Your Lack of Discipline Is Costing You Your Life

If someone were to tell you that they can see how deeply you love yourself by the way you act when no one is watching, would you stand taller or look away?

Romanticising Routine To Create Devotion

Discipline is nothing but the highest level of self-respect. You don’t deserve the results if you won’t work for them. However, I think that’s where some get discouraged—not because the dream is unattainable, but because discipline has been miscast as deprivation. To float through life is easy, but if you don’t sacrifice for what you want, what you want will become the sacrifice. 

Discipline has been marketed as: a 5am alarm, unseasoned meals, relentless daily exercise and a life of sacrifice. If discipline is meant to elevate us, why should transformation feel like a punishment?

We decide to “lock in”, obey a strict routine, and treat rest as indulgence rather than necessity — the burnout is inevitable. You end up in a cycle of procrastination and excuses. "I'll do it tomorrow,” “I'll start tomorrow”. Starting tomorrow makes today easier, but it makes tomorrow harder.  

If only there was a way to bypass the cycle of resistance — oh wait, there is, and it’s as simple as romanticising discipline and routine. 

Neuroaesthetics — the link between beauty and science. Proof that aesthetic experiences have a measurable impact on daily life by activating our brains’ reward system, releasing dopamine, and triggering neural pathways that influence our emotions, physiology, and cognition. When the brain feels rewarded, consistency becomes easier.

So, how does this interlink with discipline? How can neuroaesthetics be woven into your everyday life to sustain devotion and make consistency feel effortless? 

Designing A Life You Want To Show Up For

I’ll never shut up about the importance of having a routine. Along with that, I will forever encourage a routine that is realistic for you. You can’t add days to your life but you can add life to your days. Your routine should excite you. So, how do you cultivate a routine worth showing up for?

We’ll begin with the morning routine. Start your day with intention. I want you to write it out.

I’ll give you mine as an example.

5:30am | Wake Up

5:35am | Get dressed into activewear

5:40am | Make the bed

5:50am | Coffee

6:00am | Workout

6:20am | Morning skincare

6:35am | Makeup & Hair

7:40am | Get Dressed

8:00am | Start Work

Simple, right? But it's boring. Now comes the fun part — it’s time to romanticise your routine.

Turn these small, everyday actions into moments you look forward to. Like:

5:30am | Wake Up in satin pyjamas, sleep mask on, to ‘Young Folks’ as my alarm. Like waking up in a Gossip Girl episode.

5:35am | Get dressed into a matching activewear set, style a quick workout hairstyle and pick a podcast to start listening to (Usually Diary of a CEO—starting my day by instantly feeding my brain)

5:40am | Make the bed while listening to my podcast, open the blinds, even light a candle.

5:50am | Coffee: While drinking my coffee I'm scrolling through Pinterest (starting my day inspired and getting the creative juices flowing), reading a substack article, or practicing French and Russian on Airlearn (once again, stimulating my brain within the first 30 minutes of waking up. Learning is a lifestyle)

6:00am | Workout: Starting my day with movement (and getting it out of the way so I don’t have to worry about it later) and while I'm working out I’m back to my podcast. 

6:20am | Morning skincare: My 15 minutes of dedicated me-time per day. I change out of my activewear into a robe and take my time with my skincare using LED red light therapy, gua sha, and a lymphatic drainage facial massage. I also have a 4 step oral care routine: floss, tongue scraper, mouthwash, and brushing my teeth.

6:35am | Makeup & Hair: While i’m doing my hair and makeup I like to either continue my podcast or watch a TV Show. Getting ready everyday will open so many doors for you!

7:40am | Get Dressed: No matter where I am going, I’m always dressed to the nines. So, picking out a cute outfit and having fun with styling and fashion experimentation. Wear what makes you feel good!

8:00am | Start Work: I’ll typically make myself another drink, a tea or coffee to sit down at my desk in the mornings. I’ll plan out my day in my diary so I have a clear head going into the workday — clear mind = better productivity. 

Notice how doomscrolling, social media check-ins, or emails aren’t a part of the first few hours of my day? By opening TikTok or Instagram before you even leave your sheets, you’ve invited the entire world into your bedroom — before you’re even vertical.

My routine is shaped by my life and my schedule. Yours will — and should — look different. Rather than replicating my routine, simply pay attention to the details; replacing tiktok scrolling with pinterest, feeding your brain first thing in the morning, waking up to a fun alarm that makes getting out of bed feel exciting, and not like a dreaded task. The same can be done for your daily, and nighttime routines. 

Incorporate little luxuries into your day & use your time wisely—after all we only get about 4,000 weeks if we’re lucky. 

Where Intention Turns Into Action

Discipline is hard — of course it is. If it was easy, everyone would have it. But understanding that action creates motivation, not the other way round will push you to keep at it. There’s no bigger regret than wasted potential. 

When your identity & goals are so clear, you stop negotiating with your feelings. Sure, we all have off-days but you must remember to follow the plan, not your mood. Discipline is a reflection of your mind and the respect you have for yourself. 

No one is coming to save you. Procrastination is the cost of the life you could have had. 

You must choose what you want most over what you want now. It isn’t about the task itself but the aftermath, the reward that comes from the completion of the task and the success that follows it. The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. 

The world is full of beauty — you just have to find it. Mundane things are only boring because you make them boring. What you’re not changing, you’re choosing & if you’re miserable you’re the only person who can change it. 

Haute Habits: Your Free Time Is Where Your Life Is Formed

Social media and our constant need to be online are stealing our lives. Swap your phone time for hobbies that stimulate your brain and ignite neural activity. After all, habits are the silent architecture of our lives. What you do in private shows up in public. 

Who you are when nobody’s watching is the most important thing of all. 20 minutes a day of something is better than 20 hours of thinking of doing something. Discipline will take you places motivation can’t. 

Discipline, at its core, is not about restriction — it’s about devotion. To your time. To your potential. To the version of yourself you’re becoming when no one is watching. When you learn to find beauty in the ordinary and intention in the everyday, routine stops feeling rigid and starts feeling sacred. And slowly, almost without noticing, you build a life you no longer feel the need to escape from.

Love, Innasya x