How to Build Self-Discipline

This video explores the first five principles of self-discipline as outlined by the samurai Miyamoto Musashi in his work 'Dokudo.' It emphasizes accepting reality, avoiding pleasure for its own sake, not acting on partial feelings, and focusing on understanding the world rather than oneself.

This video was made possible by Brilliant, a math and science problem-solving website that makes learning fun and rewarding. Miyamoto Musashi was a samurai who went undefeated in 61 duels, so it's safe to say that he knew something about building self-discipline. A week before he passed away, he wrote a short work called "Dokudo," which roughly translates to "The Way of Walking Alone." In it, Musashi laid out 21 principles for living a life of discipline. In part 1 of this series, we'll go over the first 5 principles in Musashi's "Dokudo." Musashi's first principle states, "Accept everything just the way it is." When you refuse to accept things the way they are, you become delusional. And when you become delusional, you lose the ability to act effectively in the world. When you lose the ability to act effectively, life becomes more painful because everything you do results in failure. Success requires us to see the world clearly, and to see the world clearly, you have to start by accepting reality as it is. A disciplined person accepts reality as it is so they can learn to work with it, not against it. Musashi's second principle says, "Do not seek pleasure for its own sake." Making pleasure your highest goal is one of the quickest and surest paths to degeneration. That's because the quickest and surest paths to pleasure are often found in cheap, shallow, and unhealthy vices, such as junk food, drugs, porn, mindless entertainment, and so on. Things that are immediately pleasurable are often bad for our health. Conversely, things that are painful at first, such as running, working out, or studying, are often good for us in the long run. A disciplined person doesn't seek pleasure for its own sake but rather seeks out activities that challenge them to grow—activities which may be painful at first but yield greater and deeper pleasure in the long run. Musashi's third principle states, "Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling." If you feel partial about a decision, it means you feel some doubt in your mind about how to truly proceed. The best course of action is to not make a decision, reserve your judgment, and not jump to any conclusions. Keep exploring and looking for evidence of the truth until the feeling of doubt is resolved. A disciplined person listens to their body. They measure twice and cut once. They act only when they feel certain that the time for action has arrived, and so they don't make hasty and rash decisions. Musashi's fourth principle states, "Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world." Thinking of yourself too much is often a fruitless activity. What will you get from thinking of yourself? Will you become smarter? Will you become more loving? Will you become more competent? Will you even know yourself better? No, you will only become more vain and prideful. The way to intelligence, love, competence, and even self-discipline is to think of yourself less and focus more on understanding the world around you.