Yesterday I was asked in the comments section of my post, Habits — Acts of Unconsciousness, if habits can ever support inspiration. The answer is no. Habits are thoughtless and not based on awareness. They have nothing to do with inspiration and the source of inspiration — consciousness.
However, a discipline that is born out of perception, awareness and inspiration is another matter. Discipline, in this context of the word, has the power of inner truth behind it. That is following one’s bliss. And because of the bliss and inner fulfillment, the discipline is effortless and joyful.
But a habit formed by the mind without the insight of consciousness is dry and mechanical. There is no inner satisfaction. Only sweat and tears. Because habits are thoughtless and without consciousness and awareness, you will not know when the habit doesn’t serve your best interest.
Life is a series of changes. But habits are a series of repetitions of the same. They create a tunnel vision which prevents a holistic vision. Instead of flexibility, habits create rigidity.
Habits, good and bad, amount to programming of the brain. And true, there are good and bad programs. The problem is that without the perception that comes from the inner connection to the source of being, you don’t know if it’s the right program. Living a life full of habits prevents conscious living. And without conscious living, there cannot be meaning. Without meaning, there cannot be direction.
A discipline is similar to a habit, but at its core, it is fundamentally different. The root of the word discipline comes from “disciple.” Wikepedia, for example, explains it this way:
In its most general sense, discipline refers to systematic instruction given to a disciple. This sense also preserves the origin of the word, which is Latin disciplina, “instruction.”
If we adhere to the consciousness and inspiration that we receive from our source of being, then that makes us disciples of our higher selves. With our perception, we act. That is our discipline. Sincerity of purpose will guarantee success. This is only possible when the inner life takes precedence.
The inner should always take precedence. If something in my outer life is not in harmony with my inner life, then attention needs to be brought to the situation. Sometimes the only change I need to make is to bring awareness into what I do, and then do it wholeheartedly. Doing something wholeheartedly is to live in the present moment completely. The whole focus is here and now. That is the way I bring consciousness into my work. Otherwise, my mind gets involved with its whole set of limitations in the form of limiting beliefs.
Doing work wholeheartedly, which implies consciousness, sustains me. There is a certain joy in doing something with all of my heart. There are far less distractions, the time goes by quickly, and there is a certain satisfaction knowing that I am doing quality work. The work becomes an expression of my inner self. The inner has merged into the outer. There is aliveness in the work.
Doing work in a habit mode lacks awareness. Have you ever heard of someone performing a habit wholeheartedly? Something done wholeheartedly is a conscious action. Sometimes, with habits, we don’t even know we are doing them.
And then there is the problem that the habit will persist long after the need for the habit has disappeared. You might create a habit of waking up each morning at 4 am because of a job responsibility. But after a few years, you get another job that starts at 1 pm. But you now have a habit that doesn’t serve you and by 8 pm you have no energy left to work effectively. When you get off of work, you can barely drive home because you have been up since 4 am.
Or say you develop a good habit of writing for five hours every morning. It becomes a way of life. The only problem is, if you don’t connect the writing with an inner meaning, the writing withers. In anything we do, if it is not nourished by inner meaning, it will become mechanical, without perception, and without beauty.
How do you know if what you do every day is from habits or disciplines? A discipline is following instructions from the inner source of being, from the infinite intelligence that guides the course of life. A habit, however, is following the dictates of a mind without the richness of the heart.
If there is fulfillment and a sense of lightness in what you do, it is a discipline. It nourishes the inner. If there isn’t fulfillment in what you do and it doesn’t nourish your inner life, then it is a habit.
