Discipline, and the small things

The start of a new year has a way of making everything feel more important.

New plans.
New promises.
Pressure to change things all at once.

That’s rarely how real change happens.

Real change happens when we’re disciplined on the small stuff.

Not the things we announce.
The things no one sees.

As the year turns, I’ve been paying attention to where discipline actually slips.

Not in big, dramatic ways, but in the quiet moments that barely register.

The slightly later start.
The call I said I’d make to a friend, postponed.
The message left unanswered a little too long.

Nothing catastrophic.
Nothing that feels like a failure.

And yet, familiar.

Before we go any further, let’s take a moment to debrief together:

When you reflect on last year, where did you notice yourself letting the small things slide? - not because it didn’t matter, but because it felt inconsequential.

No judgement.
Just signal.

This is how discipline actually erodes.
Not through rebellion.
Through tolerance.

What you allow once becomes easier to allow again.
Over time, the line moves and you barely notice it’s gone.

I see this most clearly in my closest connections.

The conversations I intended to have. The regular check-ins that matter. Nothing breaks when I delay them.

But something inside me shifts.

Distance creeps in where it doesn’t belong.

Discipline isn’t about intensity.

It’s about maintenance.

About noticing the moment you’re about to negotiate with yourself, and choosing not to.

Your mission this week:

Identify one small standard you allowed to soften last year.
Restore it quietly.
Then keep it where it belongs.

That’s enough for now.
More next Sunday.

Mike
Hold the line · Do the hard things