If you knew me 10 years ago, you’d know that I lived a very undiciplined lifestyle.

I never… and I do mean, NEVER, cooked for myself. I never worked out or took care of my body. I drank way too casually. I always woke up late.

And the results showed.

Despite being awfully skinny, what little body mass I had was all fat (skinny fat).

My mental health was terrible because I invested zero time into being emotionally grounded.

Self-destructive habits where slowly eating away at me, as I meandered through life.

Yet. For those who’ve gotten to know me in the past 10 years or so, you might find it hard to believe my lifestyle was the polar opposite from what it is today.

Today, at 39, I’m as fit as I’ve ever been. For more grounded. Surrounded by very inspirational and uplifting people. And I’m enjoying life here in Portugal.

Life is by no means perfect, but without a doubt I’ve found the key to unlocking the level of extreme discipline that has enabled me to kill my worst habits, and build this lifestyle for myself.

Over the past few years I’ve noticed a common theme not only among my clients, but also among the general population, which is that quite literally everyone feels that they need to be more disciplined in some area of their life.

Whether it’s being more consistent with fitness, or eating better, or breaking the cycle of phone/screen addiction which is plaguing so many people today… the underlying theme I keep hearing people say is that they need to be more disciplined, more consistent, etc.

So today I want to give you the simple framework that I use for unlocking extreme discipline, destroying my worst habits, and quite literally changing my life.

Keep reading…

First things first. You must know your “WHY.”

Your purpose.

By purpose, I don’t mean anything grand or lofty. If you’re thinking that your purpose is to end world hunger, then you can stop the cap right now. That’s good and all, but your purpose right now is to overcome your biggest pain point in life.

I feel like a broken record because this is basically step one in every process I’ve given you, but there’s a reason for that.

Knowing your purpose for doing anything is the bare minimum requirement for sustaining consistent effort over time.

How you get to your why is a different story though, and this is where most people struggle.

But to put it shortly, one of the quickest ways to come up with a very clear “WHY” is by understanding your greatest fears.

I’m not talking about “phobias” or fears in the material sense, I’m talking about the deep philosophical fears that you, and everyone else possess (sometimes consciously, but often subconsciously).

Fear of not living up to your potential. Fear of being a bad parent. Fear of having regrets when you’re 80.

Avoiding those fears is essential to understanding your “WHY" and finding your purpose.

Pain —> Purpose

Its through your purpose that you’ll create your anti-vision which is the worst case future scenario if you take no action to achieving your purpose.

The key is that you seriously have to visualize this future so that the consequences of not taking action is extraordinarily vivid. It must feel as real as possible to you, and basically invoke genuine terror every time you think about it.

Now that you have a clear and visceral image of your anti-vision. You need to connect it directly with every self-destructive habit you can think of.

This is not easy though. You will not figure it out in one sitting like you’re doing a simple classroom assignment. This is your life we’re talking about after all. So you will need to take some time to do this.

I generally like to do at least a week of journaling. While in the audit phase, every morning (and it must be in the morning), I think about my anti-vision. Then I observe how I feel about life in that very moment (good or bad), and then I try to list any actions I’ve taken that led me to feel the way I do.

Separate the list into “good” and “bad” action columns.

For example, if you wake up feeling extremely groggy, foggy, or hungover, then perhaps your bad column might read:

Or if you wake up feeling super stressed and rushed, your bad column might read:

You get the idea.

Once you have several days of data (7 days minimum), throw your journal entries into chat GPT or CerebriX, then ask it to find common themes and categorize them into key self-destructive habits that you should be aware of.

Then have it suggest a ranked list of the most impactful bad habits.

Do a manual check to make sure the list makes sense to you (because sometimes ChatGPT makes stuff up). Make changes as needed.

Once you have a ranked list. Take note of the top three.

You will declare war on those three habits.

This is where the magic really happens.

Because, to obliterate bad habits, you cannot… I repeat… you CANNOT rely on willpower or motivation alone.

You must literally reprogram your mind to associate those bad habits with your anti-vision.

If you haven’t noticed by now, I believe there is strong power in leveraging the “negative.”

Less is more. Your pain is your purpose. Your anti-vision leads you to your vision.

Well, I’m adding this concept of “anti-desires” to the mix. Essentially, these are the opposites of cravings, or temptations. They reflexively trigger repulsiveness at the idea of something.

So you must focus your cognitive energy on building anti-desires.

When the idea of engaging in those bad habits come to mind, you want to train your mind to be repulsed and offended at the mere suggestion. You have the liberty to be hyperbolic here.

It’s not my place to draw these connections for you. It’s totally up to you. But once you do you’re ready to rock and roll.

Yes, you read that right. Your OS, as in your operating system.

Just like your phone, or your computer, you also have an operating system.

You have certain non-negotiable rules that you live by, those rules guide the actions that make up your lifestyle (showering, going to work, playing golf, etc.), and those actions are generally coordinated into routines (or “automations” if you want to be fancy).

The Lifestyle Operating System

Now that you have this newfound intel about yourself, and you’ve drawn new connections between your greatest self-destructive habits, and your anti-vision, you need to update your lifestyle OS to reflect this new state of being.

You must change the rules that you live by. You must change the actions you take. And you must alter your routines (automate your life) in such a way that triggers your anti-desires, and makes your bad habits fully misaligned with your new way of living.

This is the pivotal moment. You will never be the same once you do this. You’re upgrading from MS-DOS to Windows 11.

This is important because SYSTEMS are what are going to keep you consistent.

Which leads me to the next very important point.

Research suggests that it takes roughly 60 days, on average, to alter your habits.

What’s really happening when you change your habits is that you are literally re-wiring your brain.

As you create your anti-vision, build anti-desires, and then live consistently in alignment with this new mental model for 60ish days, your brain physically morphs and changes it’s composition to be more conducive to supporting this new lifestyle you just designed for yourself.

You’ve essentially shifted mental paradigms, and your previous bad habits no longer have a place in this new world you’ve built for yourself.

But……

I realize this is far easier said than done, and reading a blog is very different than putting the process into motion.

That’s why I just built The Discipline Doctrine. It’s a 60-day protocol designed to help you finally destroy your worst habits which are causing you to live sub optimally.

Or any of the other million habits that you absolutely know you need to kick, but never seem to find enough discipline to be consistent in your efforts.

And as an added bonus for the first 20 buyers, I’m including a copy of The 13 Laws of Self Mastery which is the personal lifestyle ethos that I follow. You get it instantly when you purchase.