Reply With QuoteThe concept of willpower or discipline as traits one possesses (or fails to) rather than actions or behaviors is part of the problem.Originally Posted by 2) The Answer is Texas
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I don't have the self-discipline to train.
I don't have the self-discipline to train. This is a 'shame on me' thread.
I started SS back in September, bcs Im overweight I started with a totally empty barbell to gain some work capacity before stalling.
I did it for 5-6 weeks, got injured / didn't recover properly, and spent a month recovering. Got my bloodwork checked: low T. So I started TRT. Re-started the Starting Strength program 3 weeks ago, but I got a nasty cold and didn't train for a week. For the last 2 weeks my training has been irregular. I've been in the gym 3x in the past 14 days.
I lack discipline.
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The concept of willpower or discipline as traits one possesses (or fails to) rather than actions or behaviors is part of the problem.
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Could you elaborate ?
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I think if people "get" this it could be very helpful.
Discipline is about "doing", not "being driven to do".
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If you say "I don't have the self-discipline to train" you are describing yourself as a person who fails to train and that is how you see yourself. Your perception of yourself will become reality.
If you say "I didn't train last month. This month I will train." you are describing the actions you took / failed to take and how you will be different going forwards.
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Ed Coan is known as the greatest powerlifter of all time. His lifts are incredible. In an interview with Mark Bell on the Mark Bell Podcast (or maybe it was the Q&A session at SuperTraining gym?), Coan was asked about his thoughts on a champion mindset. Coan replied that it is developed, just like everything else. Small successes add up over time to be big successes.
Instead of focusing on how you lack discipline, or how you've only been to the gym X times in Y days, or how you didn't recover, or "shame", focus on what you DID do. Forget trying to think about the entire Novice program - your next training session should be your only thought. Go in, get it done, and you are one additional step toward the way of becoming strong. And then think of the next session.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
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It's a process, and a habit that you need to build. Mistress Krista (of Stumptuous.com fame) claims a lifting and fitness habit takes a year to develop into an autonomous thing. Changing eating habits is reported to take only a month.
Everyone gets bad runs of fortune. I made great gains, got hospitalized, had to start over, made gains, got another surgery, recovered from that, got sick as hell again, recovered, and started in again.
The biggest change of mindset in my moving from fatass to marginally strong is driven a lot by a single change in my internal monologue when faced with uncertainty.
I used to say to myself a lot "I can't."
I ask myself a lot now, "Why the fuck shouldn't I try to?"
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Well you asked me to elaborate, but you already received some great advice. So here's a succinct summary of what I was getting at:
Discipline/willpower isn't a personal trait. It's a series of decisions and a habit. Nobody feels like training all the time. Those of us that do it anyway don't need to justify it with the excuse that we were born without the willpower gene.
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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
Just replace "excellence" with "self-disciple" and pretend Aristotle (actually some dude talking about something Aristotle said ("These virtues are formed in a man by his doing the actions.") (Enough parentheses for you?)) was talking about lifting.
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I'll add to the growing chorus. Self-discipline is not so much a trait as it is an action. You discipline yourself. It's not about always wanting to train (although if you keep at it you may find yourself developing Stockholm-esque feelings towards the gym). It's about training even when you don't want to.
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