There is this notion that discipline and success go hand and hand and while that is true to a certain degree, you should value discipline outside of success and the opinion of what others think about the way in which you live your life or the things you have or have yet to accomplish.
Yes, people keep preaching and teaching that disciplined people are successful and many will continue to do so. Well, I’m here to tell that you can have all the discipline in the world and still by your mindset or someone else’s standard not be successful. I mean what is success other than someone’s opinion and standard of having “made it.”
Yes, you can look up the word success and see it says things such as: the accomplishment of an aim or purpose, the attainment of fame, wealth, or social status, a favorable or desired outcome, one that succeeds, or a degree or measure of succeeding, and the list goes on. So, the reality is what does that really mean?
And what does that really mean to each of us? If the only reason that you want discipline is for others to consider you successful, then I question if you have considered that discipline is a life skill. Because it is. Meaning with or without success on the table being discipline is a skill and mindset you should want because discipline is a requirement for living.
If you only look at discipline as needed when you need or want to be successful at something or for someone, then you’ll miss the whole point of discipline. In its simplest form discipline has to do with structure and order. And you need structure and order in life. It’s structure and order that create stability.
And even people who say they don’t like repetition or prefer being spontaneous want structure and order to do things their way without someone or something opposing them or saying they can’t march to the beat of their own drum so to speak.
Now to someone who is laser focused on having every i dotted and every t crossed, as it relates to their day and having a plan, it may not seem that people who prefer to do things without a plan of action or be spontaneous regularly have discipline.
But, remember that being able to move and operate without restraint is normal to them, so to them it is orderly to operate in what to planners is dysfunctional because discipline is based off the perspective of the person carrying out a specific task.
That’s why to view discipline as a thing, skill, or mindset that you need simply for success, or for others to see you as a success is a mistake. It’s needed in life to live life. And if you disagree, you may say that there are countless people in this world who are not people that you see or consider discipline, yet, they are very much alive – living.
True enough, they may be on Earth, but, quality of life, determines if you’re living. To be frank, some people are here in a physical sense, but in all other areas of life have checked out. So, the truth is they are simply existing, going through the motions of being here, but they aren’t living.
For there is a part of them that is dead or buried. There is a part of them that sees no point in doing anything productive with their time. And there is a part of them that feels, believes, and goes through from day to day with the mindset that living life doesn’t matter.
Clearly, that mindset is not the mindset of someone focused on making things happen, especially not positive things. As their mindset and view of the world and life is in a dark and gloomy place. Can they change? Of course, still, the point, I’m making is you simply can’t live life without discipline.
You may not be the most disciplined person, compared to others, but on some level, in some way, you do have discipline. You may not even be consistently discipline, but you still have discipline. Otherwise, everything in your life, or around you, directly and indirectly, would constantly be out of control and in disarray.
So, as you look at your life and evaluate your success, remember it’s you who gets to decide what success is and success is not simply discipline, and discipline is not success. But it is you who gets to determine what both discipline and success look like to you for your life.
~Discipline is a requirement for living life, not simply success, or the attainment of success in the mind of others. ~Coach Sam
~EXALTED ROYALTY~ A C. E. SAM COMPANY
