Spiritual Wellness:

Providing Sustainability and Purpose through the art of

Discipline with a “Growth Mindset”

Michael C. Moul
Purdue University Global
HW499 Bachelors Capstone in Health and Wellness
Professor Kristin Henningsen
September 27, 2022
 Agenda
• Overall Message: “As time passes, winning becomes an
afterthought, no longer the goal, instead self-mastery
through discipline takes center stage”
– Course Subsets
• Discipline of Endurance Sports
• Discipline “defined”
• Discipline
• Religious thoughts on Discipline
• Art of taking on a Discipline
https://www.turito.com
• Potential “Guide” for Endurance Athletes
• Mindset making Kepchoge a “Guide”
• Growth Mindset
• Applying a “Growth Mindset” in Endurance Sports
 Discipline of Endurance Sports
• Endurance Sports:
– “Characterized by repeated isotonic contractions of large skeletal
muscle groups” (Morici, 2016)
– Examples:
• Running
• Swimming
• Cycling
• Obstacle Course participation
https://www.researchgate.net
– Goal in training:
• “Progressively moving the anaerobic threshold… anaerobic metabolism
and lactate production towards higher exercise intensity” (Morici, 2016)
• Increase Mitochondria density
• Increase oxidative enzymes
 Discipline “defined”
• Semantic (relating to meaning in logic/language) of discipline (Encyclopedia, 2022)
– Derived from two Latin roots:

Latin root word: Latin root word:

• Discere: “to learn” • Disciplus: “pupil”
• Forming Indo-European From Latin word:
root: • Discapere: “to grasp” in
• dek- “take or accept” the sense of “to take hold
(Encyclopedia, 2022)
of mentally” and thus “to
English word understand” (Encyclopedia, 2022)
• Disciple, “One who follows the • Forming Indo-Euro
instructions of a teacher” root:
(Encyclopedia, 2022)
• Kap- “grab hold of”
(Encyclopedia, 2022)
 Discipline
• To be disciplined:
(Click on hyperlink motivational guide to discipline)
– “Is to be caught up by the teachings of a guide” (Encyclopedia, 2022)
– Guide (Encyclopedia, 2022)
• A person
• A ethic
• A community
• A historical Tradition
https://www.doversherborn.org/page.cfm?p=780
• A set of ideas
– Undertaking of a discipline:
• “To organize one’s behavior and attitude according to those
teachings” (Encyclopedia, 2022)
 Religious thoughts on Discipline
• Proverbs 12:1
– “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates
reproof is stupid” (The NIV Bible, 2021)
• Proverbs 13:18
– “Poverty and disgrace come to him who ignores instruction,
but whoever heeds reproof is honored” (The NIV Bible, 2021)
• Hebrews 12:11
– “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than
pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness
to those who have been trained by it” (The NIV Bible, 2021)

https://www.orbcfamily.org/
 Art of Taking on a Discipline
• Undertaking
– Taking on the role of disciple for the Discipline
– The discipline is believed to be: (Encyclopedia, 2022)
• True
• Valuable
• Making one “captive” of its teachings
– “Captivity” by the Discipline:
• “Allows one to become who he or she really is, or really could
be” (Encyclopedia, 2022)
• Zen Buddhists, “One is most free when one is most
disciplined” (Encyclopedia, 2022)
 Potential “Guide” for Endurance Athletes
• Eliud Kipchoge (Eliud Kipchoge…, 2022)
– Born: November 5, 1984
– Country of Origin: Kenya
– Age: 37
– Honors
• 2x Olympic Champion
• 1x World Champion
• 7x Major Marathon winner
• 1x Current World Record holder- Marathon
• 1x Current African Record holder- Marathon
• Berlin (Germany) Marathon time = 2:01:39 (WR) 2018
• London Marathon time = 2:02:37 2019
• Tokyo (Japan) Marathon time = 2:02:40 2022
 Mindset making Kepchoge a “Guide”
• Eliud Kipchoge
– “I believe in a philosophy that says to win is actually not important…
to be successful is not even important” (Fitzgerald, 2021)

– “Only the disciplined ones are free in life. If you aren’t disciplined, you
are a slave to your moods. You are a slave to your passions. That’s a
fact.”(Eluid Kipchoge…, 2020)

– “Make discipline your lifestyle. Discipline is not a one-time event. Self-

discipline is like building your muscle. It’s like going to the gym. You
can not go to the gym today and build your muscle. You should get a
program and go slowly by slowly. That’s the way to build your muscle
and that’s the way you can have discipline.”(Eluid Kipchoge…, 2020)
 Growth Mindset
• “Growth Mindset” (Bulsiewicz, 2020)
(Click on hyperlink to YouTube Video for quick overview of subject)

– “Apply yourself and get really invested

in working toward you goal”
– “Not about who we are, but what we
are capable of becoming”
– Accomplishes:
• Development of new skill
• Changing your life

https://speakingofleadership.com
Applying a “Growth Mindset” in Endurance
Sports
– Does not:
• Focus on “winning”
– Instead Focuses on:
• Setting goals https://milltain.com/management/goal-or-process-oriented/

• Progression
– Does not overly emphasize:
• “Success, skill, or perfection”(Bulsiewicz, 2020)
– Instead focuses on:
• “Effort, learning, and persistence” (Bulsiewicz, 2020)
 Conclusion to 3 week Course
• Spiritual Wellness provides:
– Purpose for extending training post event
– Purpose of pursuing a “discipline”
– “Growth mindset” encouraging using gained skills
with other disciplines in life
 Resources
BULSIEWICZ, W. I. L. L. (2020). Fiber fueled: The plant-based gut health program for losing
weight, restoring your health, and... optimizing your microbiome. AVERY PUB GROUP.

Eliud Kipchoge - 15 motivational quotes about training and life. Eliud Kipchoge - 15
Motivational Quotes About Training and Life -. (2020, June 25). Retrieved September 19,
2022, from https://www.sweatelite.co/eliud-kipchoge-motivational-quotes-about-training-
and-
life/#:~:text=%E2%80%9COnly%20the%20disciplined%20ones%20are,That's%20a%20fa
ct.%E2%80%9D

Eliud Kipchoge: Profile: World athletics. worldathletics.org. (2022). Retrieved September 19,
2022, from https://worldathletics.org/athletes/kenya/eliud-kipchoge-14208194

Encyclopedia (2022). Spiritual Discipline. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved September 19, 2022,

from https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-
maps/spiritual-discipline

Fitzgerald, M. (2021, July 6). Endurance racing as a spiritual experience. 80/20 Endurance.
Retrieved August 14, 2022, from https://www.8020endurance.com/endurance-racing-as-
a-spiritual-experience/

Frankl, Viktor E. Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy. New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1984

Morici, G., Gruttad'Auria, C. I., Baiamonte, P., Mazzuca, E., Castrogiovanni, A., & Bonsignore,
M. R. (2016). Endurance training: is it bad for you?. Breathe (Sheffield, England), 12(2),
140–147. https://doi.org/10.1183/20734735.007016