A Little Discipline and A Lot of Love
As I continue to grow and progress through life, I have come to see the truth in some of the things my parents told me as a child. One lesson in particular has proved itself true time and time again, “life is all about angles”, as my father constantly told me. Now when I hear him say those words In my head, I put my own little twist on it and say “life is all about how you see and understand things”.
People always love to say “It’s about working smart, not hard” but I believe that this popular saying needs to be re-explained, or at least given a deeper level of clarity. You don’t have to be smart to work smart, because the context in which this word is being used has next to nothing to do with your wittiness or IQ. To work “smart”, what you truly need, is discipline and to have discipline, you need is an unrelenting grit not wit.
I even went as far as to look up the definition of smart which is having or showing a quick-witted intelligence. This is not the necessary context to use when pertaining to success. For most people success is almost never quick, and there are a lot of “intelligent” people who aren’t successful. So again I’ll say, you don’t have to be “smart” to be successful.
Small amounts of discipline applied at the right time, go much further than you would think. You will not always need a huge amount, rather a small amount applied each day can compound into a mountain of accomplishments and accountability.
I just recently finished a 30 day fast from the things I enjoy. I fasted to practice exactly what I prayed for before even starting this fast, discipline. It has a profound effect on your choices, which in turn have a profound effect on your life. The more discipline, or more specifically, control you have over your choices, the more power you have over your own life and the path it takes.
The power of choice is one that should be cherished, and rarely given away willingly. During my travels around the world, I have learned that sometimes it is better to get lost, than to take direction. There is something about making your own choices, sticking to them and working your way out of a difficult situation, it builds a sense of trust in self. People will always try to tell you what you should do and where you should go, but until you decide what it is that YOU want to do and dedicate yourself to that goal, that success and sense of accomplishment that we all yearn for, will elude you.
Never forget that true success is self-defined, success is not when everyone else acknowledges your accomplishments. True success in when that feeling of fulfillment wells up inside you and you can look yourself in the mirror and be proud.
You may use others as a catalyst to give you the drive to push through the hard times. But at the end of it all when the sun goes down and the lights go out, it is just you and God. God will always love you, just make sure that you love yourself. Love yourself through the good ideas and the bad, the triumphs and the tribulations, and do everything you can to take a lesson from them all. A little discipline and a whole lot of love, that’s all you need to succeed.
“You can become successful with less discipline than you think, for one simple reason: success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right” - Gary Keller, The One Thing
