need to have, we need to reframe what discipline means, and then we need a framework that we can actually work to that does have some flexibility depending on what where we're at in our life, what we're trying to achieve, what age we are, etc. So, yeah, I understand where you're coming from there.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So discipline is the price of future freedom.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and it is so so true because it doesn't matter what you're working on, your future self will always benefit from those small, consistent sacrifices that you make.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and actually the the word consistent I think needs to just be hand in hand with discipline.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah, because you can't do one without the other.

SPEAKER_01:

You can't, absolutely not.

SPEAKER_00:

We've spoken before about this being in comfort and how we do need to get out of that comfort. You know, a lot of the time we do choose comfort because our life is set up like that for ease. Yeah, and if we but the trouble is, is if we choose comfort all the time, and then we expect to have results doing the same thing, it's never gonna work. We're never gonna get where we want to. So we we've got to put discipline in in order to get the results, and we've got to move away from comfort. That's where the magic happens, really, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, without a doubt. Now I think we'll have to have a look, but I think that we talked about the comfort zone around the beginning of last year, and that for me plays in my mind very, very frequently. Society is set up for comfort, is set up to remove any discomfort, to keep you away from discomfort, and that is the narrative all of the time, like to make you sedentary, still, warm, comfy, cozy. And so it and it gives discipline almost that harder, colder feel to it because that's because we're almost trying to move away from that.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, if you want change, but you're not willing to go to the discomfort, you're working in opposite directions, you you you'll end up getting stuck because you need to be in the discomfort to get the change. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

And there is also this um little balancing act that women do between that very masculine, pushy kind of side, and this very feminine, maybe more seen to be the comfort and the fluffy sort of side, and and trying to find that sort of sweet stop spot in the middle that works for us because I think we do flip right over, like we we feel like we've had to fight for our place in the home, fight for our place in the workplace, fight for our place in society, and we are very like very masculine, and I and again I think the energy of discipline is very masculine, yeah. And so then there's that almost that juxtaposition with the like with women and discipline. And so finding that I and again it's part of that redefining what what it means, what discipline means.

SPEAKER_00:

What discipline means because if you think about things that you've achieved in your life, whether it was a qualification, a marathon, crossing the finish line there, a a gold medal in gymnastics, ha ha, she says. Yeah, um, there was no freaking comfort in that, was there? No, and there was so much discipline. I mean, you you have to be disciplined to study, to pass exams. Yes, you have to be disciplined to do the training, to run a marathon, etc. So yeah, I think the at this time of year there's too much magic bullet going on. Oh hell yes. Yeah, and it's like you do this thing for seven days, or or whatever it is, you eat this, or you don't eat that, or you drink this, or you don't drink that, or you you you do insanity exercise, you'll get these results. It's such a lie.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, and it's such a lie, and then you do it for two weeks, you don't see any results, and you chuck it in the bin. Yeah, you're like, oh, it's dumb. It doesn't work. Yeah, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go back to my comfort zone. And that said, this isn't your fault. You are programmed to be comfortable, like your subconscious does not want you to be uncomfortable, it doesn't want you to be in pain. I mean, like when Julie's flipping around and balancing on beams, her subconscious is going, you know, yeah, and I hear that all the time. There's like, get back in the car, go home and get on the sofa. That there's always that, and it's having to push on it's and again. See, I'm really struggling to say the word push, push through that that point, tip over. How about if we think about it as a seesaw? And you're you only need to tip those or scales, you only need to tip those scales just over 51%, not 100%, you just have to tip it over before that whatever you're trying to do becomes a habit, and then it starts to become again much easier because that's what your body wants it to do, that's what your subconscious wants it to do, it wants it to be habit so it doesn't have to keep thinking about it. Yeah, it actually doesn't mind what the habit is as long as it's a habit and it doesn't have to keep thinking about it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's really true, which is why detrimental things that we do can become a habit. The best way that I ever describe this to my clients and the way that I think about it, you know, I like all my different analogies and pictures. No, they're good. Is that you know you're you're at one side of a field and you need to get through to the other. You've there's a pathway that is all nice, you can just walk straight through, there's no issue. That's your current default. Uh-huh. It's comfortable. You can walk straight through, you can see the other end. It's not a problem at all. But to take a different route to get to the destination that you now want, whether that's uh healthier, more energetic, stronger, slimmer, whatever it is, you this route is currently full of brambles, and you've got to carve that route through, yeah, and it's uncomfortable. But once you've carved it, then it's like the other pathway. It turns into that other pathway, yes, and then that becomes your default. So, although, you know, when we talk about there's no magic bullet, if you were to exercise for seven days consistently, you would feel better. If you were to eat the type of diet that I do on a reset for seven days, you will feel better. But you've got to carry on after that, and this is the problem, isn't it? And that's where the discipline comes in.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. That's like when somebody does like Pilates, for instance, they've got a bad back, they do Pilates, and then they go, Oh, I feel better, my back feels better now, and they stop.

