Discipline is the Greatest Key to Success
When I look back at any point in my life where I was really doing it all — getting in shape, excelling in school or work, developing new and positive relationships, and just feeling the best about myself there was always one consistent variable present: Discipline.
Discipline is the underlying force that pushes us to succeed in whatever it is we do and far exceeds any other mental strategy in achieving one’s goals and aspirations. There are many mental strategies that exist in our collective consciousness that we employ in an attempt to get what we want in life. Some popular examples include: following your dreams, focusing on what brings you happiness, following the path of least resistance, and so on. While these success strategies are a great start in determining what goals you want to focus on, they are not effective strategies to actually achieve them.
When it comes down to it, there is no easy way to do anything worth shooting for. When all is said and done one must hit the grindstone and get to work. However, all is not pain and misery once we can accept this fundamental fact. Once we embrace discipline as a tool and not a burden we are truly able to begin experiencing the satisfaction that comes from goal achievement.
Think of all the things in your life that you’ve been putting off and imagine how it feels to have all of those to-do items checked off your list. Feels pretty good right? The only way to check those items off the list is to go line item by line item and put in the work to get them done.
The act of accepting challenging tasks will strengthen your ability to continue accepting challenging tasks in the future, thus making your chance of success higher and higher as you go. Therefore, it can become easier to do those tasks since you are conditioning your ability to start them in the first place.
Discipline as a strategy of goal achievement is nothing new. How else was a single man like Michelangelo able to paint the Sistine Chapel in four years? He had a higher calling that motivated his work, sure, but I can guarantee you that man did not wake up every morning feeling just as excited and motivated as the last. He needed a deep reserve of discipline and the acceptance of hard work as a means to achieve greatness.
What is new though is a lack of appreciation for the art of discipline in today’s world.
With the advent of social media, instant-gratification culture, and a self-help sphere of get-rich-quick schemes, we have lost touch with what it means to work hard for the things that we want in life. We expect things but aren’t willing to do what is necessary to acquire them. This expectation leads to disappointment when at the end of the day we are left to ask where all the time went.
To those of you struggling with getting things done and a general feeling of a lack of accomplishment, repeat to yourself the title of this article: Discipline is the Greatest Key to Success. Wear discipline like a badge of honor and watch as your to-do line items are checked away and a path of success and happiness unfolds before you. “Discipline” is not a word to shy away from, but the answer to everything we’ve ever wanted. You just have to start.
Written by Jacob Lovett
