No, Self-Discipline Isn’t a Lack of Freedom

Many of us equate self-discipline with a lack of freedom. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. The Collins Dictionary defines self-discipline as the ability to control yourself and to make yourself work hard or behave in a particular way without needing anyone else to tell you what to do. By deciding to do away with those elements that destroy our health, self-esteem, and relationship with loved ones, we are exercising freedom. Engaging in self-sabotaging behavior is never deliberate but directed. Leonardo da Vinci expressed this idea clearly here: “You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than that over yourself… the height of a man’s success is gauged by his self-mastery; the depth of his failure by his self-abandonment.” So, set your rules, follow them, and live your life with the freedom that is yours for the taking.