SPEAKER_00:

You're like, What? No, that's why you feel better. That's why you carry on. It yes, and this is so true. This happens so many times with my clients as well, is that we've solved their symptoms and then they say, Yeah, can I go back to normal now? No, this is your new normal. This is your new normal, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And it is the discipline and it is the consistency that will eventually make it easier, it will make it your new normal, it will get to the point that you're not thinking about it anymore, and you don't you won't feel like you are missing out on things or giving things up or that it's hard to go and do any of these new habits because they'll be your new normal.

SPEAKER_00:

Anything that we've done in our life that was easy, we don't even think about. It's not it was never a significant achievement. If something was hard and you worked for it, those are the things that you will remember and they would have shaped and changed you. Yeah. So always think standing on that on that side of the field, you've got to get to the other side, you've got to go through the brambles.

SPEAKER_01:

Love that. It's a really good visual, that one. So rather than continually going through that well-trodden path and expecting to reach the end up at a different destination, yeah. Expecting to be the at the destination that's the the brambles is stopping. Yeah, you you need to change it. You can't keep going along this well-tridden path. And it's that definition of madness, isn't it? Keep doing the same thing and expecting different results. That one at one point, maybe it's the magic bullet, maybe it's the maybe it's the magic injection, maybe it's the magic tablet that is going to bring you to your destination without you having to go through any discomfort or or struggle or push, and it's just it's not gonna happen, and you are going to continually walk this easy path, beating yourself up because you are not keeping the promises that you are making yourself, like you're you and you do this, and like people do this every single year. I mean, weight is a really easy one to pick on, right? Because everybody knows that feeling. Oh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna change this, I'm gonna change that, I'm gonna please go back to our episode, must be the beginning of of last year, when we talked about changing everything, all or nothing at all all at the same time. Don't please don't do that. However, if you change nothing or you keep flicking back into that comfort zone, you are just it's soul destroying. You are continually breaking the promises that you are making yourself, and so for that, potentially that quite short in the grand scheme of things, that short amount of discomfort and discipline before it becomes habit, the rewards are lifelong.

SPEAKER_00:

You remember we had that episode where we spoke about the two-day rule? That is a form of discipline. It's like you don't let two days go when you've decided to do something, whatever that one thing is, yeah. Is that don't go two days without sticking to that plan. And you're right, that is discipline, and it's quite fluid and it's really helpful. Yeah, and discipline is not punishment. I think that's the key one here because, like we said, it's been given a bit of a bad rap because we tend to, we've grown up with it, haven't we? That being disciplined is punishment. Yes, and so we've got to switch that narrative and use the word self-respect instead. Discipline is self-respect.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's honouring your pledges to yourself, it's seeing that through, it's knowing that you are worthy of that little bit of struggle, that little bit of like pushing through, yeah, to get through the brambles to get to the other side.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, because at the end of the day, our future well-being is dependent on what we're doing in this moment right now. Yeah, it's not something to do on a Monday again, it's not something to do on New Year's Day again, it matters way more than this temporary the temporary ease of this moment. Yeah, yeah. So we've got a choice, we can make a choice, can't we?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and it's your future self in six months' time is gonna thank you for this consistent discipline. It's not just going to happen overnight, you're not gonna be able to see those results sort of straight off. But just think about you six months down the line going, you know, thank you.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and it and it is um it is a longer term view, it is six months a year down the line. It's not, oh, I've started on Monday or I've been a good girl on Friday, so let me just fall off the wagon that I've been on. It's not that at all. You're only cheating yourself, yeah. It's so true though, isn't it? It is it is really true. So think about your yeah, your future well-being. Wherever you are at now, at this point today, is a reflection on what you did over the past few months.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, that's a brilliant thing to think about, isn't it? What yeah, are you happy about where you are now? What were you doing six months ago to get you here? What do you need to do differently? Yeah, that's a really good way of looking at it, definitely. And just again, thinking about how individualized discipline is, it's not a one size fits all that it can be individualized, it can be gentle. It does like when you're changing things, it only has to be that tiny little bit, it doesn't have to be everything.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and you can adapt it to your life, whether that is your age or even the time of year that you're in. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

