Why ‘Doing What You Love’ Will Make You More Self-Disciplined

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love.”

Are you doing what you love?

Or are you doing what you think you love?

Two years ago I was stuck in a job I didn’t like, and I didn’t know how to get out. I believed that building my own company was the answer, so I gave it a shot, only to discover that what I thought I loved (the idea of being an entrepreneur building a venture) wasn’t what I actually wanted.

So I leaned into something else.

It’s been eight months since I’ve discovered my love for writing and it’s been six months since I’ve made it a pillar upon which my days revolve. So far, I’ve published 92 articles, 78 of which have been written this year.

And while all my life I’ve struggled with consistency, self-discipline, and in finding conviction and purpose in what I do, after leaning into what my heart was calling me over to — writing — I felt the iciness of that void melt away.

So let me tell you why you should lean into what it is you truly love, and how it will make you a more disciplined person.

What Does Self-Discipline Mean?

When you find what it is you love and you commit to doing it, you’ll naturally tend to make more conscious time to fully engage in it.

Think about it:

Picasso was so in love with art, in all his 78-year career, he produced about 147,800 pieces: 13,500 paintings, 100,000 prints and engravings, 300 sculptures and ceramics, and 34,000 illustrations.

Stephen Kind is so in love with writing he has published 60 full-length works and over 200 short stories — and those numbers do not include his essays, screenplays, and comics.

It’s no wonder why Rumi, the 13th-century poet, wrote:

“Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do”

Here’s what happens when you find what it is you love to do and commit to making it an extension of who you are and your purpose in life:

1. You’ll prioritize your work. You’ll make it a priority. You’ll wake up and start creating first thing in the morning, every morning.
2. You’ll create a routine for yourself to make sure you do the work. You’ll start building systems and designing an environment that is conducive to your creative work.
3. You’ll say ‘no’ a lot more. You’ll figure out what it is you don’t like doing and stop doing it. You’ll say no to whatever stands in the way between you and the work that you love — you and your purpose.
4. You’ll be okay with sacrificing efficiency. Speed is not the answer. So what if it takes you an hour longer than you had expected to finish that article or painting? What you give to it is what you get out of it… You’ll begin to see work in a different light: It’s no longer about ‘how fast can I do this?’ Rather, it’s about how well you can.
5. You’ll monotask. That’s the opposite of multitasking; and that’s the secret to productivity and focus. When you single-task, you’re training your mind to cultivate more focus, which drives higher attention and increases your chance of entering a state of flow — a psychological state that boosts creativity and performance.

And isn’t that what self-discipline is? Saying you’re going to do something, committing yourself to it, and then, actually doing it. Building a system for doing the work that matters to you and then showing up to it. That’s it.

Prioritize, schedule, say ‘no’ to what doesn’t matter, give your all to it and stay focused on the one task at hand.

How to Find What You Love

So here comes the magic question:

“How do I know what it is that I love to do?”

Here’s the simple answer: Reflect.

Look back and reconnect the dots. Look at your skills, what you enjoy doing, and what you believe in, and ask yourself these questions:

• What brings me joy?
• What work do I feel fully engaged in and energized about regardless of the outcome?
• What makes me feel so alive?
• What work makes me feel so present?
• When do I feel like I’m engaged in a state of flow?

These are the questions you need to be asking yourself. The answers could point you anywhere: Writing, videography, photography, sports, building new projects, coaching clients, teaching.

Find that one thing you love, and make time for it. Invite more of its energy and abundance into your life. Your love for it will make you a more disciplined person. I can promise you that. And maybe, just maybe, you might be able to forge your own path from it.

What Matters to You

“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.” — Rumi

I let myself be silently drawn by the pull of what I love and it did not lead me astray. It sent me smoothly gliding into an ocean of possibility. It threw me a wave and I caught it. And on the pinnacle of that wave, I saw the depth of my purpose.

Lean into what you love. It will force you to build self-discipline and consistency because there will be no other way of experiencing the act of creation than to sit down and do it. As Picasso had said: “Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.”

When you sit down day after day and keep going, your aura transforms into a magnet of ideas, insights, and inspiration. That is the Muse — she has found you working, and so she revealed herself to you.

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