Discipline & Freedom

Day 66 / 365

Let me describe the life of 2 fictional people to you.

The first one is John. He doesn’t believe in planning. He sleeps when he wants, and gets up when he wants. He spends his money based on today, he doesn’t keep track of his spending or savings.

The other is Jane. Jane believes in following a schedule. She gets up at 5 AM every day, exercises, reads, and goes to work. She budgets everything and makes sure she is saving and investing a certain amount from her paycheck every month.

If people were told to choose between these two lives, they would admit that Jane is the smart one, but John’s life feels way more fun.

People tend to think that discipline is the opposite of freedom. But it couldn’t be further from the truth.

Discipline is all about setting goals, creating routines, and sticking to them. It’s about creating structure in our lives and having the discipline to follow through on our commitments, even when we don’t feel like it. While this may seem constricting at first, discipline actually helps us create the space we need to pursue the things we truly care about.

The same applies to financial freedom. If you don’t think about where you are spending your money, you will find yourself living paycheck to paycheck. On the other hand if you follow a systematic and disciplined investment approach, you will be left with a surplus that will actually move you towards financial freedom.