Not many people understand what it means to be disciplined. To the majority of people, being disciplined is understood as something specific. Such as being a hard worker. However the term has a much broader meaning.

    To be disciplined is to never differ in the direction of your ultimate goal no matter how you feel. The common misuse of the word occurs when people try to associate discipline with something short term. An example of this would be going to the gym for a week. The truth is, discipline is a way of life. It is the everyday grind of waking up in the morning and accomplishing the goals you've set for the day. Among the Brazilian jiu-jitsu community, discipline is a very commonly used word. Under the context that it takes a great deal of self-control to stay consistent in jiu-jitsu. Whether it be consistency in showing up to the daily practice or within the effort being given on the mat. Jocko Willink, former Navy SEAL and a black belt in jiu-jitsu uses the word correctly by explaining its purpose in life, stating that  “Self-discipline is the root quality that will improve every aspect of your life”. This is a great quote to live by because it is evident in history and modern day society that being disciplined completes goals. Another great example showing the correct use of the word is a quote by Jim Rohn stating that “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments”. The reason why this is so impactful is because it is a direct example of what putting your nose to the grindstone will do. To be disciplined is to achieve your goals through determination and grit. A common misconception of the word is that it is confused with motivation/being motivated. The overarching difference between the two is the longevity between the two. What I mean by this is that motivation is a short-term solution and or step to achieving a goal. Motivation will get a person to start something but it is through discipline that they continue these habits. Such as wanting to lose weight. Without the application of discipline within diet and exercise, no weight will be lost. David Goggins has a great book on how to awaken your true potential, and recurring themes in the book are that your mind is holding you back, and with discipline comes success. Goggins shares his life story and all the adversity he had to overcome to become the hard, disciplined, freak of nature that he is. Without discipline Goggins wouldn't be where he is today, for many of his accomplishments are barring mental tasks.

    The meaning of discipline hasn't quite changed a whole lot throughout the past generations. Growing up, my parents would use the term discipline many times as a verb that I needed to be disciplined for my actions. That meaning that I would need to be punished for the indirect effect of correction. This definition of the word is not that far off from today's version of the word as they both pertain to self-correction. The reason why the majority of today's society has varied definitions of the word is due to this past generation's meaning of the term. It is very possible that discipline may mean something completely different to tomorrow's generation than to todays, but historically speaking it hasn't had a drastic change in comparison to today's version.

    Through the research of a term's meaning, I have come to the conclusion that it is crucial to keep up to date with the meaning of modern slang and etiquette if one seeks to not only understand, but be able to apply a broader sense of knowledge to their life. In today's society, one of the main reasons why the previous generation can't communicate well with the new generation is because of the previous generation’s lack of motivation to try and understand new slang. A perfect example of this being true is that before my research, my definition of discipline was much different than it is now. I previously had not cared about what the new slang or adaptations of words were. I also had been generalizing discipline to be work ethic when as I explained is a much broader term. In other cases with more commonly used slang, it is even more defective to not understand the meaning of the term itself. Mainly for the reason being that you won’t be able to understand what the person is talking or writing about.