As a child growing up in the 1980s, my first experience with Batman was through the Superfriends animated show. After watching the show, I wanted to be just like those heroes. I vivdly remember going out in my neighborhood to patrol the mean streets of suburban Raleigh, NC with underwear proudly worn on the outside of my pants (oh yeah). I donned a blue cape (a blanket) which flowed off of my cereal and juice infused, four-year old frame. Yes, you could say I was a full-on Bat fan from the very start.
A lot has changed since then. I still wear my
underwear on the outside of my pants like cereal and I still love Batman,
but the ways in which I am inspired by The Dark Knight are a little more
practical and real world than when in my childhood. I came to prize Batman’s
mastery of himself, his self-discipline, his competence in almost everything.
Batman is the epitome of what a person can be. The ultimate example of fully
realized human potential. How could you NOT be motivated by the idea of
Batman!?
First, let’s talk about the core of what makes Batman so relatable. Of course, Batman is an extremely self-disciplined person, and a master of self-control, hence the title of this article. He is profoundly knowledgeable. He is capable of 100% singular focus on his objective, and yet somehow remains incredibly versatile, possessing a vast array of skills and expertise in a wide array of subjects. He surely employs all manner of highly productive, badass making types of habits. He is dedicated to his cause, committed to pursuing his path, and adaptable to any situation. Well, that all sounds quite idealized, doesn’t it? I think we love Batman not because we are so much like him, but because we could be like him, and the idea of what a person is capable of resonates so strongly with each of us. And because his qualities feel juuuust out of reach (he is just a man, right?), it gives us a highly inspirational figure to strive for.
Essentially, Batman is the version of us we wish we could be. The BEST version. All of Batman’s best traits, his most heroic traits, are very human characteristics that are not impossible for us the way adamantium claws, spidey-sense, or green magic space rings would be. The character of Batman is so popular and so relatable because we feel like WE could be Batman in spite of adversity, or even because of it. If only we could get out of our own way and let go of our fears and excuses, we could harness an entire Wayne Manor’s worth of motivation and discipline and realize our true potential. Hell, even Neil DeGrasse Tyson, the noted astrophysicist feels like he could be Batman!
Self-Discipline, why it’s important, and how can I get more of it?
Merriam Webster defines self-discipline as correction or regulation of oneself for the sake of improvement.
Studies have shown that children who demonstrate self-control are more successful and will continue to be more successful than their peers in the years to come. In other words, the earlier in life you can practice self-discipline the better off you’ll be (parents take note).
Although Batman is “just a regular guy” and the most realistic of the modern superhero archetypes, he is still very much a fictional character and as such seems to possess an inexhaustible supply of that all-important quality, self-discipline. He consistently improves himself in order to accomplish his mission of fighting crime. Through his habits, he puts in the work, training, studying, and practicing, even though he could just live that billionaire playboy’s life, relaxing on a beach every day if he wanted to. Batman’s “why” is a topic worth exploring on its own, but for now we’ll just note that while he seems to always have a never-ending supply of self-discipline, we do not.
Build the Capacity
Practice the Skill of Self-Discipline Daily
For evidence of Batman’s determination and self-discipline, one need not look further than the training/engineering montage from the film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Although this film had some serious problems and was underwhelming in many ways, it gave us what has to be the most awesomely inspiring, dead on depiction of Batman puttin’ in work in the Batcave, EVER. As portrayed by Ben Affleck, you see him training for strength, performing big compound lifts with gritty, bare bones equipment. You see his mind at work while he researches files he stole from Lex Luthor. You see him engineering and building weapons and devices to deal with the problem of the seemingly all-powerful “Superman threat”. It’s clear from his surroundings that this isn’t his first rodeo. This kind of stuff is part of his everyday routine and has been for a while. If you’d like to take a closer look at where Batman does all this cool stuff, you can now take a deep dive into the Batcave here!
Some say “find your anchor”. Some say “pay the man”. Others call it “turning pro.” Step one is to proactively build the muscle of self-discipline by intentionally exerting it on a regular, i.e. daily, basis. Like many things, the more you practice self-discipline the stronger you get at it and the more easily you’ll be able to access it. If you’re an introvert (raises hand) and you normally prefer to work alone, this could be through managing a section or division at work. To do well at your job, you put your own energy needs aside and use that part of yourself that can bring together and lead people. Or, if you’re a student working towards a degree, it could be as simple as saying no to going out with friends because you’re studying for exams. It could be showing up to the gym three times per week, drinking more water, or taking the time to learn another skill. It could be all of these or some other combination of things. The truth is that there are many daily opportunities available to build our capacity for self-discipline. Choose a couple things to practice each day (say, reading a book and getting enough sleep) to build this habit, and really commit to them. Set some goals and watch as your self-discipline grows stronger and stronger.
Adopt the Right Mindset
“The will to act.” The above is one of my favorite quotes from the Christopher Nolan film, Batman Begins. In the scene, Ra’s is training Bruce and providing some tough love mentorship. He tells Bruce that the reason his parents were killed is his father’s fault, that he lacked the fortitude to take action. Pretty harsh. Bruce says the man had a gun, and even if that wouldn’t stop him from acting, he’s had training. Ra’s isn’t buying it. Training is good, even necessary. But too often we wait until conditions are perfect, until we’re “ready”. Too much of this and we’ll waste our lives away, thinking about “someday” and imagining what it would be like instead of taking the necessary steps to bring our dreams to life.
