The Power of Discipline

One of the major traits that separates the successful from the rest is, without a doubt, discipline. Being disciplined is so important for, say, a boxer who wants to win in the ring, he'll need to strictly observe the discipline of right diet, no booze, no cigrattes, getting up early in the morning to run so as to keep lean and fit. Someone who is training for the marathon, for example, will need to adhere to a strict exercise regime to gear her to be ready for the big day.

I once asked a business owner, let's say you are extremely disciplined by getting up at 6am everyday. However, if you do not have a purpose, or a reason why you are getting up that early for, then what is the use of being disciplined? He agreed that discipline by itselt will not produce great results. In fact, he quipped, that you can be disciplined and have the wrong thinking, you'll be a disaster. And that's exactly what Jim Collins said in his book, Good to Great, where he mentioned that disciplined action without discipline thought is a receipe for disaster.

In fact, as Stephen Covey outlined in 8th Habit, he mentioned that having a vision is just one part of the equation. The ability to see the current reality as it is is just as important. Very often, people see their current reality and then compromise on their vision (see Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline). While staying true to our vision, we must also cultivate the discipline to see the current situation as it is and decide what needs to be done to move forward.

In my pursuit towards my personal vision, I have indeed sometimes slipped into a lower standard or not fully following through with some of the activities that I've set out to do. I could have just stopped doing it altogether, forget about, or lower my personal vision. However, as I believed in my personal vision so much, I have came back and restart afresh. Relooked at what has happened that caused me to lose focus or slipped into a lower standard.

And instead of seeing these events as failures or evidences to convince myself that this is hard stuff, I chose to see the learning points from these events. What can I learn from these events, which can help me move forward? Sometimes I realise that there are other issues involved. So I take these into account during my next attempt.

Or, perhaps sometimes certain events might not offer you any learning points from the perspective that you have looked at it. Then I'll ask myself a different question, and usually I will get curious about the situation. And ask myself, what is it about this event that if I see it will be an empowering one for me? It has worked for me. When that happens, I go into a different state altogether and it generates different emotions for me.

So, being disciplined to your 'cause', be it your personal vision or personal goal; or being disciplined in your 'approach' about certain things will bring you great results. Of course the qualifier here is that, you must have a purpose or a personal mission that is.

Love and respect,
Melvyn Tan