120: Stop Waiting to Feel Ready: How Discipline Creates 40K Months

Success in business isn't built on motivation but on discipline - the ability to show up consistently even when you don't feel like it. Discipline is the muscle that separates those who achieve their goals from those who remain stuck in cycles of inconsistency.

• Motivation feels exciting but inevitably fades while discipline sustains long-term success
• The biggest growth happens in moments when you don't feel like working but show up anyway
• Shifting your identity to "the kind of business owner who does what needs to be done" reinforces disciplined behavior
• Create non-negotiables in your schedule that happen regardless of how you feel
• Use the five-minute rule when procrastinating - commit to just five minutes and you'll often continue
• Eliminate decision fatigue by planning tasks in advance with a structured weekly schedule
• Track your wins regularly to build momentum and reinforce your discipline
• Successful entrepreneurs aren't more talented - they're more disciplined

If you want a clear roadmap and you're ready to stop waiting for motivation, join us inside my membership 40k club where strategy meets action. For deeper support, ask about my fully tailored, bespoke 40k plans built specifically for your business. Screenshot this episode and share it on your stories, tag me at Female Entrepreneur School, and don't forget to subscribe for next week's episode about why playing small is the riskiest move in business.

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Chapters

• 1:18 Welcome and Introduction
• 1:46 Motivation vs. Discipline
• 3:11 Building Discipline as a Muscle
• 6:32 Shifting your Identity
• 7:35 Four Steps to Build Discipline
• 13:10 Discipline as Your Business Superpower
• 14:13 Call to Action and Wrap-up

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:39

Hey there and welcome back to my 40k podcast, where we keep it real about the mindset, motivation and strategy it takes to build a wildly successful business. For those of you that don't know me, I'm Jenny, and today I'm going to talk about something that separates those who make it from those who don't, and it is one word called discipline. Now, we all love motivation. It's exciting when we get motivated, it's a rush when we get motivated. It makes us feel like we can do anything. But here's the problem Motivation fades, but discipline that's the thing that keeps you in the game when the excitement wears off. Now, if you're serious about hitting your goals, whether it's your first 10K months or scaling to 40K months how amazing would that be or you just want to build a business that actually works, you have got to master the art of discipline. So let's get into it.

Speaker 1: 1:47

I remember when I first started my business, I would get these bursts of energy like new ideas, loads of new ideas, fresh inspiration and a sudden drive to take massive action, and it was so exciting. But then life would happen or I'd have a slow week, or a post that I put out would have zero engagement, or an offer that I created, or a lead magnet that I created did nothing, and suddenly my motivation was gone and I'd find myself questioning everything, wondering if I was even cut out for this world of business. Does that sound familiar to you? And what I eventually realised is that successful entrepreneurs are not the ones who feel inspired all the time. They're not the ones that run their business on motivation. They're the ones that do the work, no matter how they feel, because they engage in discipline. So discipline isn't about waiting to feel like it, waiting to feel ready, waiting to have all of your ducks in a row. To have all of your ducks in a row. Discipline is about showing up regardless and taking the steps, and when you can commit to discipline consistently over time, that's when the magic happens. Discipline is like a muscle you have to build it, you have to exercise it in order to make it grow stronger. Now, the reason why most people struggle with discipline is because more people rely on motivation, and that's why they stay stuck. They work when they're excited and they're upbeat and uplifted and they've got all of these fresh, new, wonderful ideas, but the minute things get tough, they stop or they procrastinate or, worse, they walk away.

Speaker 1: 3:52

The truth is that the biggest growth in your business is going to happen in the moments that you don't feel like working. I'm sorry to tell you that, but it is the absolute truth. The biggest growth in your business is going to happen in those moments when you don't feel like working, but you show up and do it anyway. You cannot build a 40k business by showing up only when you're in the mood. Never going to happen. That's why, inside 40k club my membership and inside 40k plan my bespoke service I help women build structured, sustainable business models and routines, because the secret to success is not one big action, it is those small, consistent habits, those small consistent steps that you take every single day, that compound over time, that compound over time.

Speaker 1: 4:55

So let's talk about identity for a second, because if you constantly tell yourself I'm just not disciplined, guess what? That's exactly what. You will be not disciplined. But instead, if you can shift into the identity of, I am the kind of business owner who does what needs to be done, no matter what. And I just want to pause for a moment and I want you to take that in and I want you to write this down I am the kind of business owner who does what needs to be done, no matter what. Have that visible somewhere that you can see every single day and keep on reminding yourself of that little affirmation so that you start to reinforce your discipline to your business. Because every time you show up, even when it's hard, you reinforce the identity that you have that works around discipline. You become the kind of person who follows through, and when you become the kind of person that follows through, no matter what, that is massively powerful for your business and for your future success. Now, I know you're busy. I know you've got a lot going on. I know that you are juggling a huge amount of things in your life and in your business, but if you want your business to get from stuck to super successful, you have got to start to build discipline into your business and into your life. So how do you actually build discipline when, maybe up until now, you've just been relying on motivation?

