The war on drugs has been around for 50 years since its inception in 1971. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to have worked. In fact, over 70,000 people died from drug overdose in 2019, a 4% increase from the previous year. Why don’t our measures work? Like most things in life, we condemn the result instead of going after the source. The mind and hearts of men and women need to change to have an outward change. Though easy to condemn a dangerous substance like hard drugs, we all suffer from something just as addictive and twice as lethal: comfort.
If you are thinking this is an exact opposite of fentanyl or cocaine, you are wrong. Comfort feels just as good and is even easier to obtain. It dulls our senses and produces catastrophic effects. How many people gave themselves over to this overlooked “drug” and eventually abused pharmaceuticals or dangerous substances. In our modern society, we have become obsessed with comfort. We have Netflix, smart phones, fast food, and the list goes on. Gone are the days of growing or hunting your own food, using imagination for fun, or even cooking our own food. However, what have we sacrificed for these simple treasures.
The answer is freedom and success. You may think you still possess those things, but you don’t. What would happen if something happened to food supplies or the electric grid. You may be thinking, “That could never happen.”, but it already has. COVID has shown how frail we are and how much we rely on 'comfort system'. Remember how quickly we ran out of toilet paper, and grocery stores had to limit meat purchases? However, if you were living off the land or in the country, you probably barely noticed anything. Now, this article isn’t trying to support a conspiracy or a political position. Rather, we are trying to get you to embrace discomfort and discipline.
Getting to a place of self-discipline doesn’t require some grand move or revelation. Rather, it requires daily, consistent decisions. For instance, at Consolidated Assurance, we meet with our employees every other week to discuss a book that will help develop them. It only requires reading one or two chapters every two weeks, and yet we have created a company culture that rivals even the top companies out there. Here is a list of some common things that you can implement TODAY to create self-discipline:
Don’t look at your phone first thing in the morning. Instead wait 10 minutes before you touch it. Spend 30 minutes a day learning a new skill. Workout twice a week. Reduce your recreational screen time by an hour.
These are easy things you can do to start chipping away at comfort. Eventually you will find it more satisfying than lulling your brain with drips of dopamine. Also, these tasks will build. You will find you want to exercise more or become more efficient at work. You may even start seeing other areas you want to change.
The unfortunate truth is this: society doesn’t want you to embrace discomfort. We are not saying this is a conspiracy or even purposeful. However, like crabs in a bucket, ordinary people will try to drag you down back to their level. Sometimes this is done because they care about you. However, most times your discipline just exposes their inadequacies. Either way, you will be met with resistance, but nothing great was ever easy or painless.
If you don’t like where you are, change it. Even the worst situations can be turned around. If something is easy for you, immediately do the opposite. Don’t let the drug of comfort ruin your life.
