What does it mean to you to be 'disciplined' ?

[m1469]

In whatever way you wish to talk about, but I suppose I am curious about what a more general meaning of that word is to you.

Thanks,
m1469 

[zheer]

It has 2 meaning for me,for instance a person that is disciplined might mean that he/she has their life in order ,not too much drinking,druging,partying ,a fine balance between fun and work.Secondly to be disciplined in a particular thing,for instance education,means that that person has the ability to not let other things get in the way of what needs to be done,hence the discipline to complete what one has started , i guess.

[counterpoint]

To me, "discipline" means forcing oneself to do something that you wouldn't do otherwise. But that means at the same time, that you don't do it with conviction. Hence it's not a desirable attitude for making music. Conviction is the most important thing when making music. Therefore my conclusion:

discipline means nothing to me

[optima]

discipline is the way to reveal one's talent on sth  - the ability to get up every morning and do what you were planning to do the night before and not letting your worries/other things/ get in your way. It is sth essential!too much of it may be harmful though

Discipline is what i asked from  santa claus this year  - i hope it 'll work for me at last!!!!

[gilad]

hmmm.

To have enough faith in your ability to reach a goal through hard work and persistant effort.

[general disarray]

To do something necessary or worth doing whether you want to do it or not . . . and see it through to the end.

[goldentone]

I think to be disciplined is to not have to struggle to do what we need to do.  It is automatic no matter what we are feeling.  And I think once we are truly disciplined our worries cease about the subject.

If you are tackling new territory, however, I believe the key is to set a goal in the short-term that you feel you can handle.  And when that goal is lived up to, you can raise the bar with the arrow of confidence in your hand. 

[pianochick93]

It is hard for me to explain, to me to be disciplined, is what many people have mentioned here and also (apologies if this has been mentioned) knowing where the line is, and if you really wanted to do something wild and crazy that crosses that line, being able to stop yourself doing it or having...something...speak into your head. When you force yourself to listen to that voice, like it or not, thats discipline. I suppose the little voice situation works in most cases.

[Derek]

To be disciplined, to me, means to cultivate enough curiosity or internal satisfaction in something that is challenging to the point where I no longer have to "force" myself to do it (or not to do it in some cases).

[rc]

To me, "discipline" means forcing oneself to do something that you wouldn't do otherwise. But that means at the same time, that you don't do it with conviction. Hence it's not a desirable attitude for making music. Conviction is the most important thing when making music. Therefore my conclusion:

discipline means nothing to me

I can't think of any reason why somebody would discipline themselves to do something they didn't believe in.  To me, the conviction is assumed, and the discipline is whatever energy it takes to get myself to the bench and practice everyday. 

The toughest part is disciplining myself to focus while I'm at the bench...  It's funny how all day I can dream about practicing piano, then when I'm at the bench my mind wanders everywhere else.