There needs to be an attitude that backs up your daily practice. A mindset that guides your actions and strengthens you when things get difficult. When entering a situation where you will be tested, you must have the belief that you can rise to the challenge. I’m not talking about fighting a clan of ninjas here. I mean in your actual daily life. Maybe you get nervous speaking in front of people and you have to give a presentation for work. Maybe you’re a mom who wants to lose weight (or gain weight!) so you can be a strong example for your kids. Whatever your challenge this mindset can help you. This does not mean that you will not stumble or that you will not need help along the way. If you have overcome obstacles in the past, this approach may be second nature for you. But remember, even if this obstacle you’re facing is something completely new to you, it is likely that others have faced it before and succeeded. If they can do it, so can you! For starters, focus on what you can control. Spend (some) time really thinking about what actions will make you successful. Consider starting small. Then, even if you are fearful, even if you’re not “ready”, execute those actions as if you expect to succeed. You’ll figure things out and adjust along the way. If you are willing to learn and motivated to put in the work, you will surely make progress. This may start out as “faking it”, but if you continue executing and are doggedly persistent you will start to “make it”.
Life will find ways to test you. Hectic schedules. A difficult boss. Divorce. Financial trouble. Bane breaking your back. Some of these things are painful, but often we must weather the storm, regardless if we want to or not. You might as well use the experience and see it as an opportunity to grow. About midway through my career, just as I was starting to lead small teams of people, three or four at a time, I was unexpectedly chosen for a position in which I would lead a team of 20 on a regular, on going basis. I don’t like being up in front of people, hate public speaking, and preferred just showing up, doing a good job, and only being responsible for myself. But even as these thoughts raced through my mind, there was a little voice inside my head that said, “you are very fortunate to have been chosen for this position and this is a BIG opportunity.” During the following two years, I learned and experienced things that I never could have, had I not decided to give my all and make the most of the opportunity. I led different kinds of people with all manner of personality types, developed organizational and managerial skills, and spoke to hundreds, sometimes thousands of people at a time. I built up a track record of wins that I can now reference to see how to best handle similar situations. And of course, there were some growing pains. Not everything I worked on, panned out. Sometimes people let me down. Sometimes I let them down. But I learned a ton from these instances too. And my confidence in my ability to lead a group of people grew from a vague feeling that I could probably, maybe do it, to a resounding “yes, I know I can” that was rooted in actual concrete experiences. It’s a bit cliché at this point, but it holds true. If an opportunity excites you and scares you in roughly equal measure, go for it! It will be hard. But you’ll be so much better and more capable when you come out the other side.
And there’s something else. As you meet challenge after challenge you will start to apply this mindset to your life more holistically. After all, if you can improve one area of your life why would you stop there? The same effort and belief in yourself that gets you a raise at work can help you to be intentional and have the discipline to put that extra cash flow towards an emergency fund or your retirement plan. Increasing your strength means you don’t hesitate when a friend asks you to help them move a couch or lift a refrigerator into the back of a truck. A strong will to act gives you confidence to succeed and as such lets you know what’s possible. There really are no limits. The will to act permeates all areas of your life and those areas can begin to play off of each other, inspiring you and spurring you on to greater and greater successes. This holistic approach leads to an overall fuller and richer life.
Utilize Perspective to Go Further
Having gone through your trials, you begin to acquire something that can sometimes be elusive but, yet is so powerful – perspective. By this, I mean a few different things.
I mentioned earlier that my job leading a team of 20 gave me confidence in my ability to guide a group of people. Unbeknownst to me at the time, this job would prepare me for my next position in which I would lead groups of up to 110 people at a time. Had I not been prepared by my experience I might’ve thought to myself, “ok, time to start FREAKING OUT NOW!”. Remember, I’m an introvert and a pretty shy one at that. People who know me think of me as very quiet and I dislike being up in front of people. How would I be able to do such a thing? But because I had a different perspective now of what I was capable of, I was able to calmly appreciate the opportunity in front of me. My previous experience allowed me to have much less anxiety about my future experience. I knew it would just be an expanded version of what I had already (successfully) done, others before me had done the same thing, and maybe most importantly, I knew I was willing to work and have the grit needed to be successful.
Now, I do think sometimes in our achievement-oriented society that the “hustle mindset” can be a bit toxic. There is such a thing as chronic stress and that can be debilitating and that’s not what we want. But there are times you need to be able to grind. Not just for a day or a week, but sometimes for months or even years. In the Jeff Loeb/Tim Sale classic, The Long Halloween, Batman tries for a year, with the help of Jim Gordon, to stop a serial killer from terrorizing Gotham. Even at the end, he doesn’t truly succeed. Talk about humbling. And he’s the world’s greatest detective!
