Why Guilt Disguises Itself as Discipline

Every person I’ve known who isn’t disciplined wishes to be able to control their life; to have a grip on their time, and navigate what happens in the minutes and hours that follow. We all wish to have the power within ourselves to just tell the mind to stop thinking about the next action, and simply just do it. Whether people admit it or not, you see it on their faces; that happens mostly when working out is mentioned. When you tell someone you know that you are going to the gym and ask them to join you; they would say no with an uncomfortable look on their face. The reaction would be a mix of rejection and guilt; you just sense it.

Others would say no first but promise to join you in the next session. However, in most cases, that doesn’t happen either. The question is: why?

If someone is already interested in going to the gym, and finds the motivation by going with someone they know, why wouldn’t they?

The answer is: Because guilt disguises itself as discipline.

Guilt will take over the mind and tell it, “You don’t need anyone to motivate you to work out; you can do it on your own. You are a strong person and can achieve that without depending on any person.”

Guilt, in this case, uses your ego against you and disguises itself as discipline. Ego is the weapon, and discipline is the uniform. It whispers to you that your ego is above everything and inspires you falsely that the right time will come when you can be the most disciplined person ever known, and that when you do it alone, everyone will talk about your achievement.

What happens next? We all know the answer.

That awareness is very important. Understanding the deep meaning of what your mind does to you is crucial to taking the next step. Knowing as a fact how your mind operates under the pressure of guilt is the first step towards self-development.

Once that is over, the solution becomes easier: using the Second Motive Technique to distract the mind from the overwhelming goal.

The final result, and in this particular case, will happen when you tell your mind, “It’s okay, I am not going to work out, I am going to have fun with my friend at the gym and learn a thing or two from him.”