Make sure that it's realistic, make sure that it's about you, make sure that it's for you, and make sure that you are creating some sort of emotional attachment to it, which is why it has to be about you. If your emotions are not on board, if you're kind of battling the safety of it, then it w that's it's never gonna stick. That's that habit is never gonna work if you don't feel very safe doing whatever it is that you're trying to change or achieve. So you need to make sure that it's yeah, that it's for you, that you feel safe about doing it, and that there is a positive emotional attachment to it, and that it's forward thinking, that you're not running away from something in your past that you're facing forward, yeah, and then put some purpose to what you're trying to achieve.

SPEAKER_00:

So, what is the real reason for you wanting to achieve the weight loss or the more muscles or the energy or whatever it is? The gymnastics, gold coin, round your neck, yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. So, I mean, for some clients, discipline might mean drinking water more consistently, it might mean eating breakfast every day, it might mean going to bed earlier, you know, it might be doing a movement on a regular basis. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

It's interesting, isn't it, that when l when you start to break it down from that cold, hard. Word of discipline, and you're saying, well, it could be, yeah, it could mean that you just add another couple of eggs to your day, it could mean that you take your vitamin tablet on a regular basis, exactly, or it could be saying no, it could be setting boundaries.

SPEAKER_00:

Remember, no is a complete sentence.

SPEAKER_01:

It is boundaries is such a hard discipline. Oh my god, it's so hard.

SPEAKER_00:

It is a hard one, but again, you have to move out of that comfort zone in order to put your boundaries in place. Yeah, and that's why we don't like it.

SPEAKER_01:

No, exactly. Whose emotions are like more important here? Is it the people's emotions that you might hurt or the feelings that you might hurt by holding your own boundaries, or is it, or are you going to protect your own emotions and your own feelings?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my goodness me, if you guys haven't listened to Kate Winslet on the Happy Place podcast. Oh, I saw that advertised. She nails this about the boundaries thing and the saying no. And she really explained to Fern, who we know that struggles and is quite open about her struggles with being worried about what people think and everything. Honestly, Kate Winslet in one sentence nailed that. I'm not going to tell you what she said, you go and listen to it. It was incredible. Oh, that's exciting.

SPEAKER_01:

It's and it's like being protective of things like your boundaries or like your environments, like the people that you are with all of the time. It's so important. And again, that's a that's a discipline, isn't it? Because you maybe you've got used to being with these people, maybe they're your family. Um, do you know what I mean? And you do have to be disciplined with yeah, with your energy and your your time.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, you do. So let's talk about a framework that we use that gives you that discipline without all that negative connotation. Yeah. Yeah. So I think the first one is and and we've spoken about microhabits, and I know that a lot of the the the big podcast people in health they talk about microhabits. Micro discipline is just these tiny repeatable actions that it's not about willpower, it's just these tiny, tiny, repeatable actions that you do because you are worthy.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And I honestly I think that that's often is the root of people, particularly women, not getting to where they think that they want to be in life. I mean, maybe actually what they think they want is not necessarily about them at all. They have to re-evaluate what it is, but it has to be for them. It's and often you don't do these things because you don't think that you're worthy of it, that you put everybody and everything in front of yourself.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it is it is a bit of a problem in I think in females generally, and again, it's not really our fault. There's been a lot of conditioning around you're you're the carer, you're the this, you're the that. And so sometimes it is really hard to say that you're that you're worthy, but yeah, that you're the most important person in that room. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

That's I mean, that's quite uncomfortable to say, but I'm getting much better at it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, the way that I think about it is that when I'm looking around at the people that are really reliant on me who or would really struggle if I weren't around, I think to myself, if I don't look after myself first, then I can't do the things for them that they are looking for from me. So therefore, it takes that guilt away, it takes that it's not selfish away. It there's a different aspect to it.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, absolutely. Another way of reframing it, especially for our daughters, is that you want to be that shining example, don't you? You don't want them to learn that they have to be at everybody else's beck and call and they have to do what they're told they have to be a good girl.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. To that, yeah, absolutely. It's a couple of times you've done that together.

