It’s something that many people want but even more fail to get.
At some point during your childhood, your parents may have mentioned it to you, and if you were anything like me growing up, your teachers and school principals might have felt the need to make you AND your parents aware that you were lacking in it.
There have probably been a few times in your life when you’ve thought to yourself that you need a little bit more of it.
I’m talking about discipline.
During my school years, I didn’t have much discipline.
Rather than listening to my teachers and focusing on their lessons, I opted to goof around with friends and see how much attention I could draw from my fellow classmates.
That changed, though, when I began participating in sports.
Playing sports, particularly football, taught me how to reign in my less-than-disciplined behavior, channel my hyperactive energy, and focus on a goal.
It taught me how to listen.
And, it taught me the importance of having a daily routine, something that is part of my life to this very day.
Discipline’s role
I tend to be a structured person.
I like routine.
Having a daily routine and sticking to it keeps me grounded and simplifies things.
I wake up and go to sleep at the same time every day.
I generally perform the same daily activities during weekdays.
I also eat pretty much eat the same foods and meals during the week.
Sound weird? Yeah, I know.
I admit that, sometimes, I even laugh at myself when I think about how structured I can be.
But, while some people may think structure and discipline are boring and repetitive, it works for me.
To me, structure and discipline equate to stability and predictability.
It gives me greater control over my day and helps anchor me when life gets sideways.
Being disciplined has also helped me achieve some major goals, including entrepreneurship, competing in drug-free bodybuilding competitions, recovering from financial disaster and bankruptcy, and paying off my mortgage.
I couldn’t have accomplished any of it without a TON of discipline.
How can you get it?
The hard truth is that you can’t achieve anything of significance in life without discipline.
Whether it’s getting better shape or improving your financial situation, you’ll have a hard time getting there without discipline.
Discipline is the common denominator.
It’s what you lean on when things get tough and you feel like quitting.
When I decided to pay off my mortgage early three years ago, I knew it would require a lot of discipline,
I knew I’d have to be laser-focused on prioritizing expenses, saying no to things that I wanted, and delaying gratification.
It was all worth it, though, when the payoff confirmation letter from the bank came in the mail.
At the risk of sounding trite, you can achieve anything you want in life.
Discipline will always be the main ingredient in helping you do it.
The good news is that it’s never too late to gain discipline.
None of us are born “disciplined.”
You have to go get it.
I mean, it’s not going to fall from the sky, and it doesn’t grow on trees.
So, how can you get more discipline?
The steps toward gaining more discipline are simple.
During my more than two decades as a certified personal trainer, I owned two training facilities and helped hundreds of people improve their health.
Regardless of my clients’ specific goals, the process for each of them began the same way.
For example, if someone wanted to lose 15 pounds, I didn’t overwhelm them with a hyper-detailed plan to help them achieve it.
I wanted them to set the main goal aside and focus on just one small thing that would help them get there.
The end goal didn’t matter.
You know what did, though?
Developing consistency working out.
If they couldn’t find a way to build consistency, they could forget all about losing those 15 pounds.
I, of course, helped them build that consistency.
Once they had it, they were well on their way to achieving their goal.
That same methodology applies to any goal you’re trying to accomplish.
Too often, we attempt to manage too many things at once, and that often leads to absolutely nothing being “managed.”
Instead, we end up frustrated and, ultimately, failing.
Guess what happens next?
The entire cycle starts all over again.
Set a goal, get frustrated, quit.
By focusing on the tiny steps to achieving a goal, you can learn to build discipline more effectively.
Thinking about the end goal becomes counterproductive.
Paying off my mortgage is a perfect example.
Had I focused exclusively on this massive, seemingly unattainable goal, it would have overwhelmed me.
Instead, I focused on the largest amount from each paycheck I could put toward the mortgage.
Focusing on that instead of the end goal helped me build consistency.
Two-and-a-half years later, that consistency paid off.
The discipline I used in paying off the mortgage is now helping me achieve other financial goals.
That’s the thing about discipline—Once you get it and use it to accomplish a goal, you can use it over and over again.
You’ll be able to pull it out of your back pocket and use it to attack other personal goals.
That’s how it’s worked for me, and it can do the same for you.
Want to lose 10 lbs?
Change ONE thing in your diet—not everything.
Want to build up an emergency fund to reduce your financial stress?
Set aside $25.00 a month—not $125.00 (unless you can afford to do that).
Want to start waking up earlier to get more done during the day?
Set your alram for 6:15 AM instead of 6:30 AM and gradually set it to go off five minutes earlier until you’re at 5:30 AM.
Want to build a new marketable skill to advance your career?
Set aside 20 minutes every day to read a book, watch instructional YouTube videos on your desired skill or sign up for a course.
There’s a saying in business, “If you’re not marketing, you’re dying.”
My spin on that is, “If you’re not improving, you’re dying.”
You’re never too old to improve something in your life or achieve a goal.
Discipline is the key in helping you get there.
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