From 0 to 240k followers: The Discipline That Built My Dream Life
The Unsexy Truth About Discipline (That Changed My Life at 24)
So many people ask me: how did you grow to 240k followers in just 14 months?
The answer? Consistency.
But consistency only works if you understand one thing: discipline.
And discipline isn’t forcing yourself to do things you hate.
It’s building patterns so strong that not doing them feels wrong.
I get a lot of backlash for my habits. Some call them “extreme.” Compared to the average person, maybe they are.
But without this mindset, I wouldn’t have:
Built a six-figure net worth by 24
Gone full-time as a content creator, making my first £16k month recently
Landed YSL and Prada PR
Gotten invited to brand events
Signed five-figure brand deals — all within a year
Here’s the truth: I enjoy the things most people label as “hard.”
Saving money. Keeping my space tidy. Eating healthy. Limiting alcohol. Reading. Hitting 10,000 steps. Creating content every day.
I don’t force myself. They give me energy.
When I share what I don’t spend money on, people say: “Live a little. Make the most of your 20s.”
But to me, making the most of my 20s means chasing my dreams relentlessly. I don’t get happiness from “things.” I get it from consistently building the life I want.
Maybe it’s partly upbringing. Maybe it’s being a Type A older sister, if you know, you know.
But here’s the good news: self-discipline isn’t genetic. It’s a skill you can train.
And once you have it, everything else becomes easier.
The Unsexy Shortcut to Becoming Who You Want to Be
1. Redefine it.
Discipline isn’t punishment. It’s just habits that pull you closer to your goals. You’re already disciplined—you just might be disciplined in the wrong things. Refreshing ASOS ‘new in’ every day. Binge-watching Netflix. Scrolling TikTok at midnight. Those are rituals too. The difference is they’re pulling you backwards, not forwards.
Once you shift your identity, your goals and habits will catch up. Take the whole ‘soft life’ trend that’s everywhere on TikTok. It’s nice in theory, but if you fully buy into it, you’ll end up choosing comfort over growth. You can’t want an easy life and also expect to hit your fullest potential, they don’t go hand in hand. If your goal is to do the bare minimum, that’s fine. But if you’re here reading this? I’m guessing you want more.
2. Become disgusted with the opposite outcome.
For me, it was the fear of mediocrity. For you, it might be health scares, financial insecurity, or wasted potential.
Knowledge makes bad choices harder to justify.
I couldn’t even eat crisps the same way after reading Ultra-Processed People. Once I actually knew what went into that food, and connected it to why I always felt sluggish, it was suddenly easy to stop. Now I enjoy and look forward to a healthy meal, I don’t see it as ‘trying to be good’ it just became what I do. Same with Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker. After learning the health risks, pulling all-nighters felt insane. Sleep went from optional to a non-negotiable ritual.
I’m not some diet or health freak either. Getting 8 hours of sleep and eating vegetables isn’t extreme, but in today’s world, maybe it looks that way. What I do know is this: average input = average results. If you want something great, you’ve got to be something great.
3. Fall in love with the process.
When you enjoy the it, it stops feeling like work. I used to wake up at 5am, film, edit on the tube, and then post again at night. Exhausting? Yes. But I was obsessed. I got the same dopamine from creating content as most people do from consuming it.
Even now, on holiday, I can’t help but make a few videos, it feels wrong not to. That’s the level of obsession it takes. I’m not promoting toxic hustle culture here, I don’t think anyone should be burning out for the sake of looking productive. But think about it like this: imagine an athlete sidelined by an injury. It’s not just the physical pain, it’s the mental pain, too. They feel restless, frustrated, even anxious, because their identity is so wrapped up in their craft. Their whole sense of self is tied to showing up, to performing, to doing the thing they love.
If you aren’t obsessed, it probably means you’re chasing someone else’s idea of success, whether that’s your parents’, your peers’, or whatever’s trending in your environment.
When it’s truly yours, it doesn’t just feel right, it becomes addictive.
4. Educate yourself on the benefits.
A lot of people (including past me) can’t get past the salaried or paid-by-the-hour mindset. They literally can’t imagine how £30k in one month could be possible or justified. But once you see the models, the systems, the leverage, it clicks.
This applies to everything. If you want to eat more fruit, ‘because it’s good for you’ probably won’t cut it. But if you know it could improve your skin, help you sleep, boost your concentration, and even reduce the risk of serious disease.
Knowledge creates context. And context is the fuel for action.
5. Design your environment to win.
You’re not lazy, your environment just makes the wrong choice the easy one. I don’t eat a lot of processed junk food because I make sure not to buy it at the supermarket, if I don’t buy it it’s not ‘there’ in my space. Same with money: I automate my savings so I never even see that cash to spend. Want to create content daily? Put your tripod in plain sight. When you build a space that supports your goals, discipline stops being about willpower, it’s just the default.
The truth is, I’m not a superhuman. I still struggle to work out consistently. I sacrificed having an amazing social life for the last year because I was strapped for time. But I focused on the one thing that mattered: posting.
Every post was a lottery ticket — another chance to be seen, another chance at opportunity.
After a year of choosing the ‘hard life’, trading Netflix and ready meals after work for editing and filming, that decision made my life easy. Now I can spend more time with friends and family, train properly, and even do things that feel a bit more frivolous. Most importantly, I have the headspace for true creativity and focus.
When I started posting in my childhood bedroom, I knew it wasn’t aesthetic. I knew people would judge me for still living at home. But in hindsight, it was the best decision I made, because I didn’t wait for a ‘perfect life’ to start. I created my perfect life by starting anyway.
Discipline isn’t about willpower. It’s about making the right thing the easy thing. And once you do that, the rest of your life compounds.
YouTube video/Spotify ep on this topic is live!
Well done Mia. Your progress is really inspiring for others who havent found their consistency just yet