Sample Content Preview
Let's get one thing clear. The word “discipline” is not exactly popular nowadays. In fact, a lot of people treat it like the D word. People think that discipline is either old fashioned or simply inapplicable to our modern age.
It's easy to think of discipline as something quaint. Kind of like a relic from the time of our grandparents. They needed self discipline, but it's very easy for us to think that we are exempt from it.
It's understandable why a lot of people are under this impression because we live in a world that worships convenience. If you don't believe me, try ordering a pizza. If you live in a major metropolitan area in the United States, the standard delivery time is 15 minutes.
If your local pizzeria can not deliver the goods within that time, your pizza is absolutely free. When you go on the internet, when you buy anything from Amazon, you are bombarded with all sorts of free shipping or 2 day delivery offers.
It goes with the territory. It seems that the more we live our lives, the more we are trained to expect instant gratification. We want the good stuff that life has to offer and we want it now. In fact, a lot of people want it yesterday.
That's how impatient we have become. If you still don't believe me, when was the last time you read anything thoroughly on the internet? My bet would be a long time ago. Chances are when you see any kind of news item on your Facebook timeline, you're probably just scrolling down the page.
You scroll scroll scroll and scroll some more. When you see some sort of keyword or image or video that you like, that's when you stop. Once you get a good idea of what the article is talking about, then you go on to the next item and then the next item after that.
You are hardly alone. The more we use the internet and the more we interact with people online, our attention span becomes shorter and shorter. It all boils down to convenience. But here's the problem. Until and unless you develop self-discipline, your chances of getting the best things in life are going to diminish.
In fact, depending on your situation, it may be a near impossibility. Self-discipline is that important. When you're self-disciplined, you focus on the big picture. You find it in you to do the hard and necessary stuff now so you can get bigger rewards in the future.
This is not sexy. Far from it. A lot of people think that this is some sort of drudgery. This is punishment. This is some unpleasant chore that they would rather avoid. And who can really blame them? When you are working on something necessary, the reward may be so far off that it might as well be invisible.
Eventually, you start thinking to yourself, “What am I doing? I could be out there having fun with my friends. I could be doing more pleasurable things. I can be lazy because hey, let's face it, laziness pays off immediately. Hard work pays off a long time from now.”
Do you see the disconnect? Do you see why a lot of people would rather not choose self-discipline?
Is there something that you did in the past that constantly makes you feel guilty and remorseful until today? Is there an event from your past you wish, above everything else, to change? Of course, none of us have access to a time machine so the facts are the facts. Things happened in the past that many of us are not all that happy with.
However, you take it to a whole other level. You’re just extremely guilty about it. You feel that it basically defines who you are, where you're going, what you're capable of, and somehow some way poisons you're relationships in the here and now. In fact, if you're suffering from this, guilty thoughts about the past make up a significant percentage of your daily thoughts.
Despite how tempting it is to just drop self-discipline and just go with your feelings and pick and activity that is so much more pleasurable and easy, lack of self-discipline can cause serious problems.
In fact, the vast majority of people fail to live up to their fullest potential primarily because of lack of self-discipline. Now, if you were to ask them individually, they probably will give you a million and 1 reasons why they are living their lives far below their expectations.
Maybe they'll blame other people. Maybe they'll say that they just had bad childhoods. Maybe some would owe up to bad decisions. But very few would say that it was their lack of self-discipline that is the ultimate cost.
Just how bad will it get for you if you have no self-discipline? What if you just think that self-discipline is such a low priority that you don't bother to develop it. well, it has serious consequences. I don't mean to be dramatic. But I'm just going to lay out what you stand to lose if you neglect practicing self-discipline on a day to day basis.
One of the most powerful American movies ever made is On the Water Front starring Marlon Brando. One of Brando's iconic lines from that movie was “I could've been a contender.” One of the worst things that you can do with your life is to constantly think back and imagine what could've been.
You keep asking yourself “What if I did this? I should've done that. I knew I would've done this if something else happened. I could have been something else.”
Sounds familiar? Well, you're not exactly alone. A lot of people report a life of regret. They start out young with a whole world in front of them. There's so many doors of opportunities. There's so many different ways they could've gone with their life. But here they are.
Obviously, for them to feel regret or remorse at this point in their lives means they're not all that happy with how things turned out. They spend and inordinate amount of their time as well as their emotional energy on thinking about what could've, should've or would have happened if things only turned out a different way.
Is that the kind of life you want for yourself? Well, the problem is if you have little self-discipline, there's a high chance you will live a life of regret. You will be thinking to yourself “What if I stuck with the hard but necessary goals in front of me? What if I just stuck with it instead of just dropping everything and going for something that's easier or a lot more fun?”
The worst part to all of this is that it's so lonely. You feel that the only person that's going through this is you. That's not true because if people are completely honest with themselves and really say what's in their heart, there's a lot of regret. It's very common.