As I grew up, I had a hard time staying on task. I had no problems in school because have always been the kid who held some form of interest in just about everything but that was my problem. I could not stay on task for a very long time because I felt I had to jump between topics in a
cyclical nature. The tasks always got completed but never in an efficient manner. Scrambling and appearing to be a procrastinator was my reality growing up when in fact what I was lacking was discipline.
Discipline to stay on task until completion, before moving on
to the next thing. I was a bull in a china shop both figuratively as well as
metaphorically. It took a lot of ownership on my part to get back on track.
I had the potential but lacked the ability to own up to my weaknesses and the areas in which I needed to get better in. I needed something to get me on the way to performing to the best of my abilities.
For me, it happened to be football. Football taught me a lot of the intangibles I merely did not have growing up. It taught be how to be
accountable for mistakes I made, be accountable for the mistakes others made. To learn how to cooperate as a team even when the worst things are happening.
Football taught me discipline. It gave me a reason to get up early, to train hard, to focus on my playbook, To learn everyone’s positional
responsibilities and most of all it brought out leadership qualities that had
always been there but never seemed to make presences.
It was the catalyst that sent be down the right path physically, but most importantly mentally. It taught me that being cerebral could hold the same value as being a brute.
I affectionately refer to myself as the brute that grew a brain. I have always been a big kid, a clumsy brutish kid who always seemed to have no problem doing the hard labor of things but lacked the ballerinasque movements. But football and my general interest in all things brought me a love of knowledge and learning.
Discipline quickly grew into a safety net when I felt lost. It was the one thing I could turn to when I needed to get refocused. I knew and know when my core values are, what things I do and did that made my life a little bit better (waking up early, hitting the weights, doing conditioning, reading etc.)
Sowing the Seed of Discipline
Cultivating a good solid base of discipline can be hard but can
Also be one of the most rewarding things you could do. Discipline is nothing
more than building a routine and convincing yourself to your core that completing that routine daily is going to build character traits down the road that will lead to ultimate success and goal completion.
Discipline is the driving force behind your habits. You can
have solid habits that are productive in making you a better person but on the flip side you can have habits that are a detriment to your progress moving forward.
These habits and the discipline you put behind them is a
purely personal decision. No one can force you to work out daily or force you to read. Just like no one is forcing you to smoke or drink. These need to be constructed internally.
Your ability to drive solid discipline behind them is what
is going to enhance those habits. If you are consistent, hard-nosed, gritty,
and frankly obsessed with the things that make you a better or worse person.
Formulating a routine, and sticking to it is the simple act
of discipline. Making a program that you can see yourself accomplishing day in and day out is going to be a great way to ensure success. Making sure that it connects with your purpose is going to be a driving force as well.
I Got The Basics of Discipline Now What?
After you have decided upon a routine, program, and habit, you are going to have to drive it all with discipline. Having the ability to wade through the shittiest parts of the day, week, month, or year. When things aren’t going how you want, when you just simply do not feel like doing it, when you have people picking away at you and stretching you thin are you going to be able to cut through all of that and stick to your routine? It better be yes.
Discipline is not something that gets weaker. Your will to get things done I believe is like your strength and your conditioning. It only gets stronger! Do not be afraid to test yourself, test your laurels, test your resolves, and test your purpose. They need to all be able to withstand even the hardest of hardships.
If your purpose, routines, and habits can’t withstand the slightest hardship then they are weak, they don’t connect with you on a Fundamental level and that is going to be the weakness going forward. No matter how disciplined you are, if your purpose is not connected to your core it will falter.
Written by Justin B.
