SELFDISCIPLINE (takenfrom ThePowerofDisciplinebyBrianTracy)

Whyaresomepeoplemoresuccessfulthanothers?Whydosomepeoplemakemore money,livehappierlives
andaccomplish muchmoreinthesamenumberofyearsthanthegreatmajority? Istartedoutinlifewithfew
advantages.Ididnotgraduate fromhighschool.Iworkedatmenialjobs.Ihadlimitededucation,limitedskills
anda limitedfuture. AndthenIbeganasking, "Whyaresomepeoplemoresuccessfulthanothers?"

Thisquestionchangedmylife. Overtheyears,Ihavereadthousands ofbooksandarticlesonthesubjectsof

successandachievement.Itseemsthatthereasonsfortheseaccomplishmentshave beendiscussedandwritten
aboutformorethantwothousandyears,ineveryconceivableway.Onequalitythatmostphilosophers,
teachersandexpertsagreeonistheimportanceofselfdiscipline.AsAlTomsiksummarized ityearsago,
"Successistonsofdiscipline." Someyearsago,IattendedaconferenceinWashington.Itwasthelunchbreak
andIwaseatingatanearbyfoodfair.Theareawas crowdedandIsatdownatthelastopentablebymyself,
eventhoughitwasa tableforfour.

Afewminuteslater,anoldergentlemanandayoungerwomanwhowashisassistantcamealongcarryingtrays
offood,obviously lookingforaplacetosit. Withplentyofroomatmytable,Iimmediatelyaroseandinvitedthe
oldergentlemantojoinme.Hewas hesitant,butIinsisted. Finally,thankingmeashesatdown,webeganto
chatoverlunch.

ItturnedoutthathisnamewasKopKopmeyer.Asithappened,Iimmediatelyknewwhohewas.Hewasa
legendinthefieldof successandachievement.KopKopmeyerhadwrittenfourlargebooks,eachofwhich
contained250successprinciplesthathehad derivedfrommorethanfiftyyearsofresearchandstudy.Ihad
readallfourbooksfromcovertocover,morethanonce.

Afterwehadchatted forawhile,Iaskedhimthequestionthatmanypeopleinthissituationwouldask,"Ofall
theonethousand successprinciplesthatyouhavediscovered,whichdoyouthinkisthemostimportant?" He
smiledatmewithatwinkleinhiseye, asifhehadbeenaskedthisquestionmanytimes,andreplied,without
hesitating,"Themostimportantsuccessprincipleofallwas statedbyThomasHuxleymanyyearsago.Hesaid,
'Dowhatyoushoulddo,whenyoushoulddoit,whetheryoufeellikeitornot.'" Hewent ontosay,"Thereare
999othersuccessprinciplesthatIhavefoundinmyreadingandexperience,butwithoutselfdiscipline, noneof
themwork." Selfdisciplineisthekeytopersonalgreatness.Itisthemagicqualitythatopensalldoorsforyou,
andmakes everythingelsepossible. Withselfdiscipline,theaveragepersoncanriseasfarandasfastashis
talentsandintelligencecan takehim.Butwithoutselfdiscipline,apersonwitheveryblessingofbackground,
educationandopportunitywillseldomriseabovemediocrity. InthepagesaheadIwilldescribesevenareasof
yourlifewherethepracticeofselfdisciplinewillbekeytoyoursuccess.Theseareas includegoals,character,
timemanagement,personalhealth,money,courageandresponsibility.Itismyhopethatyou'llfindafew
"nuggets"thatwillhelpmakeyourdreamscometrue.

ThearticleabovewasexcerptedfromthebookThePowerofDisciplinebyBrianTracy.Itisreprintedherewith
permission.Youmay sharethisstoryaslongasyoudonoteditthecontent;leavethelinksandthisresourcebox
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Quotes

Ithasalwaysbeenmythoughtthatthemostimportantsingleingredienttosuccessinathleticsorlifeis
discipline.Ihavemanytimes feltthatthiswordisthemostilldefinedinallofourlanguage.Mydefinitionofthe
word isasfollows:1.Dowhathastobedone.2. Whenithastobedone.3.Aswellasitcanbedone.4.Doit
thatwayallthetime. BobbyKnight,CollegeBasketballCoach
Settingagoalisnotthemainthing.Itisdecidinghowyouwillgoaboutachievingitandstayingwiththatplan.
Thekeyisdiscipline. Withoutit,thereisnomorale.TomLandry,NFLFootballCoach

Ibelieveindiscipline.Youcanforgiveincompetence.Youcanforgivelackofability.Buttheonethingyou
cannoteverforgiveislack ofdiscipline.ForrestGregg,College&NFLFootballCoach

WhydoIdominatethe400meterhurdles?That'seasy.Training.Justexpertise.IknowwhatImdoing.I
concentrateonthisas muchasIwouldengineeringorphysicsorwhateverIdbedoing. ThedisciplineIhadfrom
engineeringandphysicsgotmethrough schoolandreallystayedwithme.EdwinMoses,twotimeOlympic
Champion

Disciplineisapartofthewill.Adisciplinedpersonisonewhofollowsthewilloftheonewhogivestheorders.
Youteachdiscipline bydoingitoverandover,byrepetitionandrote,especiallyinagamelikefootballwhere
youhaveverylittletimetodecidewhatyou aregoingtodo.Sowhatyoudoisreactalmostinstinctively,
naturally.Youhavedoneitsomanytimes,overandoverandover again.VinceLombardi,NFLFootballCoach

Ifmyplayersworkhardeveryday,thentheywonthavetoworryaboutgameplans,orwheretheyplay,or
whomtheyplay,or aboutrankingsandsoon.Theyhavetheirdailybehaviortheirdisciplinetofallback
on.PeteCarril

Therearefourpartsofselfthatleadtosuccess.Thefirstpartisdiscipline,thesecondisconcentration,the
thirdispatience,andthe fourthisfaith.GeorgeFoster,MLBPlayer