Now that it’s summer, I need to go to the gym and eat healthy — and I should probably add meditation to the list, too. Not only do I need to start these habits; I need discipline to stick to them.

Equating discipline with strict rules, fast answers and zero tolerance for deviation can slide into rigidity, narrowing options and reinforcing fear-based control.

Discipline, on the other hand, is the process of training yourself to obey a set of rules and requires regulation of attention, emotion and behavior. While the conscious practice of discipline can ...