SPEAKER_01:

It's a blowing raspberries kind of day. Oh, and so apparently blowing raspberries. Um raspberry tart. It's rhyming, it's um cockney rhyming slang. That's apparently where it came from because it's a raspberry tart fart. Oh, well, thank you for that little bit of information. I can't remember who told me that. I think it was Claire. She is the font of all random knowledge. Like when we're on our when we're on our runs and stuff, she has always got uh useful, very inf I love random knowledge that people know.

SPEAKER_00:

And you think, and it's so funny because if it is like your sister or something, and you'll say, You literally couldn't remember why you came in this room, and yet you remember something like that. It's just so funny, isn't it? Isn't it?

SPEAKER_01:

There is one that she told me, and I can't remember. I'm gonna get her to come into the Facebook group and tell us another piece of really useful information that may make it.

SPEAKER_00:

Give her a section, and on this part of the podcast, we have Claire's random facts.

SPEAKER_01:

I know you're right. I can't keep everything else in my head, I don't need any more. Um, we've touched on this next part of the framework before, but it's looking at the it being different for different times in our lives. So a seasonal discipline or a just it it fitting for where we are in our lives, so that you would look at being disciplined maybe in the winter differently to when you're in the spring. I don't know about you, but I I find it's weird. It no, it is different. I find physical things much easier to kind of rev up in the summer, in the spring and the summer.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's true. That is a thing, and I think we're looking at the discipline being aligned, and it's and and if we if we want to really yeah, if we want to be aligned, we've got to look at where we're at, what age are we, what's going on, what season are we in, because it is gonna look different, and if you know that, then it's not discipline, isn't this really constricted, it it becomes more fluid. That's the word you used earlier on. I think that's true.

SPEAKER_01:

It's really interesting actually, thinking about this today, because so for winter, I would say that my food feels like an an easier thing to be disciplined around. Weirdly, like because you kind of I'm you make that really nutritious, nurturing kind of like soups and broths and stews and things. Weirdly, I would have thought that things like salads would have been a really easy kind of food thing. I was thinking I was literally thinking about this today, and and actually it's not, it's these kind of really densely nutritious, yeah, like dolls and broths and hairs. Stews and soups and yeah that have been that have been really helpful in this sort of beginning bit of the of the winter, and yeah, and how different that will be in spring and summer. It's really interesting.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well, I think we must touch on identity because it's such a huge subject, huge, yeah. But you've got to look at who you want to be, and this is a key one when you're looking at what you're wanting to achieve, you've got to look at who you need to become in order to do that, and so discipline becomes rooted in who you want to be.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. That's like that be do have, yeah, isn't it? You've got to you've got to think about the person that you want to be in six months' time and behave like you think that they are behaving, already doing the thing that you want to do.

SPEAKER_00:

But we try and do it the other way around all the time, yeah. And it just doesn't work.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you yeah, it's like I'm gonna when I have something, then I'm gonna behave like that. Yeah, and it's the wrong way around.

SPEAKER_00:

It's the wrong way around. So, yeah, really think about who you want to be. So if you're looking at, I think, like you said, it's easy to talk about weight, but if you look at someone who is how you want to be, is is fit, strong, healthy, a nice size, what are they doing that's different to you?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, who are they? Yeah, what do they say to themselves? What is their mantra? I am a person that nourishes my body, I am a person that hydrates my body, I am a person that prioritises my energy above the mood hoovers that that might be there to suck it away from me. Yeah, and again, and I think that ties into you how you feel about yourself.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's so huge. Yeah, absolutely. I think that when when you're looking at that person that you want to become and you're thinking about those I am statements, you know, you know that you've got there when you're in your default mode, when your I am is just such a it's such a like a statement that's so easy. A bit like I can say to you that I am not a smoker. It's so easy. I've never been a smoker, I'm not a smoker, I don't identify with it at all. Yeah, when you've got to that level, and you just oh I am someone who drinks my water, I am someone that goes to bed on time. Yeah, that's just what I am. Yeah, and it's not difficult, and it's I haven't got any buts to that statement. It is what it is.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I agree. I am somebody that prioritises my well-being, actually over and above and almost anything else in my entire life. Yeah, when you do your values, it's right up there, isn't it? Going down for that that swim in the sea, I will move things, I will counsel things for that, making sure that I get my movement, my exercise in, I will I will cancel things for that. That is a priority.

SPEAKER_00:

Do you remember when we did that values exercise and we had a chat about the fact that my family wasn't my number one?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And we and and you were like, What you I think you had family as number one. You were like, How does that when I said because I can't be with my family, support my family, if my well-being's not taken care of. And that's just how that that's how my brain works.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, no, it's absolutely, absolutely right. And when we're talking again, we kind of you know, well, I think we're mostly talking to uh women here, and there is a danger that it becomes a punishment.

