Self Discipline

Life is full of choices. Whether you consciously make choices or not, you make them. Some by intent; some by default. If you decide by default, who’s in control of your life? Not you! The world controls you. If you decide by choice, you are not guaranteed that everything will go according to plan but at least you are doing something that will allow you to learn from mistakes, grow with humility, and chart your path forward. Without mindful decision making, it’s out of our hands.

I’ve heard the arguments against self discipline. Those people lack spontaneity. They’re boring. They’re killjoys. You may believe all of that is true but there’s another way to view the self disciplined. They’re dependable. They achieve. They succeed. And it’s all by design not by accident. They do not rely on luck but they’ll never take credit for what was incidental to their efforts. The self disciplined are more likely to create “luck” than are the undisciplined. They create luck by setting the actions in motion that allow the serendipitous to occur.

No one can tell you what your secret formula will be. That’s for you to discover. And don’t let anyone fool you, even the most self disciplined person in the world will have their moments. It’s not what you did last night or last week or even last year; it’s what you do now that matters. Self discipline always exists in the present. Reload your thinker and take charge of your thinking. That’s where it all starts. In our minds and with our mindsets. Self discipline is a mindset. If we are self disciplined, we make a conscious decision to do what we need to do to move ourselves forward rather than rely on the rest of the world to move us.