Discipline: The Rebrand You Didn’t Know You Needed (PART 2):

Finally, I ignored my excuses and leaned into the idea to try again. This time though, I approached things a little differently.

I took the pressure off and did things gradually, in my own way, without influence from social media.

Radical, I know.

What I learnt from my previous experience was that once I was up, I felt I had quite a bit of energy in the morning. There were parts I enjoyed – moving my body, having time to sit with my coffee and feeling like I’d done something with my day before I went to work. Yes, you could say I am a morning person, but perhaps not that much of a morning person. I adapted – changed my wake-up time from 4:45 to 6:30, and swapped the gym for a half-hour morning walk round the park. I dropped meditation and instead came home and did 10 minutes of journaling before getting ready for work and making breakfast. By 8:30, I was on the bus heading towards work, nourished physically and creatively, and feeling like I’d done something for myself before the day even began.

Can you see the difference? Softness.

And this time I set boundaries to ensure my routine would be effective too. Again, another word with negative connotations, but boundaries are actually there to protect us — to create space for what we need, not to limit or punish ourselves.

I banned my phone from my bedroom at night.

I knew if it was sitting on my bedside that it would be the first thing I’d reach for in the morning. I asked for a Lumie alarm clock for Christmas, which replaced my phone. I picked up books to read before bed again, instead of scrolling through an endless stream of over-stimulating media. My sleep massively improved as a result, giving me more energy to wake up with even though it was an hour and a half earlier than before.

It wasn’t easy, though.

I'm a candid writer and I'm not ashamed to admit that, of course, there were times when I put my phone out of reach at night only to go and retrieve it minutes later. Social media is so addictive, it was a tough habit to kick. And there were mornings when I’d wake up to pouring rain (Scotland, after all) and icy pavements, so I'd reason that I couldn’t possibly go for a walk despite owning a pair of wellingtons and multiple waterproof jackets. There were times when I experienced an illness or just felt exhausted for a while. At the time, I perceived these as "setbacks" instead of necessary breaks and opportunities for rest, so again, the failure mindset would slip me straight back into old patterns.

But the difference was that I always pushed through the thoughts that quickly told me I'd failed and that I should be ashamed. I started over again more quickly than the time before. In doing this, I was proving to myself, and the anxiety that ruled my brain, that I could keep doing it. That I could keep showing up for myself.

Through this accumulation of evidence, I began to trust myself to make better choices—not perfectly, but often enough. Whether it was a couple of days or a week later, I always picked myself up and tried again. I also stopped waiting for the ‘perfect time’ to start over. I think we humans tend to believe we can only begin new things at the start of a week, a month, a year (or a new moon…), but the truth is:

You can start your life over whenever you want.

It could be 6pm on a Wednesday, it doesn't matter about the day or time, it matters what you tell yourself.

Over time, the gaps between setbacks and startups grew shorter, and each time I restarted, I was building resilience, proving to myself that I could keep going.

With this foundation in trust and resilience, I began to gain confidence. In knowing that one day off wouldn't prevent my progress, I grew confident. With this, I explored other ways to fill those 30 minutes of movement I’d given myself every morning. Then, my routine became 30 minutes of exercise each morning instead of just a 30-minute walk. This opened that half hour up to a world of possibilities – an at home workout video or online yoga class (Adriene, my Queen!) became my new practice. So the weather wasn't an excuse anymore. My routine became less about rigid rules and pressure and more about flexibility and variety.

Slowly, I found myself showing up differently in other parts of my life. I had made time for myself in the morning, which made me more efficient at work and less guilty if I had to stay late. My evenings felt more relaxed because I wasn’t battling the same unrelenting guilt and shame of “not doing enough” throughout the day.

So, while I'm definitely not an influencer with a 5-9 before my 9 am, nor do I want to be, I still make time for myself in the mornings to show up and give myself the things that I need.

And to me, that's discipline. Not a harsh taskmaster or a set of impossible rules, but a kind and steady companion that gives me structure to do whatever I want.

It shows up as patience with myself, the willingness to start again without judgment, and the courage to create a routine that truly serves me.

It’s not about perfection or pushing harder; it’s about showing up, gently but consistently, and trusting that growth happens in the small, imperfect moments.

That’s the discipline I’m proud to have learned — one that builds resilience, nourishes my wellbeing, and lets me live life on my own terms.