SPEAKER_00:

If it if it turns into what you're trying to achieve is self-punishment, you failed.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

You failed at that point if you think that what you're doing is punishment. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

It has to be again, it has to be for you, it has to be forward facing. There has to be some joy, like even if you have to try and reframe whatever it is, if you've got some sort of negative um narration to whatever you're trying to work towards, you're gonna have to reframe it, otherwise, you won't get there.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And then energy is something that I've always had a passion for. And for me, you can't have health without energy, and energy, as far as your body's concerned, is supporting your nervous system, your adrenals, your thyroid, obviously, things like minerals and vitamins are going to come into it. But if you give yourself those things and you're supporting those things, that is also it's I call it self-care, but this is where self-care is tying into discipline, I think. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01:

And on the flip side of that, if you don't apply that self-care, and you just maybe you apply the old-fashioned idea of discipline, that driving, like keep push, it's very front brain, isn't it? Like pushing through, thinking through rather than yeah, no pain, no gain. Yeah, that sort of thing, and you will just be burning through energy, burning through motivation, burning through willpower. Because they are there the battery for willpower and motivation is really it's shorter than my scales battery. And I'm talking about my food measuring scales battery here. It's a rechargeable one, and I swear it runs out in the middle of something I'm like mass batch cooking. The batteries for willpower and motivation are even shorter than that, and you can't just go and put them on the recharger and they'll be done in five minutes. You've you have to build that back up again, and so and this and like stress, it's burning through all of that energy and that willpower. So it doesn't matter like how disciplined you think that you're gonna be, if all of those things are present, you are not gonna get where you want to go.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, there's a huge difference between discomfort and pain and pushing through. Yes. And I think we need to recognise that. I think that's really important actually to highlight. Yeah, you're so right. So, really, it comes down to two choices. You've either got acceptance of where you're at and you stay in that comfort zone and you don't achieve what you want to, or you choose discipline and then you achieve anything in between that is an utter waste of time. It's just like treading water, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And I mean, time is the most precious resource that we have got. So wasting that is I wasn't saying wasting that's a waste of time.

SPEAKER_00:

You have to state in the bleeding novice, yeah. And and of course, like we're if we accept and we stay where we are, then we're stuck. If we choose discipline and consistency and changing our habits, then that is where the learning happens. And it is a process, it you know, it's not like you're standing at that edge of that field and you're just gonna charge through those brambles. Done, I've filmed the pathway, excellent, perfect. It's not like that, is it?

SPEAKER_01:

No, no, I'm there. I've what we talk about there when I'm there, and you get there, and then there's always somewhere else to go. Yeah, there's another path, there's another path, maybe there's a a broken bridge, maybe there's more brambles, I don't know. There's it, there's often a little bit of a challenge to There's a great big oak tree in the way, and you've got to turn left. Yeah, you know, you know, whatever it is. Yeah, whatever it is, and being able to I this is a tangent, but all of the things that we talk about in this podcast basically all sum up to the resilience that you have got to be able to it is, isn't it? To be able to turn left at the oak tree instead of taking the easy right path. Do you know what I mean? And and yeah, and maybe getting a little bit comfortable with being uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, you've got to be out of the comfort zone. So, yeah, so it doesn't need to be extreme, this discipline. Aligned is a good word to use, I think. I think that's a really good word. In fact, it can't be extreme, it won't work. Don't do it. Don't do it, yeah. And you don't need perfection. Oh, I hate perfection. No, you need consistency and you need that compassion for yourself.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, absolutely. And most importantly, you need to stop waiting for the future version of yourself to magically appear without any action at all.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, but we do, don't we? Yeah. We literally that definition of madness is what you see people doing over and over again.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and then you're upset, you're cross, mainly, I don't I'd say mainly with yourself. I'm quite self-aware, and I know when I haven't done something, it's it's my own fault that I haven't got where I wanted to be. Do you know what I realised today also, uh, with our hundredth episode a few weeks back, is that I started doing a newsletter on LinkedIn the day that we released the podcast.

SPEAKER_00:

What the very first day, the original podcast. Or one anchor of one.