Speaker 1: 6:49

Here are four simple steps that you can take to help you build your discipline muscle you can take to help you build your discipline muscle. Number one create some non-negotiables. I want you to decide right now. Pause this episode. Grab a piece of paper, grab a pen, take a few minutes. Decide right now what are the absolute must-do tasks in your business, no matter what.

Speaker 1: 7:13

So when I create bespoke 40k plans for ladies that come on board with those plans, one of the first things that we do as part of that tailored to their business 40k plan is we look at the must-do tasks in their business, that are the non-negotiables, that are the priorities, and we make sure that we fit those tasks into the time they have available to work in their business each week. So there's no expectation of let's create 30 tasks and try to fit them into two hours. It's never going to happen. The motivation will go, it just won't work. But if we create an average weekly working life in their business that is 20 hours Some ladies are with me, they've got five hours a week. Other ladies are with me they've got 30 hours a week. But let's say 10 hours a week is an average. Once we know that that lady has 10 hours available to work in her business each week, then we look at the non-negotiables what are the non-negotiables and how do we fit those into the 10 hours a week? And this is really, really important because when you know your non-negotiables whether it's posting content, emailing your list, building out products, making offers, doing launches, creating marketing strategies. You can take those non-negotiables and you can put them into your schedule so that you have a very structured schedule each week that says, on a Monday morning, I am showing up and I am creating emails for my list because that's a non-negotiable and it's on your schedule every Monday from 9am until 11am. When you have non-negotiables like that and they are on a schedule that you work to and you stick to them, that starts to build the power of discipline.

Speaker 1: 9:09

Number two, using the five minute rule. So when you have those moments which you are still going to have when you don't feel like working, what I want you to do is I want you to just commit to five minutes when you're ready to just throw in the towel, or you're procrastinating, or you're just not feeling like it because your motivation has disappeared. I want you to just talk to yourself. I'm going to set a timer for five minutes and I'm going to work for five minutes, and when I've worked for five minutes, I'm then going to see if I want to continue, because most of the time when you do that, you'll keep going. Once you start, starting is the hardest thing Starting to get in the car to go to the gym every day. Starting to get in the kitchen to make your smoothie every morning so you're having a healthier breakfast. Starting to put your phone down at 6pm each night to get off tech. Starting to have a day off once a week away from your business. Starting is the hardest part, but every time you do that thing you reinforce the discipline that you have for it. So, using the five minute rule when you don't feel like working and you commit to just five minutes, it's going to help to build that discipline muscle so that you start to show up and continue to work in those moments where you just don't feel like doing so.

Speaker 1: 10:38

Tip number three is to eliminate decision fatigue. This comes back to having a schedule and having on your schedule what you know you are going to do in a structured way every week, what you know you are going to do in a structured way every week. So if you plan your tasks in advance and if you sit down and you work with that schedule week on week as a core schedule in your business, then you are going to get structure. That is going to make it easier to eliminate decision fatigue If every day you're sitting down to work and you don't really know what it is you're going to be working on and you're making decisions in the moment, you will procrastinate, but if you have a structured plan to follow, that is a schedule you can show up every day, look at your schedule and you can think right right now I am supposed to be writing a blog post. Let's get on with it and let's get it done. This afternoon. I've got two hours on my schedule for creating social content. Now you know what you're going to be doing in the afternoon.

Speaker 1: 11:45

So it's really important to eliminate decision fatigue and the best way to do that is to plan your tasks in advance and have a schedule that is your core schedule that you're going to stick to. When any lady joins me in bespoke 40k plans, this is one of the first things we do as part of that journey. They go on with me. We look at what are the core tasks, that are the priorities in your business that you have got to get done, and how many hours a week do you have available to work in your business. Now let's match those things so that you have a structure that you're showing up to work to every day. That's going to get you progress, it's going to get you bigger wins, it's going to get you success and it's going to completely eliminate decision fatigue and grow your discipline muscle at the same time. So the fourth tip is to track your wins.

Speaker 1: 12:35

At the end of each day or at the end of each week, write down what it is you have accomplished, because when you see your own progress, it builds momentum, it helps to keep you inspired and it helps to keep you on board with your discipline to keep taking action moving forwards. Here's what I want you to remember. You don't need more motivation. Motivation sucks because it doesn't stay around. You need more discipline, and the best business owners in the world aren't more talented than you. They're just more disciplined than you. You have absolutely got what it takes to turn your business into a massively successful business for you, but you have got to show up and be disciplined about showing up, even when it feels really hard.

Speaker 1: 13:31

Now, if you want a clear roadmap and if you're ready to stop waiting for the motivation and you want to start building something real that brings you results, come and join us inside my membership 40k club. It's a low budget membership and it's where strategy meets action and where you'll get the accountability and the support to actually make your business happen. And if you need deeper support, come and have a chat with me about my fully tailored, bespoke 40k plans. They are built by me for your business to help you get to quicker success. If this episode fired you up, I would love you to screenshot it and share it on your stories, and you can tag me at Female Entrepreneur School, because I love seeing who's listening into these episodes. And don't forget to subscribe, because next week I'm going to dive into a big one with you and it is all about why playing small is the riskiest move you can make in business, and I look forward to seeing you then.