Be More Disciplined!

Mediocrity doesn’t have to be the mark of the teenage years.

I had woken up with a sharp disappointment in myself. I arrived home at about 1:45 p.m. in the afternoon. I felt like I deserved to laze around and I ended up on my bed. I ended up sleeping for 5 hours. I knew I had work to do and things I wanted to do for my own personal development, but what struck me the hardest was how my laziness carried over into my dream. During my dream, I realized that I was dreaming. I had the opportunity to take charge of the whole dream, but I didn’t take it because it seemed “hard”. Thus, I only had minimal water powers and just passively shot firearms at enemies. This may seem silly, but such an experience made me sit down and question where I want to go in life and how I will get there. My brain was so racked by the experience that I had to write it down. This is what I wrote:

“Today I felt as useless as ever. This wasn’t the result of some depressive state I’m in. As a matter of fact, I’m as happy as anyone can be. I have a good collection of friends and acquaintances in and out of school. I got a girl to go to Prom with me. I live in a Christian household. I’m learning to get better at conversations. My family hasn’t disowned me for my political views. So, why am I feeling useless at this particular point in time? This is because I came home at about 1:45 and slept for about 5 hours. I didn’t even do anything productive in the dream. It felt like a video game. I was able to control some of the flooding in the streets as I realized that I was dreaming. I didn’t even have total control over my own dream because I thought that it was too hard at the time. Actually, during the 5 hours my brother woke me by banging on the door because it was locked. Now, I don’t remember locking the door, but as I realized the sunset outside (as my brother has P.M. school), I realized that I didn’t let my youngest sister in the house. And even at this point, I still found it fashionable to go ahead and go back to sleep as I weirdly felt like it was handled. I’m guilty of the sin of laziness/sloth. I’m reminded of the verse in Proverbs that speaks on this. It’s along the lines of “a little sleep, a little slumber, comes before destruction”. It’s in Proverbs 6:10–12, actually. I did absolutely nothing for 5 hours. I didn’t have to sleep at 1:45 in the afternoon, but I did. [There were plenty of things that I had to do but I did not complete.] I hate that I have done nothing, not even to my own pleasure. I woke up feeling like a lazy piece of crap. As I write right now, I’m coming up with ways to remedy this. I’m either going to clear my chair to sit at my desk or I’m setting up downstairs in the living room. I can work out. I can read. I can come up with an idea that will start a [political] uprising in New York. I can be a brand new rising star in the conservative space. However, I can’t do any of those things if I’m lazily sleeping. Screw laziness. God, please forgive my sin. I no longer want to be a man which poverty will strike like a thief in the night. I want to do right by the people around me. Laziness kills the chance that I have. Thank you for the victory that you have given me over the sin of laziness. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

This was the catalyst for my crusade against mediocrity. Right after writing this personal treatise/prayer, I had decided to continue reading a book I started back in 2022 called Do Hard Things by twin brothers Alex and Brett Harris. Their book is based on the idea that the teenage years need to be reframed as the launchpad for life and not a buffer period between childhood and adulthood. Their argument is that the idea of the teenager is very new and combined with the low expectations given to teenagers by popular culture creates the “Myth of Adolescence”. This myth gives teenagers license to act childish much longer than necessary. They point to great historical figures (George Washington, Clara Barton, David Farragut) that used their teenage years as springboards for the rest of their lives. These twins call on teenagers across the country to join their “rebelution”, a movement of teenagers that stand against teenage complacency. Their book is laced with stories of people that learn to break out of their comfort zones and as a result raise money, start non-profits, work on campaigns, and become effective Christian evangelists (If your interested, they have an active blog that you can read at https://www.therebelution.com/).

I have plenty of things that I can get better at. I can become a better conversationalist. I can always become stronger, whether that be physical or mental strength. I can become better at a plethora of things, but complacency gets in the way. I can want to be all of these things, but none of these things will occur if I’m not consistent and disciplined. The question is then, how do we become more disciplined?

We can become more disciplined by staying on these 3 things:

• Stay simple: We apply such complexity to nonessential things such as our clothes. There is nothing wrong with wanting to look good. The issue is when we spend a massive amount of our precious energy on our clothing when we are just going to school. This minimalist l, of course, is relative to every person.
• Stay hungry: I believe that there is a bar of success that you most definitely haven’t reached yet that you desperately want to reach, whether it be a particular grade, or a particular physique, or a skill for a career. You must want it more than anyone else, dare I say you go all in and it becomes a sort of obsession for you. However, you must be completely committed. If you aren’t completely committed, there are other people going all in to get their piece of the pie and you’re going to be left behind wondering what happened.
• Stay focused: You must remain focused on that goal, whether you look at the big picture, take baby steps towards said goal, or both. You can stay simple and hungry, but without focus, you will most definitely go crazy. How do you stay focused? Consistently remind yourself of your goal. Have it as your phone wallpaper or put it on your bathroom wall or your fridge. Whatever location that you frequent, make sure that there is a constant reminder of your goal. My family and I are always jumping around, doing things to continue to build God’s Kingdom, so I have a planner notebook that I always carry with me to consistently remind me of what goals I want to meet for the week. Never let yourself go off course.

I’m reminded of what David Goggins said in his book Can’t Hurt Me: “Don’t stop when you’re tired. Stop when you’re done.” I know that you’re not done. So finish.