SPEAKER_01:

No, yeah, the original one, the very first day. And I think I did about three. Yeah. And so in my mind, I have been promising myself that I was gonna do that newsletter for 98 frickin' weeks. Oh 98 weeks. Think about the energy, it's only it's only in my head, but think about the energy that has gone into not fulfilling that promise to myself every single thing week. Wow, I can see it's written all over your face for 90. It like it dropped today, and I was like, oh my god, I've maybe I've done five. With the full yeah, the full intention of of bringing what we do in our podcast to my LinkedIn community. I'm not very active in LinkedIn and probably it's one thing that I should just let go of. However, however, and it's definitely one of those shoulds, I should all over myself about LinkedIn because I should be there. Um, but yeah, that's the emotional energy of not doing something, of not keeping that promise to myself, is so much greater than the energy it would have taken me to have released that newsletter every single week.

SPEAKER_00:

Interesting. Well, there's one for you to work on then. Isn't it just yeah? So I think maybe a practical takeaway would be good because we've, you know, we've spoken a lot about this, and I think just to put it in simple, in really simple terms, I think start with a little pact with yourself. I'm gonna be disciplined for and choose your days and don't make it too many because you don't want to fail. So whether it's three days, five days, seven days, and just choose something, one action per day that you're going to be disciplined at doing is that drinking water. Like I've said many times, I have a glass of water, I take to bed, and I wake up in the morning, I drink the water. You know, it's a really simple one.

SPEAKER_01:

There, I mean, this podcast is absolutely full of little tips like that. Like we talked about the the don't miss two days in a rule, in a in a rule, don't miss two days in a row, is a really simple thing to do. There are so many nutritional things that you're thinking about. You were talking about the other week about having your protein-rich breakfast. Yep. That could be another one. Prepping meals. Yeah. Is is another one that not only it helps you be disciplined because it makes it easier. Like it doesn't have to be, we're talking about getting out into your into your uh out of your comfort zone, into your discomfort zone. However, if there are ways to make it easier, do that. Don't you know you don't have to always take the hard route.

SPEAKER_00:

But it's kind of harder initially, but a little bit of of like more difficult light meal prepping makes the rest much easier. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, just little things like I mean, we're just giving you some ideas here, just choose something that is aligned. With you, but just switching your phone off half an hour, an hour before bed.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Just being in your phone off somewhere because doing scrolling in bed is so bad for you.

SPEAKER_01:

So bad for you. And don't do it in the morning. Do not start your day with everybody else's drivel in your head. So yeah, that's I mean, God, if you just did that, that and some water, you're done.

SPEAKER_00:

It's a really I mean it's a really good though those two massive foundational pieces, yeah. But I think most of us know, we really know if we think about it, we've got a habit that is not serving us, and we need to reduce that habit. And then there's a new habit that we need that would help us, and we just need to put that in place.

SPEAKER_01:

Put that energy into that, yeah, absolutely. And it's and again, we haven't said this word for maybe about two minutes consistency. Just keep doing it. Choose one or two small things and let them just keep building up because once you've got again over that you've tipped those scales and they become habit, you then don't have to think about them again. No, you will just be doing them and you can start on another one. Yeah, exactly. It doesn't stop there, does it? No, absolutely. It's always things to do, so many things. So, your I hope that your big takeaway is that, and for me, actually, this is a big takeaway, is that discipline isn't the enemy, it's the bridge between where you are now and who you want to be. And I think that that's a really positive reflection on the word discipline.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, absolutely. I think if you're listening to this and you're in that new year, new me type of you're trying to make changes, and there's nothing wrong with wanting to make some changes in the new year, but all or nothing approach is not gonna work, depriving yourself, beating yourself up is not gonna work. But if you just put a little bit of discipline in and you think about that where I am now, where do I want to be, who do I need to be to get there, that will make all the difference, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And I have just thought we haven't said this at all today, but you don't have to do it on your own. No, you don't have to do it on your own. Like the accountability and and buddying up, I think it goes for discipline, accountability, yeah. Are they research proven to dramatically increase your chances of success in whatever it is that you are aiming to do? So yeah, find somebody else that's got similar goals, views, ideas that you have and and work along with them and help each other.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, put a post in the Facebook group and say, look, I want to do this. Does anyone want to do this with me? Do it with me. That's a fantastic idea.

SPEAKER_01:

Love that, love that. Well, happy, happy new year, everybody. Really excited to be back, so excited for the rest of this year in the world of far too fabulous. And uh, yeah, here we go. Yeah, see you on the next episode. Thank you so much for joining us today. We love creating this for you. We'll be back next week with another great episode.

SPEAKER_00:

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SPEAKER_01:

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SPEAKER_00:

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SPEAKER_01:

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