“With self-discipline, anything is possible.” Teddy Roosevelt – Self-discipline
How do we know when self-discipline is in our best interest?
Self-discipline is hard for students. It requires that they shut out distractions, develop routines and exercise impulse control. Authority figures tell students that self-discipline is worth it, that at the end of the day their work will be rewarded. But it doesn’t feel that way sometimes because the pay off is way down the road.
Join Steve and Dan Fouts for a conversation about self-discipline using the Teach Different 3-Step conversation method.
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Image source: Library of Congress
Transcript
Steve Fouts 00:07
Hey everybody, Steve and Dan Fouts here. We are teaching different with former American President Teddy Roosevelt with a quote about self-discipline. Here’s the quote. “With self discipline, anything is possible.” Self-discipline is one of those words that students are going to be familiar with. They’re probably also familiar with discipline. You have things that you want to do, but sometimes it’s not appropriate for you to do them. What you have to do is mentally step back and control your urges or impulses. By and large people know there are benefits to using self-discipline. You get up early in the morning and go to school every day, because it’s the right thing to do, and later you’ll be happy you did because you got good grades. You realize the benefits to self-discipline. People who exercise regularly see the benefits. But, there’s also this notion of the mental self-discipline that people struggle with on a daily basis. Maybe you feel angry or want to laugh at something, but it’s not the appropriate time to express those feelings. You have this internal checking mechanism that tells you to control yourself and wait for a more appropriate time to have that emotional reaction. What claim do you think he’s making with this quote? “With self discipline, anything is possible.”
Dan Fouts 02:12 – Claim
What I would add is that you can accomplish anything in life, if you are self-disciplined. This is a great opportunity to ask the kids to share examples of things that they have accomplished in their life as a result of self-discipline. It could be having self-discipline to do their homework, to become a really good player on a team, or in the band. The students will come up with many great examples where they can point to their success, and attribute it to having the self-discipline to work at it day after day after day. That would be a really great way to learn more about your students and what they’re interested in. When you do these things, institute these routines or habitual behaviors, then you will be successful. We tell students that when they do the little things, it will lead to big things in the end. It can be difficult, as you mentioned, to resist your impulses. Roosevelt was a self-disciplined man.
Steve Fouts 03:42
The situation we find ourselves in now with the Coronavirus, social distancing, paranoia, feeling uncomfortable when you walk outside and interact with people, is keeping us on guard much more than usual. You have to be more in control of yourself in order to not overreact to anything, because things feel a bit unstable. You need mental discipline to keep yourself on the right track.
Dan Fouts 04:09 – Counterclaim
In terms of the counterclaim, I see a danger or a downside to self-discipline. When you form habits and routines, it can be very difficult to break them, especially when you need to adapt to a new environment. With this virus outbreak, we are having to break some of our habits in order to adapt to a very different environment. Not sticking to your self-discipline, being more flexible, allows you to be more adaptable to situations like the one we find ourselves in.
Steve Fouts 05:58 – Essential Question
Yeah, I agree with that critique. Sometimes self-discipline becomes a bit rigid. Although it can keep you safe and out of trouble in certain situations, it can also make you blind to certain situations when change and adaptation are needed. It’s something that can keep you out of trouble. Someone who has self-discipline not to overreact to one thing or another might not be in the right mental state to make an immediate change in their behavior. Being too rigid with how you control yourself can pose a threat to safety and success. Here’s an essential question you can use to close up the conversation and inspire some reflective thinking. How do we know when self discipline is in our best interest?
Dan Fouts 07:10
A more direct curriculum connection could be the prohibition movement in American history. The reformers hoped they could help people exercise impulse control, and encourage self-discipline towards drinking habits, because alcohol was having such a destructive impact on society. That would be a good movement to teach right after this conversation, to get kids thinking about the importance of self discipline.
Steve Fouts 07:58
Yeah, and I think emphasizing the importance of self-discipline as a mental checking mechanism, and how in some environments it’s a very useful tool, but in other environments, adaptability is more appropriate. Well, we hope you enjoyed Teddy Roosevelt and his quote on self-discipline this week. Make sure you visit our Conversation Library where we have many conversations like this, each with a different quote, a sample claim, counterclaim, and an essential question to get you started. Everybody, take care and be safe out there. We will see you soon.
Dan Fouts 08:51
All right, see you everybody.
