Self-discipline

Self-discipline

The 3^rd part of success is one that will challenge and stretch you forever. It is just as challenging as attitude & closely tied to it. Self-discipline is very simply the ability to systematically and progressively work towards a goal until you achieve it. This is your ability to say this is what I really want in life and this is how I'm going to get it! So if I have to give up some things to get it I will because it's worth it in the long run.  Now I know what you are thinking, this is the part where I put aside all of the fun in my life and become some boring drone that never has any fun, work 20 hours a day for some company that  fires you weeks before your retirement and you just eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, work. I completely understand. That is just how I thought of self-discipline before I started this 5 year journey into understanding the fundamentals of success. What I have learned is that Self-discipline is all about knowing what you want, going after it with passion and putting off or limiting the things that will keep you from getting the thing you want. That’s not boredom that’s drive, the spice of life. So many people go through life saying if only I could or if only I had this or that or done this or that. This is your life go for what you want. Don't let fear hold you in shackles as it does so many.  You only get one go at this life so  fail your way to success if you have to but for heaven sake shoot for the stars. Don't be the guy that in 10 years says I wish I had done this or that. Be the one that says what a ride it was that got me here. Now I know you're asking? How can I be that and self-disciplined. Well if you know what you want and you work toward this thing systematically and progressively you end up with what you want. This gives you all the things you want and that my friend is how we end up with a happy life. You in the journey of going after all the things you want will not get to do some things but you get to do all the ones you wanted. And by not wasting time with the stuff that would keep you from your goals you end up achieving them. Or to put it another way by knowing what you want you do not get side tracked with the garbage that would keep you from what you want. It is more complicated than that but in simple terms, Self-discipline is the ability to see what will keep you from what you want and not get distracted by it. Now let's look at a couple of examples: if you want six pack abs you have to work out. More to the point you have to work your core. So if you go to the gym and work chest all day you will never get your abs. So what we have to do is focus on what we want. If you want to lose weight but you never change the way you eat or go to the gym you will never lose weight. As you can see it is pretty simple, self-discipline is going to the gym every day. I know what you are thinking now too, but what if “insert the excuse”. Now we are getting into the meat and potatoes of it. As you learn to be more self-disciplined that will happen less and less. Like most things in the world we don't all start as rock stars we learn to do so you too will learn to be self-disciplined. One mistake at a time. Every time you hear yourself or think to yourself I’m not going to do the thing that gets me to my goal, you have to stop and think about that. Ask yourself am I really doing this because I can't do whatever it is or am I just giving in because I want to be lazy? More often than not what your brain tells you to do is the opposite of what we should do. That’s just the way it is programmed. So we have to reprogram it. One thought at a time. One day at a time. The more you train the stronger your self-discipline will be. I will put a list of things that you can do to help train your self-discipline in another post but for now just focus on doing what you need to do to get one small thing for the week. That should be a good starting point. As always your comments are always appreciated and I believe we have the subscribe by email currently but we will be upgrading the subscriber options soon thank you and good bye for now.

Organization

Organization

Of the 3 things I believe you must have to be successful, organization is one of the least talked about and most over looked. It is vitally important. Without organization  you  start projects without finishing them, you will waste time & money, & you will miss critical events.  So what is organization? I define organization  as the ability to manage your time well. We get 24 hours in a day, no more no less. What we do with these hours will separate the successful from the mediocre. A good friend of mine was once told by his father that he could play now and pay later or pay now play later. Wow think about that. That was a huge life lesson. He just in very simple terms outlined a fundamental truth of life...One way or another you will pay! It has been my experience that if you try to pay later you will pay more. It starts a never ending game of catch up rigged for you to lose. But that is a different topic for another time. Back to organization. 24 hours, the richest man on the planet can not buy one more second of time. We have what we are given, no more. Time is the great equalizer. Without looking at how we spend our time we will waste it. Ask yourself how much TV do you watch? Do you play video games for hours on end? Now I have nothing against either of these activities but ,if you are like me, you could lose a whole day to either. That, as I came to understand, was one of the obstacles keeping me in a situation where I could not advance my goals and dreams. I had to look at how many hours I had in a week. 24 in a day x 7 day= 168 hr. how many do I sleep 5-8  hours a night x 7 night = 35-56 hours of sleep. How many do I spend working 8-12 x 5-7 days= 40-84 hours. As you can see already if you were at the later side of this chart you already used up 140. if you throw in kids and a little TV you're out of time. So you really have to put thought into where your time gos. Now even if you are on the short end of this chart, 75 hours gone. A little under half your time is gone. as you can see it gos fast. Orginazation is a simple way to make sure you are on track to your goals. I'm not talking about planing out your whole life or every second of your day. You can do that if you wish to, here I am talking about getting things in line, knowing what the next step is, having control of your time, and knowing when to do things yourself and when to let others do them for you. For example, a lot of people believe that if they have an issue with their car, like the radiator was to go out, that fixing it themselves is cheaper than having it fixed at the repair shop. Now for some this may be true. But for most, the day spent working on the car and not at work plus the cost of the parts equals more than the repairs would have cost so they actually lost more money doing it themselves.

Day off: 8hr at $22 an hour = $176 + part coast $195.99 - 229.99 for  a total  of: $381.99

Repair: $250.00 - 320.00

Add in the aggravation of not having the right tools, stripping out a bolt, or breaking something and  you can see how much you lose doing it yourself.

( these prices where taken from auto repair shops and part dealers in texas)

Now I said all that to show how without being organized we can lose more than if we know the true value of our time and put it to it's best use.

When we think  of organization we must think in terms of what do we need to do and what is the best use of our time to accomplish those tasks then set forth a plan to get the task done. We make plans for the day so we do not waste our time and so that we can keep a record of where we spend our time. it's also a way to keep focused. When you have a clear plan on what you want to get done, you can avoid getting side tracked. Also by keeping a record of where you need to be and the obligations you have already made you will miss less important dates. As well, having the ability to set schedules allow us to track progress, set up areas to check our progress, and make adjustments. As you can clearly see organization is another critical skill for us to hone.