All of us want freedom. Freedom is thought to be a source of happiness. This is only partially true. You can be free and not happy; however, with freedom comes a greater opportunity for happiness.

Many of us think we are free, but we are not. We are prisoners of debt, bad relationships, and our own thoughts and emotions. In many ways, we have offered ourselves freely over to bondage because we think somehow it will make us happier.

In the human condition, there are three kinds of freedom: freedom of movement; freedom of body/speech; and, freedom of mind/spirit. Being free in all of these areas creates the greatest opportunity for happiness.

Sadly, people often leverage their freedom in search of happiness. We take out student loans for college; we finance cars we can’t afford; we eat too much; we forgo exercise in favor of work; we commit to bad relationships; and, we let our thoughts, emotions, and speech run wild. We gave up our freedom for happiness and lost both in the process.

True freedom in born out of discipline. Discipline is about choosing wisely. Sometimes, discipline requires us to delay pleasure for future reward. Unlike freedom, discipline not only creates the potential for happiness, but also generates it through a disciplined mind. Discipline is a skill that can be practiced and improved on over time.

Listed below are a few examples of how discipline leads to greater freedom and happiness.

Discipline leads to financial freedom. Debt prevents us from achieving most of our long term goals. It keeps us in jobs we hate, in places we’d rather not live, and away from people we love. Being disciplined financially means saying no to debt whenever possible. It means living on a written budget and investing. If done wisely, financial discipline allows us to retire with dignity, and enjoy a life without having to worry about payments. Financial freedom gives us the opportunity to be free of our environments and travel more, which studies show increases happiness.

Discipline leads to physical freedom. Today, so many of us are overweight and in poor physical shape. We choose unhealthy foods and eat too much of them. As we gain weight, we become depressed and eat more. We try to work-out, but because we are out of shape, it is very difficult, and we give up easily. Over time, disease states like diabetes and hypertension set in, making it even harder for us to make changes. Physical discipline means counting calories and allocating time every day for fitness. Being disciplined with diet and exercise means greater food choice in the future. We can eat what we want when you want it without guilt. Being physically disciplined gives us greater freedom of mobility as we age; we won’t have to take pills or go on restrictive diets to manage disease states. We can do more, see more, and travel more because our bodies are healthy. Physical discipline also leads to a decrease in stress hormones and an improvement in mood.

Discipline leads to mental freedom. Many of us are trapped by our own minds. Our thoughts and emotions run wild. We focus on the negative, ignore the positive, and make false conclusions about people and situations. We allow our actions and words to be driven by emotion, which leads to interpersonal struggles, and internal states of anxiety and depression. Mental discipline involves learning to be mindful observers of our own thoughts and emotions. It means taking a daily inventory of what we are grateful for and learning to be more accepting of things that don’t go our way. Mental discipline involves trying to see a situation from another person’s perspective especially when they are at odds with us. It means learning to be an active listener and not reacting with strong emotions. Mental discipline allows us to be free from a turbulent mind and find more peace and enjoyment in our interactions with others.

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