I’ve been doing a lot of deep thinking lately with regards to life disciplines. It’s interesting to look around and observe others while also reflecting on my own personal life. I’ve been asking myself, “What life disciplines can I implement into my own life to improve and become the best that I can be, in all areas of my life?”
I suppose I can attribute the deep thinking to a recent class I took called Quantum Leap – Purpose, Direction and Personal Power. I’ve taken the class twice before but it’s been years since the last time I took it. It always provokes reflection and deep thinking, while also providing the direction needed to move forward. I guess the statement, “Third Times A Charm” worked. Even though I’ve gained a great deal from the past classes, for some reason this time the material is sinking in and REALLY making a difference.
One of the segments of the class reviews the various areas of our life where discipline is not only required, but very important, to success. Here is a breakdown of the 6 key areas of our life where discipline is critical:
Self-Discipline – This section reviews the model habit, the mindset habit and the proactivity and persistent action habit.
Spiritual Discipline – This section reviews the authority habit, the prayer and meditation habit and the thankfulness and gratefulness habit.
Physical Discipline – This section reviews the nutrition habit, the exercise habit and the stress management habit.
Time Discipline – The section reviews the play time habit, the pay time habit and the organization time habit.
Money Discipline – This section reviews the gross income habit, the 70/30 rule habit and the value/accountability habit.
Growth Discipline – This section reviews the ability habit, the leverage habit and the new capacities and repairs habit.
One of the statements that I really liked from the above section of the class was this, “Your current level(s) of happiness and success are determined by your current disciplines and habits. To change your level of success, you must change your disciplines and habits.”
“Success always involves personal fulfillment and you are only truly fulfilled by counterbalancing your actions in harmony with your purpose in life.” This statement really got me thinking. I had to ask myself, “Are my actions in harmony with my purpose in life?” “What is my purpose in life with regards to the above 6 key areas?”
I then had to take a step back and analyze my perspective. I had to tell myself, “Success is an Inside Job”. Whether or not I achieve success in any of the 6 areas listed above is my decision. It’s my choice. You know the saying, “If it’s going to be it’s up to me?” Well, that statement is true. We cannot blame others for our failures or expect others to hand over “success” on a silver platter. WE are the determining factor in the outcome. If we are not achieving the way we would like then we need to look deep within ourselves and ask,”WHY?”
Life is not just about achieving, it is about BECOMING. Are we becoming the person we want to be? I really like this statement from the class, “Our real fear for our life should not be that we don’t achieve – it should be that we don’t become.”
Ask yourself this question: When do you grow the most in your life? When you succeed at something or fall short?
Sometimes we are afraid of trying because we fear that we might fail. The point is this…The more you try in life the more you will fail. The more you grow physically the more you’ll grow spiritually. The more you grow the more you will become. So, essentially you need to go out into the world and fail a lot so you’ll grow a lot.
I know that many of you reading this are thinking to yourself, “Did she just tell me that I need to fail a lot?” Yes, I did. Of course, you are not trying to fail on purpose, but if you never TRY anything then you will never have success. Sometimes we have to fail our way forward. It is through our commitment to pick ourselves up when we fall that we eventually achieve the success we desire.
Think of it this way: At a higher place there is no success or failure. There are just levels of spiritual payoffs. Our first powerful perspective is to understand that in order to become the most we can become we have to get out in the physical world and try, try, try and never ever give up!
You have to accept the fact that your thoughts control your actions and therefore your future. Here are a few great quotes and insight into this idea:
Lester Sumrall, in his book “Imagination: Hidden Force of Human Potential” said it best when he wrote:
“…Until a person can correct and control his thought life, he cannot correct his real life of actions. We must get inside to learn to discipline the thought life before we can discipline the hands and feet…”
“…Your abilities are really not according to your learning or your education. Your abilities are according to your imagination. If you can see it (in your minds eye), you can bring it into being.”
Robert Stuber, in his audio-tape program “Creating Your Ultimate Destiny” says this:
“Actions are the physical result and manifestation of mental decisions. …Your thoughts control your actions – thus your life. …A mind of great thoughts has no room for small thoughts…”
Napolean Hill, in his book “Think and Grow Rich” wrote:
“Everything is a state of mind. this includes health, wealth, and happiness. For example, if your thoughts are on health – the best health possible for you will come to you. Your mind can become your greatest asset – or your worst nightmare, depending on how you care for it!”
