I Stopped Using Discipline For a Month — This Is What Happened

I got depressed.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

For a long time, I was the most disciplined person I knew. I did everything they tell you to do in YouTube videos and self-help Medium articles: I woke up around 6 AM. I read one book a week (or 52 per year). I journaled. I worked out. I worked. I listened to podcasts. I went to bed early.

“Discipline equals freedom!” I told people. I was literally the young version of Jocko Willink.

But somewhere earlier this year, about the time when the COVID hit, I became lazy. I was still working at a startup and making a combined income from writing and freelance projects that allowed me to have enough, travel, and even save a little.

I bought a new MacBook. Then a new iPhone. And then I began to think that I don’t need the discipline that much.

After all, my income was growing; my Medium following was booming; things were going great. I could do what I wanted — as all those rich gurus say online.

“Do what you love. Everything will be alright if you just let go and follow your passion,” they say.

So — I quit my job and started following my passion. I thought I was about to make it.