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Let's get one thing clear, a lot of people look like they're worth a lot of money, but they could barely pay the rent. Other people look absolutely horrible, but they have quite a bit of money stashed away. You have to understand that if you want to earn a million bucks and look like somebody and look like it, you have to focus on one thing and one thing alone.
I'm not talking about your intelligence although that helps tremendously, I'm not talking about your good looks either. Sure, good looks can open a lot of doors for you, it can help you run into more opportunities, but in of itself, your appearance is not going to take you as far as you would like it to.
I'm also not talking about your emotional appeal. Sure, you may know how to read people and get along with different kinds of personalities, but at the end of the day, there is one particular personal trait that wins out over all these other qualities.
Believe it or not, discipline is the secret to success. It's more important than intelligence, good looks, or emotional intelligence.
You have to understand that discipline enables you to do whatever you need to do for however long it takes to achieve success. Even if you are not all that intelligent, or don't really have much of a clue by being able to control yourself so that you are able to put in the kind of work that will enable you to figure things out, is the secret ingredient to victory.
This pays off in all areas of your life. In fact, if you have chosen to be more disciplined in one particular area, don't be surprised if the self-control and personal ownership you have achieved in that one area, carries over to the other aspects of your life.
This all sounds great and everything, but there's just one problem, discipline is a dirty word nowadays. Seriously, if you need proof of this, please take note of the fact that as recently as 10 years ago, people were were perfectly happy with their pizzas being delivered 30 minutes or it's free. Most people back then could live with the 30-minute guarantee. Not anymore. In fact, if you ask around your local area, it probably would be very easy for you to find pizza shops who would guarantee delivery in 15 minutes or your pie is free.
It seems that with every passing decade, people's attention span and their patience continue to shrink. Discipline, for all practical purposes, is a dirty word nowadays. It seems like some sort of oldfashioned concept that has no place in today's world. I really can't blame people for thinking this way because if you download a mobile app, you're looking for instant results. If you access any kind of a website on the internet, you're looking for instant results. We want everything to be quick, easy, and effortless.
The good news? If you think this is depressing, think again. Now that you know that everybody's patience and tolerance for inconvenience or discomfort continues to shrink, it doesn't take much thinking to realize that this gives you a tremendous competitive advantage.
By training yourself to just be more disciplined than everyone else, you will end up on top, more likely than not. Remember, everybody else's discipline level is going down. Everybody else is constantly looking for faster, easier, and more effortless ways to do things. That's where things are headed. But if you were to head the other direction and train yourself to put up with a lot more and stick to whatever commitments you have gotten into, you gain a competitive advantage. As the old saying goes, the oneeyed man is king in the kingdom of the blind.
Please keep this in mind, by simply investing time, effort, and energy in building up your personal discipline, you gain a competitive advantage. This advantage flies across the border. I don't care whether you're talking about your business, your career, academics or relationships. If you become the most disciplined person in a room, you have a competitive advantage.
You're more likely to benefit from opportunities. You are more likely to have the intellectual, mental, and emotional firepower needed to take advantage of opportunities as they present themselves.
What happens if you are the most disciplined person at work? Well, first of all, you are more likely to show up on time every time. This makes you look good in front of everybody else because everybody's looking to do the least amount of work for the most amount of pay. You on the other hand, have committed to showing up at work and putting in full value. This means that if you committed to 8 hours of work, you are going to deliver 8 hours to work.