Are You Struggling to Balance Freedom and Discipline?
Photo by Lachlan Ross:
Recently, I read Rick Rubin’s book, “The Creative Act.”
And in this book, there was a single line that stood out, that shone like a bright light, to me.
Because it encapsulated so much about my attitude towards time:
“Discipline and freedom seem like opposites. In reality, they are partners. Discipline is not a lack of freedom; it's a harmonious relationship with time.” - Rick Rubin, The Creative Act
You might feel at odds with the idea of “discipline”. It’s certainly not my favorite word. I mean, I’m the type of person who, if someone else tells me to do something, my first feeling is resistance. Not freedom.
But let me ask you?
If YOU get to be the one deciding what you’ll do and how you do it, instead of societal pressure, or another human, well, how does that change things?
However, even IF you’re the one telling yourself what to do, you still might feel penned in:
By a schedule.
By the idea of time blocking.
By the idea of planning.
Until you realize that it gives you freedom.
Freedom of thought.
Freedom of movement.
Freedom of ideas.
Freedom from reactivity.
When you aren’t ping-ponging back and forth from priority to emergency and back again.
When you’ve planned for the time you have, not the time you wish you had.
You’ve created the freedom to simply do what you need to do, or what you want to do, instead of thinking about all the things you could potentially be doing. And then not doing any of them.
Look, I get it, there’s something about the word “plan” that makes us feel like if we don’t follow it exactly, we’ll have failed.
And this makes planning feel both futile and scary.
But this couldn’t be farther from the truth.
A plan is a fallback.
A schedule is a default.
It’s something you make to support you, not to control you.
In fact, not following your plan is the right thing to do if you’re in possession of new information that should rightfully change your plan.
You can look at your plan and you can make a different choice based on this new information.
You’re not throwing out your plan.
You’re not undisciplined.
You’re updating your plan.
You’re closing the gap between your ideas about what SHOULD happen and the reality of what IS happening.
And that is a feeling that’s pretty darn close to “harmony”, if you ask me
I don’t know about you, but I want a “harmonious relationship with time”.
That’s my goal.
My goal for me.
My goal for you.
I want you to feel good about your time.
About how you spent it.
And how much you have of it.
I want time affluence for us both.
I can’t change how much time you have.
But I can help you feel at peace with how you used it.
I can help you reduce your stress.
I can help you figure out what do to, and what not to do, and now to get out of the things you don’t want to do, without blowback.
I can help you learn to prioritize in such a way that you know the things you did today were more important than the things you didn’t do.
I can help you feel a sense of ease, and flow in your days.
I can help you fall asleep knowing you spent you time in a way that matters to you.
Whether we call it discipline, structure, or, structured fluidity, the freedom from stress that you feel when you have a “harmonious relationship with time” is real.