[If you find yourself looking for a TL;DR, you are exactly the target audience of this post.]

Darren Hardy, the author of "The Compound Effect", asserts that small, smart, choices made consistently over time makes for a radical difference. In his book, he goes in to depth explaining the massive results that could originate from seemingly imperceptible changes in our life. The compund effect integrates naturally in many, if not all, of TRP's topics. Small and smart choices on a daily basis let us create habits and a lifestyle that accommodates real and massive change. We all know instinctively about these choices; someone makes the decision to drag their sorry ass to the gym on a bad day. Someone chooses to skip the donut in favour of eating... nothing else. Before we know it we've dropped 35bls, or we bench 225lb for reps, maybe we talk with every person in sight effortlessly - all thanks to the small choices made every day. The power of this praxeology spells consistency.

To reap the massive benefits from the compund effect, we must first master the art of consistency. Consistency, if you don't know by now, is one of the most important concepts in TRP. The intelligent ones reading this post have already deduced this, but for the spergs out there I'll make it painstakingly clear with the help of the Cambridge dictionary: "[consistency is] the quality of always behaving or performing in a similar way". Read that again. Not only is this crucial in shaping our habits and in the long run - our life, but at it's core, it's an integral part of frame.

Now, you might think to yourself; "Where's my bullet point list about discipline to masturbate to? Did I fetch my lube for nothing?". If this is you, you can go ahead and fuck right off now because you're not in a state to ingest the contents of this post. For the ones still here, I'll describe what practical steps you have to take in order to build a rock solid foundation of consistency with the help of discipline. Consistency is the quality we build, and discipline is the tool we use.

In ranger school the first thing you'll learn is how to stand correctly, how to say yes correctly and how to make your bed the right way. Some men find this practice completely meaningless but there's a much, much higher purpose behind this routine than the crayon eaters understand (they always end up carrying the machine gun). The purpose of executing these seemingly small acts the proper way is to practice your discipline. If you can't convince your peers that you could make your bed when you're dry, fed and after a nights sleep - how the hell could they trust you to bring the right equipment to an ambush, or remember the right frequency for the radio in the field? The point here being; no one is born with a high amount of self-discipine. It is something we practice and get better at in increments, as with everything else in life.

With that lesson in mind we move on to what practical steps you can take to increase your discipline. First, the prerequisite for bettering your discipline in your civilian life is to acquire a physical notebook or calendar. I don't care if you think there's an app that will do the same job in a more convenient way - get a physical notebook. This notebook or calendar will serve as your accountability partner on your journey. The second thing you will do is to create your list. This list is holy to you. You and your list now live together inside your notebook.

The list should contain a number of actions you would like to take every day in order to become the man you want to be. If you want to be big and fit, the list should contain "Go to the gym" as an item. If you want to be a man that reads, you put "Read" on the list. If you want to lose weight the list item reads "make a healthy dinner". You get the point. Now - and this is important - the list should contain a number of small, elementary items. Items such as "Brushing my teeth", "Cleaning the kithen before bed" or, why not, "Shine my shoes". These small tasks will act as our gateway drug to discipline. With your list of items - no more than 10 - we move on to the next step. You now choose one (1) of the simple, gateway items from your list and write that task down on every weekday the coming week in your calendar or notebook. This means;

...and so on.

Now. What ever happens in the world, in your country, in your life, you will shine those fucking shoes. If you get fired from your job - doesn't matter - you shine your shoes. If your friend dies in an accident - doesn't matter - you shine your shoes. If your oneitis begs you to come over and put a baby in her - It. Does. Not. Fucking. Matter. You shine your shoes first. It's just one measly task. This is the mentality you will have over the coming weeks. If something is on your list, you bet your life that you will execute that task and put a checkmark next to it. After you've done that - you're free to do whatever you want. As an anecdote, this is what Jocko means with discipline equals freedom.

Here's the important part for all you computer touchers¹ ; the shoe shining doesn't have to be perfect. It is imperative that you understand this. Some days even the small task of shining your shoes will seem insurmountable, the important part is that you execute the task anyway. In practice this means that you pick up the shoe, brush it once, and then put it back. There. You can put a checkmark in your notebook for today. Allowing yourself to execute this task without it being perfect alleviates the pressure of doing it in the first place and you should, with a clean conscience, say that you are done with the task for today. But you will do it. With time you will notice that shining your shoes becomes much easier, and you will start to do it with a higher degree of precision. This is your mind telling you that the task has become a habit - it is no longer something that is hard to do.

The second week, you add another simple item to your notebook from your list of tasks. You will have to trust me here, because you will have an urge to add multiple or more complex items to your list. Nothing stops you from doing these things anyway but you are not putting them on your holy list. Yet. Your list now contains "Shine shoes" and "Brush teeth". Guess what. These are two things that are now part of your life and something you do not, under any circumstance, skip. I can not stress the importance of not overloading your list with items the first month(s). Anyone who started 5x5 starting strength with ego weights knows exactly what I'm talking about. The load goes from easy to impossible real quick. It's the same with discipline. You will crash and burn if you increase the holy items too quick. To be clear; you start to add the simple items (the light weights) to your notebook and build on those easy tasks with more challenging items like "Go to the gym" or "Make small talk to a stranger". Only you know the inherent hierarchy of your items regarding difficulty. You now see where this is going. For every week that goes by, you add another task to your daily list of things that you will do no matter what. For example, a day in week five could read:

This means that you gradually increase your discipline while also building a life that you want, and a life that you don't compromise with either. This method helps you to not just build a frame of consistency, but it will also assist you in holding that frame when your friends asks you to join them on a three day bender, or when that oneitis wants some attention and thinks she can squeeze some out of you. By the time you add the last task to your list, you will be executing the first items by habit.

Yes - it will take time for you to put all your items on your list - but that's the point. During this time you are effectively practicing your self discipline either way, and for the ones of you that have none at all, this is exactly what you need. Small, progressive, overload. Not advice on how to get lean in 30 days or a youtube video explaining the concept of discipline for you. No. With this method you are taking action. Real, measurable action. And that's the only way to build discipline.

Disclaimer: I have used this method for a long time and it have helped me to great extent. However, the method falls in line with many authors and their work which I agree with, such as James Clear, Charles Duhigg, Jocko Willink, Angela Duckworth

1: The perfectionist archetype, Computer Toucher Disease by Itiswr1tten: (Reddit wont let me link directly)

Tip StoicRanger for their post.