Discipline Yourself First

How many times have you or someone else you may know fallen off the path to achievement or success?  Perhaps whatever reason or excuse you attribute this to has taken you 'captive' and you can't seem to gain your own personal power back?  Or maybe these reasons/excuses have become a self-fulfilling prophecy?   Leadership, and success, require a very fundamental trait that's not a 'natural ability', in-born, or an innate talent--it's called SELF-DISCIPLINE.  No one achieves and sustains success without it, and no one reaches their maximum potential without it.

If you want to develop your leadership asset of self-discipline, and continue your path to success,  follow these ACTION STEPS:

1) Develop and Follow Your Priorities

If you only do what you must when you're in the mood or when it's convenient, you're not going to be successful.  You need to have a Plan.  If you can determine what's really a priority and release yourself from everything else, it's a lot easier to follow through on what's important.

2) Make a Disciplined Lifestyle Your Goal

To be successful, self-discipline can't be a one-time event.  It has to become a lifestyle.  One of the best ways to do that is to develop systems and routines, especially in areas crucial to your long-term growth and success.

3) Challenge Your Excuses

To develop a lifestyle of discipline, one of your first tasks must be to challenge and eliminate any tendency to make excuses.  If you have several reasons why you can't be self-disciplined, realize they are just a bunch of excuses--all of which need to be challenged if you want to go to the next level as a leader.

4) Remove Rewards until the Job Is Done

I think this one speaks for itself.

5) Stay Focused on Results

Whenever you concentrate on on the difficulty of the work instead of its rewards or results, you're likely to become discouraged.  Dwell on it too long and you'll develop self-pity instead of self-discipline.  The next time you're facing a must-do task and you're thinking of doing what's convenient instead of paying the price, change your focus.  Count the benefits of doing what's right, and then dive in!

                          Ways to Improve Your Self-Discipline

• Sort out your priorities - Think about 2 or 3 areas of your life that are most important to you.  Write them down, along with the disciplines you must develop to keep growing and improving in those areas.  Develop a plan to make those disciplines a daily or weekly part of your life.
• List the Reasons - Take time to write out the benefits of practicing those disciplines you listed.  Post the benefits where you'll see them daily.  On the days when you don't want to follow through, re-read your list.
• Get Rid of Excuses - Write down every reason why you might not be able to follow through with your disciplines.  Read through them.  You need to dismiss them as the excuses that they are.  Even if a reason seems legitimate, find a solution to overcome it.  Don't leave yourself any reason to quit. 

Remember, only with discipline do you have the power to achieve your dreams.