[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1548289356400{background-color: #bcbcbc !important;}”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”4587″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1753490946901{padding-right: 19px !important;padding-left: 19px !important;}”]The word discipline gets a bad rap. Sure, it can mean punishment, but I think that meaning taints our understanding of the discipline that we need to employ to produce the outcomes we are looking for. Discipline is required to remain focused and to persevere.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]
Chapter 8: Discipline Delivers
The word discipline gets a bad rap. Sure, it can mean punishment, but I think that meaning taints our understanding of the discipline that we need to employ to produce the outcomes we are looking for. Discipline is required to remain focused and to stay hard at work every day and to persevere. As Martin Seligman, the author of Learner Optimism, says, ìSuccess has more to do with resilience and persistence than skill set.
World-class athletes, famous musicians, and elite military teams such as the Navy Seals all have the same thing in common: They express their talents with predictable precision, which is achieved through disciplined and repeated practice. They are in the habit of practicing over and over until they get it right.
I love to watch the Oregon Ducks play football. When Chip Kelly was their head coach, he had his players disciplined into a fine-tuned machine that executed flawlessly almost every play. This was developed through repeated practice, discipline, being intensely focused, and great communication. The players were so disciplined at their craft that they could run play after play without going into a huddle, causing the opposing defense to become exhausted.
In Good to Great, author Jim Collins asserts that great companies have a strong culture of discipline. If discipline leads to greatness, then the lack of discipline leads to chaos, confusion, and unpredictable results. Successful people have the discipline to stay at it and work to continually improve on what they are doing.
Stop Dabbling
As a business owner, if you are going to dabble in your business, you are probably not going to achieve the level of success you desire. Dabblers rarely succeed at what they are doing. Full commitment and discipline are required.
What skill set is preventing you from taking your business to the next level? There is an old saying that knowledge is power, however, I no longer believe this to be true. Everyone now has access to all the knowledge they could ever want and probably more than they need. You can learn any skill that you are lacking from the comfort of your own office or home, and you can hire a mentor or coach to help you take your business to a whole new level.
There is no reason a lack of knowledge should be holding you back, but lack of discipline may be. Do not think about perfection. The goal is to develop the discipline to keep at your goals every day and make improvements. It is about making progress. Take some action today.
I believe the way to stay disciplined is to block off time on your calendar to be intensely focused. Working in chunks of time without distractions has the power to generate tremendous results. Use your calendar to block off chunks of time, and do not allow anything to violate it. It may be a difficult habit to start, but once you start to see progress, it will motivate you to stay at it.
Look at your calendar. What does it look like? Do you have blocks of time to be focused on your priorities for the day or for the week? If not, it is unlikely that you will accomplish them.
Keep the pressure on to stick with it. Back when I used to fly, it would often be necessary to make a course correction. In this instance, I would turn the yoke on the airplane to go toward a new direction, but if I did not keep the pressure on the yoke, the airplane would spin back to the direction it had been going due to momentum. Work is no different. If you do not keep the pressure on, you will revert to your previous habits. Keep the pressure on your own yoke to maintain your direction and momentum.
Success Steps
- Use your calendar to block off time each day for your top three priorities.
- Tackle your list in order. Do not move on to the next item before completing the one before it.
- Block off time to return phone calls, emails, and texts.
- Stick to it day after day and watch how much you get accomplished.
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It’s Not Hard, It’s Business
Fundamental Steps to help business owners learn what it takes to grow their business and increase their revenue.
As the former GM and COO of a $40 million company with seven locations I have learned what it takes to be successful in business. In this book, I share some keys to sustainable business growth and acceleration and the way to close the gap between your performance and your dreams.
You didn’t go into business to just get by, you got into it to succeed. Follow our series on the website and get your desktop reference copy from Amazon.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”4271″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]
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