I woke up at 6:08 a.m. today. Jiu Jitsu class is at 6:30 a.m. I slept like crap last night. Couldn’t fall asleep and was up every hour or more. As soon as I woke up, I grabbed my phone and started drafting a text to Coach: “Hey, I can’t make it in today, I didn’t get any sleep—”

Then I deleted my text and started drafting a text to Shania, “Ughh I don’t think I can go to class this morning, I’m exhausted—” deleted that text. Took a deep breath.

Then I started thinking to myself that people train every day, and they go to class when they’re going through something worse than a bad night of sleep. If they can still make it to class, why can’t I?

And I thought about my training partners. If I don’t go, they can’t train with and learn from me, and I can’t train with and learn from them. What kind of training partner does that?

And I thought about my coach, who I’m sure has had terrible sleep more than once, but he still shows up every morning for us.

So it’s my duty to show up for him, myself, and my partners.

So I hustled, made it to class, and am really glad I did.

This morning’s struggle reminded me of a passage from Marcus Aurelius:

“At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: ‘I have to go to work—as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for—the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?’”

The most powerful man in the world at the time—the emperor of Rome—still had to persuade himself to get out of bed in the morning. He had everything, yet even he felt the pull of comfort and inertia. If Marcus Aurelius had to fight the same battle, then of course we do too. It’s human.

But he didn’t stay under the blankets. He reminded himself of his purpose and his duty. And that’s what got him moving.

We all face these moments. The alarm goes off, and we think of all the reasons to stay put. The easier choice is always right there, whispering to us. But discipline isn’t about doing things when they’re easy—it’s about doing them when they’re hard.

So when that resistance creeps in, remind yourself: this is what you were made for. You were made to show up, to push yourself, to be there for your teammates, to get better, even when you don’t feel like it.

And just like Marcus, you’ll be glad you did.