Misappropriated discipline is the enemy of creativity. If we accept that success is being consistently good over a long period of time, how we produce quality consistently is the pressing question. Discipline is but one part of the toolkit for creating a life well lived, but like the old hammer and nail story it gets abused to do many things it’s not intended for. Discipline keeps armaments clean on battlefields buying soldiers and their comrades a little safety. Willpower is fantastic at getting bathrooms and dishes clean, email checked and staying ahead on managerial minutia. Anyone can force themselves to show up and look the part, but one cannot manufacture meaning, love, or any of the resources essential to creative work. Quantum leaps in learning and quality work require the best of us – which is born from the alignment of joy and meaning.
Too little discipline has never been much of a problem for me. I often spend dozens or hundreds of hours creating and following arbitrary rules and systems to avoid repeating small mistakes. Although I’ve long known intellectually that discipline is more bludgeon than precise instrument, I’ve spent most of my life running away from happiness to pursue outlandish personal aspirations. I thought that a bit more sacrifice would help me reach the horizon quicker, but it proved only a fast track to irritability, illness and disappointment. Discipline, taken too far, is the bane of my existence.
Excess sophistication at the expense of life quality is often underpinned by a perverse relationship with discipline. The cultivation of simplicity, in contrast, has helped me to zero-in on the 1 or few decisions worth an elephant’s weight in gold. I’ve been obsessed with sleep for this very reason as it tends to make or break my creativity and mood, but I’ve realized again there is a layer beneath. Love or a deeply compelling reason is the dial that controls all others. When I have the energy and creativity to do my best work, whenever it should strike, the quality of my work is worth 50 sessions of mediocrity. Having my nose stuck in the minor details of the planner and avoiding play has been nothing but detrimental to the quality of my work and life. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that play and blank space is necessary for learning and creative recharging, but that aside my life is just better when I ease off the gas. Loving the game is not a “nice-to-have” it is essential to the highest levels of creativity.
I’ve avoided commenting on toxic productivity given the innumerable competing philosophies in the space. Discipline and results by volume or showing up, can be sufficient for admin work. A lot of people claim to be inspired on-call, but in reality they’ve merely set a time to be productive. You can always set the stage for productivity, but you cannot guarantee creativity. Rigging the game in our favor, and having a burning desire are not separate things, but without a really compelling reason, a joy or passion, everything else falls apart. You must be able to detect the symptoms of overwork or misappropriated discipline to know when to hit the iron, and when to screw off. If you’re working because you have to, or just because, the creative product tends to match your enthusiasm.
Ditch the spreadsheets, morning news, and micromanaging to eek out trivial on-paper improvements and step back. If it’s not making you happier, healthier or more in touch with whatever produces the deepest value, what’s the point? If it’s a hell yes, you don’t need inspiration.
FourthEye author,
Orion A. Webster
FourthEye 
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