Earlier today I followed a link from LinkedIn to a Fox News health article on reasons why you're not as lean as you want to be. While it's not one of my normal sources for health-related information, that article articulates well something I've held to be true for quite a while now:

You Believe the Myth of Discipline

There is no such thing as discipline, all we have is love. Either you love being lean and ripped, or you love burgers, fries and donuts. Stop making excuses about having a “lack of discipline” and man up -- what do you love the most?

Now, I'm not focusing on getting "lean and ripped" necessarily, but I think this idea holds true to fitness in general.

When I was very overweight it wasn't because I had less discipline then than I do now. It was because my primary desire was to eat whatever I felt like and to relax in my off-hours. So, while I didn't necessarily want an overweight body and generally poor fitness, it was the cost of putting those things first.

A change of mind and heart was required to get fit. I had all the knowledge and resources necessary to get fit but it couldn't happen until being fit became a desire greater than my desire for food & relaxation. I didn't get some infusion of discipline which allowed me to lose weight, rather I changed my mind with regards to what I really wanted.

Ultimately, I believe this is the most important aspect of getting fit; the change of mind that puts being fit at the top of your desires.

Basically I have to agree with you, although knowledge and awareness play a role as well. I have just experienced success in whittling 20 pounds off, returning me to the weight I possessed as a college sophomore.

My wife introduced me to a very simple system - simply record the caloric value of everything you consume each day and monitor your weight consistently. i have been dropping about a pound a week using this system, without depriving me or starving, or, indeed, changing my habits to any marked degree. It sure feels nice.

It is clearly a matter of priorities. I can now go right past the doughnut display at the local market. I would rather have a banana (100 cals) than a doughnut (300 cals).

While in this context the idea of a "myth of discipline" seems to fit, I would disagree with it within a larger context. Yes, desire is a much stronger motivator, and building the desire for what you really want works in fitness. Discipline is not a myth, and being able to stay a course that is difficult, tedious or fraught with setbacks requires more than love, it requires discipline. habit can help, building the habits that support fitness and health can ease the difficulties, we are comfortable in our routines and something repeated often is easier to do than something we do rarely. There are many ways to enhance motivation: Positive feedback, progress, positive social environment that supports the desired habits and end goal. There are times when sheer bloody mindedness is all that is left, and not giving up is more important than succeeding. But that is not discipline either. Discipline is knowing what the right thing is and doing it in spite of contrary motivations, distractions, difficulties or social pressures.