Years ago, in the weeks prior to starting medical school, my brother-in-law gave me a small card with a message in calligraphy: “Discipline is remembering what you want.” I affixed it to the wall of my new study carrel where it remained for a long time until, years later, I passed it along to a friend who needed it more than I.

Discipline is remembering what you want. What do you want? What do I want?

1. I want my clothes to fit more or less the same as they did last year.
2. I want to know that nothing I eat is going to upset my stomach, make me tired, or make my eyes burn.
3. I want to count on having enough energy to be able to bounce up the stairs.
4. I want my family to eat high-quality, nutrient-dense food.

That’s me. You can make your own list. So what do you want? Discipline is not the same as what you want. Discipline, rather, is keeping it in mind.

Let’s say, for example, that you’ve decided that your first goal is to stop eating corn syrup. It’s important to recall that we make most of our major food decisions not in the kitchen but at the supermarket. If you don’t bring it home, you can’t eat it, pack it, or cook it. How can you mobilize discipline?

1. Shop after meals, not before. Don’t arrive at the supermarket even a little bit hungry.
2. Keep a list. It may not prevent all your impulse purchases, but it will definitely help. You could try downloading a real-food grocery list and sticking it on the refrigerator.
3. Place an order on line, and pick it up, packed and ready, when it’s convenient for you. This way, you won’t even enter the supermarket.

Let’s say you’ve mastered the corn syrup problem, and your new goal is to increase the amount of green leafy vegetables in your diet. How to tackle this one?

1. Head straight to the green leaves in the produce department with your empty cart. That’s actually pretty easy, because most grocery stores are set up to funnel arriving shoppers straight into the produce section, first thing.
2. Bring a special grocery bag or lunch bag for your greens, and put the greens into your designated bag. This is a much better strategy than limiting your purchase to what you can squeeze into the front of your cart, underneath all the other produce you select.

Maybe you want to kick your ice cream habit, but you realize that you love ice cream too much to go there.

1. I’m going to say something counterintuitive here: Buy the highest quality ice cream you can afford, with the fewest ingredients. Make sure all the ingredients can be bought in your grocery store. No polysorbate, no glycerides. No nonsense.
2. Then serve yourself a cup or mug (not a bowl), and eat it slowly with a teaspoon. No TV, no reading, no computer. Just you, a spoon, and a bowl of the best ice cream you’ve ever eaten. This is called mindfulness, and it is very satisfying.
3. Stay far away from any so-called ice cream that is “light,” “lite,” “diet,” or fake. These are manufactured calories. Not food.

Finally, be kind to yourself. Discipline is remembering what you want. Some days, frankly, are more difficult than others. You may not always remember as well as you would like. But you get to try again tomorrow. So try not to worry. Do the best you can, and let it go at that.