We are about to enter the second half of the year. So as you think of your goals for the year, this is a good time to take a very important step to increase your chances of accomplishing them. There is , however, just one major thing you need to awaken in you in order to turn your goals into accomplishments – Discipline.
Imbibe it and your goals and dreams will come to life. Neglect it, your goals and dreams will not be accomplished.
Discipline is your ability to do what is necessary. It can also be defined, in the words of James C. Collins, as “consistency of action.” Even though it seems simple by definition, it is not always easy to overcome certain level of inertia and get ourselves to consistently do the necessary things.
Perhaps there are things you said you’d do in the first half of this year but you haven’t done them. Not that you require anything extraordinary to be able to do them, you are just yet to do them. The fact is that what is required is discipline. It’s the number one trait you need in life to succeed because for every disciplined effort, there are multiple rewards.
For consistent daily exercise, the rewards come in the form of health benefits. For conscious and regular personal development by reading good books and taking new courses, the reward comes as an increase in your value which translates to higher earning. For disciplined commitment in your spiritual activities, there’s growth in your spiritual life. For consistent positive habits in managing your finances, the reward comes in form of financial independence.
Little wonder Jim Rohn defined success as “. . . a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.” You must pay constant daily attention to the activities that will lead to the actualization of your goals. Do not take things for granted.
Learn to do the necessary things. Start from the little necessary things. Learn the discipline of arriving to appointments on time, or using your time more effectively. Learn the discipline of saving or investing a portion of your income each time you earn money. Learn the discipline of having regular meetings with your child about their work in school. Learn the discipline of learning all you can learn, of reading all you can read.
At this moment, few days to the second half of the year, think about your 2018 goals. If you made a list, bring it out now and check. How many have you accomplished? What areas need attention right now? Perhaps you’ve not accomplished most of your goals. Wouldn’t this be an ideal time to examine your need for new simple disciplines?
One of the things that dampen the eagerness to do what is necessary is the delay to act. Once we delay, our intent starts to diminish. So, , set up the disciplines immediately and start to practice them. If not, the law of diminishing intent will catch up with you, slow you down again, and make you lose the discipline that you require to convert your dreams and goals to equity called accomplishments.