Cover your eyes, because I’m about to type it. That’s right, the “D” word.
This word is something that has a bad rap in the minds of most people, and I’m about to explain why it’s time to change the way we think about it.
After all, you wouldn’t have formed a single good habit in your entire life without its help! You may not have liked it at the time, you may roll your eyes when you hear it, but its presence in your life is critical if you are to keep growing and creating the life of your choosing.
The word is…discipline.
Most of us have trained our brains to have a negative connotation with this word. Why? Because we think of discipline as something we don’t want to do. Right now, however, I am urging you to change your thinking about this one.
Forget what you don’t want to do. Instead, focus only on the results you would like to have.
Take reading, for example. Do you dislike reading, or know someone who dislikes it? If so, I have a question for you, or for you to ask the person you know:
Are you expecting to like to read, or are you expecting to enjoy the results that American adults who read experience?
Statistics show that people who read:
- Make more money than people who don’t read
- Have a lower divorce rate than people who don’t read
- Have fewer problems with their children than people who don’t read
- Get promoted at a higher rate than people who don’t read
- Get hired at a higher rate than people who don’t read
And the list goes on and on.
So do you like to read? The better question is…does it matter whether you like it or not?
Reading is just one of many examples. I always tell people that I don’t particularly enjoy writing, but I do enjoy the results of having written.
From now on, let’s think of discipline like this:
- What do you want?
- What results are you looking for that would totally change your life and the lives of those you care about the most?
- Are those results worth doing something you don’t want to do for relatively small chunks of time?
You have within you the will to get through the tasks you don’t want to do. All you need to do now is change your thought process. Don’t be scared of the “D” word.
What results are you trying to get in your life right now? How are you disciplining yourself to achieve them?
