If there is a single ingredient for ensuring success, that has to be discipline. Discipline is ‘knowing’ what to do and ‘doing’ it. It is not the ‘knowing’ that gets you there; it is the ‘doing’! Discipline requires an immense sense of control and self-restraint. The good news is that it can be acquired and inculcated through learning. It may take hard work and patience, but in the end, its rewards are not only fulfilling, but also very enriching

Acquiring discipline

To be disciplined, we must ‘drill’ into our mind habits that will cause us to obey thoughts and take actions that will lead us towards our desired objectives. To ‘drill’ the right habits into our mind, we must bring under control all thoughts and actions that prevent us from moving in the right direction.

Easier said than done, right? Discipline has more to do with ‘action’ than ‘talk’. No amount of positive affirmations or motivational lectures will make you disciplined. Yes, they will motivate you and point you in the right direction, but motivation alone will not ‘move’ you. You will have to ‘do’ what needs to be done to achieve the results you desire.

Anyone can set desired goals and have the motivation to achieve those goals. However, only discipline can ‘take’ you to your goal. This may mean working consistently and assiduously for long hours; doing tasks that you would rather not do, but which are essential in the attainment of your goals; foregoing or putting on hold current comforts and pleasures, etc.

How does discipline help us?

Nearly all successful people, especially the self-made super wealthy, can attest to the importance of discipline in the attainment of goals. They did not get where they are today on a roller coaster: they had to ‘force’ themselves to take the right actions on a daily basis. They stepped out of the ‘comfortable’ and ‘convenient’ and ‘trained’ their mind to take the right actions. To do this, they chose to ‘disobey’ the part of their mind that told them to ‘take it easy and let it be’ and ‘obeyed’ the part of their mind that insisted that they ‘take the right action’. They did not just make decisions; they acted on those decisions.