Once you know what it’s like to give your all for an extended period of time you are much better positioned to appreciate when work is not as intense, when your responsibilities are minimal, or when you’re at home or on vacation. You can also have a better appreciation for others and the various circumstances they might be dealing with. If you see someone struggling in a leadership position, instead of judging them harshly on why they’re so disorganized or why they suck at communication, you may think to yourself “I remember when I went through the same thing, it WAS difficult, and I’m going to offer to help”.
Basically, going through difficult things, if you embrace the right perspective, increases your gratitude for just about anything and everything and that’s a very good way to live.
Leveraging Habits will stretch out your Self-discipline
Ah, the cheat meal. So rich and satisfying, all the more so if it comes after a tough workout or at the end of a very disciplined week. Similarly, it just feels better when you make a major purchase with cash that you’ve saved up instead of putting it on a credit card. A Netflix binge is way more relaxing if you enjoy it after completing the honey-do list. So why is it that we often go for what’s immediately satisfying instead of what’s better for us in the long run?
Sometimes it’s because you’ve simply exhausted your supply of self-discipline, but another way to say this is that you just don’t have the right habits in place. Habits that will make it easier and more likely that you’ll exert some self-control. The obvious way to have more self-discipline is to simply not use it. “I thought you just said I need to use it all the time to build it up and strengthen it!” Right. I did say that. The thing is, if you are being proactive by practicing the skill of self-discipline and you’re making the most of all of those challenges that life throws your way you WILL have the steadfastness to deal with A LOT. More than what many people are capable of handling. However……
If you go to the gym because you like going to the gym you are not having to draw from the well of willpower to make it happen. If the thought of binge-watching The Infinity Saga in a messy, cluttered living room makes your skin crawl, you will get up and clean the room before being able to relax in it because you’re in the habit of being organized. By setting up the correct habits you can accomplish so many productive behaviors on a regular basis without actually having to exert any self-control! That means that when something unexpected happens, like when your normally sweet five-year old has a spectacular meltdown in Target, you’ll have the patience and understanding to deal with it since you haven’t blown it on routine behaviors.
Going back to step one for a minute here, your long-term goal should be to automate as many of those worthwhile behaviors as you can. Now, I don’t recommend trying to do this with several things all at once, but if you can habituate good/productive behaviors one or two at a time, you’ll eventually feel better about yourself and your life will improve dramatically. More importantly, you’ll start to see yourself differently too. You start a habit of going to the gym by practicing the skill of self-discipline and using that capacity to get you there despite the fact that you’d rather sleep in, go out with friends, or sit on the couch and play video games. After a while, several months or maybe even years, you wake up and realize that you look forward to going to the gym, it’s something fun and rewarding to you, and it feels wrong NOT to go to the gym. You no longer make yourself go to the gym, you have become a person who goes to the gym! At this point you have habituated this good behavior and even if it takes a little bit of self-discipline to get out the door, you basically aren’t using up your self-discipline reserves on this activity. That also means it’s available for another habit, for your family, or for when you unexpectedly need it.
Bats doesn’t attempt to read more, he has become a person who reads voraciously and learns intensely about the world around him. He doesn’t think to himself, “maybe I’ll work out some this week”. He IS a person who trains daily because his life, figuratively and literally, depends on it. You can take a look at Batman’s training space here. He doesn’t seek to “spend some quality time” with friends. He is a man who has forged deeply personal relationships with a few key people in his life, and the Bat Family watches out for each other and makes each other better. Bruce Wayne/Batman is someone who has built his life around only the types of habits that make him a stronger, more capable, more cunning adversary to Gotham’s criminals. Batman is undoubtedly one of the coolest pop culture icons, but we can also allow ourselves to be inspired by him to make changes in ourselves that have real impact in improving the nature of our habits and ultimately the quality of our lives.
Summary
Cool Stuff to Remember-
Batman is the epitome of a self-disciplined person and this trait has enabled him to amass an array of skills and build the strength of character needed to tackle any challenge, even if it means losing and coming back to try again.
We can draw inspiration from this and emulate it in the following ways-
Build the Capacity for Self-Discipline by
1 Practice it daily
2 Adopt the Right Mindset
3 Get some Perspective
Stretch out that Self-Discipline by
1 Habituating as many productive behaviors as you can
2 Limit yourself to introducing one or two at a time
3 Begin to see identity change in yourself
This is big picture, theoretical stuff. That doesn’t mean it’s not important, but as Chris Gullibeau says, “Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better!” If you liked this article or found it informative, inspiring, etc., know that more is coming including more actionable tips and insights, covering motivation, productivity, and habits inspired by real world figures, superheroes and the like. I drew inspiration for this article from a few different resources, several of which are linked below. They’re guaranteed to motivate you and get you thinking about what’s possible in your life!
Resources-
Atomic Habits by James Clear (a habits book that is easy to grasp and offers immediate, actionable advice)
The Power of Habit by Charles DuHigg (a great habits book on the formation of habits and how they affect individuals and organizations)
The Long Halloween, by Jeff Loeb and Tim Sale
The Dark Knight Trilogy, directed by Christopher Nolan
Easter Eggs-
Oh and for some inspiration, that awesome training montage…
