Discipline is the BRIDGE...
Discipline is the bridge between your Goal and your Achievement.
When you boil it down… Everybody has the same two options:
1). You can "grind" through the effort of DISCIPLINE.
2). You can "suffer" through the pain of REGRET.
- A life lived with regret is a life filled with unhappiness
On the other hand....
- Discipline is hard. It’s hard to develop and even harder to maintain BUT the outcome is incredibly rewarding and much better than a life filled with regret.
My dear friends it is NOT about being “perfect” every day - that is IMPOSSIBLE. It’s OK to have those days where you just have to “push through”. That’s part of the benefit of forming discipline - when you don't feel like doing it, but you get it done anyways. It’s typically after the event that you realize, “I was able to do that all along, even though I didn’t feel like I was able earlier when I faced it.”
DISCIPLINE is what helps you “push through” adversity, frustration, or just feeling crappy; and allows you to make TRUE GROWTH in your character and / or in your daily habit formation.
We are able to maintain our discipline by developing patterns that are
Achievable
Repeatable
Intentional
Think of those daily patterns like smooth and safe stepping stones that you intentionally set in place to bridge the gap between your Goal(s) and your Achievement(s).
When adversity arises, discipline is hard to maintain but worth the effort.
When frustration mounts, remind yourself to stick to your smooth and safe stepping stones. The frustration will pass, but don’t give up your progress to momentary frustration. It’s not worth it.
When things don’t go the way you planned, your emotions can cause you to slip very easily. The surface of a stone is slippery. The ability to stand takes practice not perfection.
Don't let that word "Discipline" intimidate you, let it encourage you in knowing that it is POSSIBLE to bridge the gap between: where you are and where you envision yourself.