The D word that nobody uses enough

Discipline.

This is my word of the week.

In my office, I have this cool little white board. I have dry erase markers and every week, there's a word that I value that I put on the board. As I work, I see this word and it becomes a sort of mental soccer ball that I play with throughout the day. For the whole week, I am centering my loose thoughts on this word or concept.



This week's word is discipline, and as I was writing the Monday Motivation to the members of the Inspired Living Community, I realized that discipline is an overlooked word in lifestyle, business, and personal success. We hear about persistence and the importance of "going hard" no matter what, but how often are we reminded that success is largely a matter of personal responsibility?

I know discipline isn't as glamorous as the other words thrown around in inspirational quotes, but I don't know a single successful person who isn't disciplined in one or many ways. Without discipline, you find yourself never really finishing what you start because you slack off of the habits necessary to make major headway.

Sometimes we look at the success and accomplishments of others and marvel at what they've done. From Olympic athletes to billionaire moguls, we want to know the secret.

It's not smarts - we've seen some not so bright people who've managed to achieve success. It's not connections - we've seen people who were nobodies make names for themselves. It's not education or money or stunning good looks - it's the vision to do something meaningful, the choice to be excellent and have excellent things, and then the discipline to remain focused and see that intention through until the end.

In what areas of your life are you lacking discipline? The most important things you need to do are easy to do and easy not to do. It would be easy for you to drink water, exercise, read, work on your business, or invest in your relationships today, right? It'd also be just as easy to do the opposite. The difference is discipline. Get clear about what results you want to create and then distill the necessary actions down to 1-2 simple, powerful habits that can get you there when done consistently. There are no magic pills and potions - discipline and consistency is how you achieve anything worth while.

Focus on developing discipline this week and honoring your commitments to be, do, and have the best. No matter how hungry you are for success, you have to have a plan - and even if you have the best plan in the world, it means nothing if you don't have the discipline to execute the plan. Discipline is the secret to success.

Since you read this far, I'm willing to let you borrow discipline as your word this week too. I'm disciplined with eating veggies so I'm going to go enjoy some cabbage.

Later.