Champions are made in the off-season. Whether it’s the NBA, March Madness, the NFL or any other sport — it’s the off-season where the champi0nship run begins.
Winning the championship game in season, is simply the result of all the hard work and sacrifice that the team put in long before game day ever came…long before the season ever started.
You see, champions are willing to put in work, knowing the result of that work will not always have an immediate payoff. Champions sacrifice and are willing to pay the price necessary to achieve their goal. They are willing to pay any price and do whatever it takes.
Champions are willing to put in work, knowing the result of that work will not always have an immediate payoff. Click To Tweet
When the championship game comes, they simply go out and perform, giving it everything they’ve got with the confidence of knowing they’ve already paid the price. That’s the way champions are. If it weren’t they’d never be a champion.
Someone once put it this way, “When the spotlight is on, it only reveals what was done in the dark.”
Are you willing to pay the price?
My question to you today is this: Are you willing to pay the price? Are you sacrificing and doing what’s necessary to achieve the outcome in life you really want?
When it comes to sacrifice, I find that most people sacrifice what they want most, for what they want in the moment. This is sad and this should not be! It should be the other way around. You and I should be sacrificing what we want at the moment for what we really want most.
That is what it means to pay the price for success!
When you do this over and over, you develop a habit of discipline that will take you farther than you ever thought possible.
Most people aren’t willing to pay the full price. They keep looking for a discount, but my friend success is not cheap and it’s never on sale!
You have to be willing to pay the price!
It takes discipline!
The key to paying the price is discipline.
You must develop discipline to have the things you really want to have, and be the person you really want to be. Without discipline it just won’t happen. With discipline comes power to accomplish anything you set your mind to.
The big questions is how? How do I develop the habit of discipline, and paying the price? How do I say no to that thing that’s so tempting in the moment, yet I know it’s not what I really want most? How do I say no to what I don’t want, so I can say yes to what I really do want?
Paying the price requires discipline, no question about it. Many people WANT to be more disciplined…they want to pay the price for success…but they end up saying yes to what they should say no to, and no to what they should be saying yes to!
Discipline involves three things. It’s doing what you have to do, when you have to do it, whether you feel like it or not. This has been the definition of discipline that I have taught for years to my students, my athletes, and to organizations I speak to.
Discipline is doing what you have to do, when you have to do it, whether you feel like it or not. Click To TweetWhen you are able to do WHAT you have to do, WHEN you have to do it, regardless of how you feel, then you are exercising discipline. Do this consistently and you will achieve great success.
So how do we get there?
Three Step process for developing more discipline.
Here is my three step process for developing more self-discipline:
Step 1: Write down what it is you really want.
This is huge! At the end of yesterday’s email I asked you to write down what you really want. This is powerful because it helps you articulate specifically what you want. Write down what you want in every area of life.
It’s important to be very specific.
For example, instead of writing, “I want to lose weight”, you should write down specifically the amount you want to weigh. Instead of writing, “I want to get in shape”, you should write down specifically how many days per week you want to work out. Instead of saying, “I want to make more money”, you should write down a specific amount. There is power in being specific.
Not only should you be specific, but you should also write down your goal in the affirmative. That is. write it down as if you already have achieved it. Using the examples above you could say, “I weigh 180lbs”, and “I work out 4 days a week for at least 30 minutes each day”, and “I make $250,000 per year.”
Be specific and write down what you want as if you already possess it. You may not have it yet, but writing it in this way will help your subconscious create the picture of what you want, and it will go to work to help you create that picture.
Step 2: Always ask, “Is what I’m doing right now, at this moment, taking me closer or further to what I really want?
This question has been the number one thing that has helped me exercise discipline. Every day we make many, many decisions and each one of those decisions are taking you either closer or further to want you really want.
We often get so caught up in what we want in the moment, that we lose focus on what’s most important. So in every situation understand this simple concept: You are in charge of your decisions. It’s your choices that determine your results. So if you don’t like your results, always go back to your decisions.If you don't like your results, always go back to your decisions. Your decisions always lead to your results. Click To Tweet
It’s helpful to understand that choosing discipline is hard. It’s painful. I know it’s not easy. If it were easy everyone would do it! The thing that helps me is knowing that I really have two options. I can choose the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. Choosing the pain of discipline is a much better way to go. The pain of regret is much, much harder.In every situation, you can choose the pain of regret or the pain of discipline. The pain of regret is much greater than the pain of discipline. Click To Tweet
If you choose not to exercise discipline, then you are choosing the pain of regret because you will no doubt regret the decision you made to not exercise discipline. This is by far the worse of the two pains.
Think about the times in your life you did not exercise discipline. Did you regret it later? Chances are, you did. Most likely, when you looked back on the situation you probably wished you would have had more discipline. I’ve never known anyone to look back and say, “I’m really glad I didn’t exercise self-discipline!” Have you??
If you choose the pain of discipline, that pain is much less than the pain of regret. And the pain of discipline strengthens you like a weight lifter who is building muscle by working out. Every time you exercise discipline, you are building muscle, getting stronger for the next time!
So when you ask yourself, “Is what I’m doing right now, at this moment taking me closer or further from what I really want?” remember that many times this will be a painful question to consider. However, if you choose correctly you will be choosing a pain that will help you and you will always be glad you made the right decision.
Step 3: Get back on the wagon!
You will not be perfect. You will make mistakes, and there will be times you make the wrong choice. This is a part of the process of building your muscle!
So when you fall off the wagon, don’t wallow in your misery and have a pity party. Get back up immediately, so as to avoid the snowball effect.
Recognize when you’ve blown it and stop right where you are and get back on track. Don’t beat yourself up, just commit yourself to choosing discipline the next time.
No one is perfect, but when you commit to having self-discipline you will begin a life long journey of becoming more and more disciplined, which will lead to the fulfillment of your goals, and the life you want.
Keep going.
You’ve got what it takes,
Gary