Discipline is necessary for just about anything in life, from getting up in the morning to achieving lofty goals. My own experience, in my personal life and from working with others, is that there is a relatively proportional relationship between the amount of discipline one can bring to bear on a given task and the overall productivity - and therefore happiness and satisfaction - that person may experience. But is it possible to have too much discipline?

What Good Is It?

A good deal of life involves doing things we don’t necessarily want to do. The 5:30 AM cold plunge may be good for us, and we may feel a sense of satisfaction after the fact, but few people really want to do it. The same can be said for a long commute through traffic, or cleaning up after the dog.

Discipline gets us through the things we don’t necessarily feel like doing, but that must be done anyway. Imagine getting a promotion or learning a trade or getting a degree without some, well… degree… of discipline.

But the problem lies in the repetition of tasks that are performed out of habit or routine, not because they advance our daily agenda. This unexamined behavior can become almost robotic; I call it false discipline.

False Discipline

Sometimes we do things because “we always do it that way,” or because “we always do it at that time.” Two situations commonly arise when these habit patterns are scrutinized: you may find that these “autopilot” tasks no longer serve a valid purpose, if they ever did. And the people that routinely do them may be upset at the suggestion that they do something more productive.

False discipline looks like discipline at a glance, but when examined is really a form of laziness. Why go through the trouble to examine the process to see if it can be improved - or eliminated altogether - when it is much easier to just clock in and go through the motions?

How Can You Tell?

You can tell the difference between adherence to a schedule for the sake of productivity and slavish performance of an obsolete task by asking this question: “Does this rule/procedure/system contribute to what I want to achieve now?” and its corollary: “Is there a better way to get the job done, if indeed it is still necessary?” What was once expedient may now actually impede progress.

Discipline is useful only insofar as it advances your goals. All repetitious tasks should be regularly evaluated and if no longer useful, terminated.

An example comes to mind: I have a friend who does his laundry every Sunday. Like, every Sunday. What if there is a chance to see that concert, but it’s on Sunday? What if there is a work deadline for Monday, but the work is unfinished?

Nope: Sunday. Is. For. Laundry.

Is this strict adherence to routine real discipline designed to achieve a goal, or does it actually get in the way of life and business? Stubbornness is merely false discipline.

Kill a Stupid Rule

False discipline is especially pernicious in business. When I acquire a business, one of the first tasks I undertake is to see how many outdated and unproductive (or counterproductive!) procedures and systems have been allowed to chug along unquestioned, year after year.

There are a couple of reasons false discipline is common in systems that have been long established. The first and most innocent reason is that the people who originally instituted the rule or process are long gone, and the workers who implement the process are not empowered to change - or even question - the policy.

The second, and less innocent reason, is that there are likely workers who have been doing that now unnecessary task for years, maybe for their entire career. They are afraid that if the task is no longer need, they may not be needed either. And in many cases, they don’t want to go through the trouble of learning a new task.

So I incentivize employees to embrace the “kill a stupid rule, rule.” They are publicly lauded if they can uncover an archaic task that no longer meets the needs of the business. And chances are good that if they were able to kill a stupid rule, they will be useful in the organization even if their old job was killed in the process.

This process is even more important for entrepreneurs and “solopreneurs”!

Don’t believe that just because you started the process, it is forever viable. In a small or solo business, you simply can’t afford to waste time and resources. Be ruthless in the termination of superfluous tasks; the reward is obvious and immediate in terms of time, cost savings and efficiency.

Too Much Discipline

Discipline for the sake of progress and productivity is a rare and precious commodity. Doing something because it is part of an outdated ritual is false discipline; laziness and/or fear masquerading as discipline.

Take time to evaluate your habits. Are you performing tasks that no longer serve you? Can you change the timing of tasks to better fit your new schedule? Are there tasks that would be better done by someone else? Are there tasks that no longer need to be done at all?

If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” you are exercising false discipline. True discipline is doing what actually needs to be done, whether you want to or not.

And that answers the initial question: There is no such thing as too much discipline (if it’s real discipline). Real discipline advances goals, establishes progress, and brings satisfaction and joy to your life.



To learn more about how to use these concepts or to inquire about working with me, you can contact me on the Hardcore Happiness website, the comments section on my Substack or Medium accounts or The Authentic Life Blog page. If you have found value in this article, follow my Instagram account for daily insights, or my X account for occasional tweets. To support this community, you can Buy Me A Coffee or donate through my Patreon account.

- JWW