To be human means to have choice. We decide what we will do with our life.
Stephen Covey says this:
“Whether we are aware of it or not, whether we are in control of it or not, there is a first creation to every part of our lives. We are either the second creation of our own proactive design, or we are the second creation of other people’s agendas, or circumstances, or of past habits.
The unique human capacities of self-awareness, imagination, and conscience enable us to examine the first creations and make it possible for us to take charge of our own first creation, to write our own script.”
“It’s a principle that all things are created twice, but not all first creations are by conscious design. In our lives, if we do not develop our own self-awareness and become responsible for first creations, we empower other people and circumstances outside our circle(s) of influence to shape much of our lives by default.”
Do we really want to live our lives by default? I don’t. We need to recognize that we will only get out of this life what we are willing to put into it. We can, AND MUST, play the leading part in our own lives. We determine who we will become through our thoughts and our actions.
Once you have your thoughts in the right place, and you have determined the key habits and disciplines needed in your life, you then need to commit to the process of mastering the basics of the subjects you have decided matter most in your life. Don’t try to re-invent the wheel. Focus on the basics.
You know the old 80/20 rule? In 1897 Vilfredo Pareto discovered the pattern underlying the 80/20 principle. While studying patterns of wealth and income in 19th Century England, Pareto found that most income and wealth went to a minority of the people. Rather than site all the facts related to this principle I’ll share a few examples of how this works:
1. In 1963, IBM discovered that about 80% of a computer’s time is spend executing about 20% of the operating code. The company immediately rewrote its operating software to make the most-used 20% very accessible and user friendly, thus making IBM computers more efficient and faster than competitors’ machines for the major applications.
2. In the U.S. from 1973-95, average real incomes rose by 36%, yet the comparable figure for the non-supervisory workers fell by 14%. During the ’80’s, all the gains went to the top 20% of earners, and a mind-boggling 64% of the total increase went to the top 1%!
3. 5% of U.S. households own about 75% of the household sector’s equity.
4. A study of 300 films over an 18-month period found that 4 movies – just 1.3% of the total – earned 80% of the box office revenues! The other 98.7% earned only 20%.
If you were to review your closet you would probably realize that you only wear about 20% of your clothing 80% of the time. You probably only use 20% of your possessions 80% of the time as well. In any given business approximately 20% of the activities bring in 80% of the revenue. I could go on and on, but you get the picture.
In short, you need to get down to the basics. The reason you first master the basics is that the basics are always the 20%, and it is this 20% that always provides you your greatest leverage. Most people don’t get this principle. They spend most of their time doing the 80% that doesn’t really matter. It’s those key disciplines, the 20%, that bring the greatest results.
Leveraging your time and focusing on the 20% that matters most will change your life. The greatest levels of mastery and success are possible when you get the things done first that matter most. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. How you spend those hours is what makes the difference. You must make sure to spend your time making sure the most important things get done first. It’s easy to procrastinate. I know I do. By focusing on the 20% that matters most when you first wake up you will see more progress and success than by focusing on the 80% that matters least.
Sure, it’s easy to say all this (above), but let’s be honest, it’s a lot harder to DO IT. That is where the discipline comes in. We can read it, we can believe it, we can say it, but it will never happen unless we DO IT. We have to take ACTION.
When I completed the P90X Challenge a few months ago I had to take action and commit to being disciplined to complete the workouts 6 days a week for 90 days. It was hard, REALLY hard. I was sore every single day. My body hurt and there were days when I really did not want to do it. What kept me going was my commitment not only to myself, but to you (my readers). That’s when I truly understood the importance of accountability. When we hold ourselves accountable, or even better, have a coach to hold us accountable, we perform better. Why do you think so many pro-athletes have multiple coaches? They know there will be days when they will struggle. Having a coach helps to keep them accountable. In business, the same thing applies. Having someone to report to helps hold us accountable to our goals.
My mind has been stretched in many ways the past few months and it is liberating to recognize my true potential and the course that will get me there. As stated in the beginning, there are 6 key areas of our life where discipline is required. Don’t try to tackle everything at once. Start slowly, start with one area first. The key here is to JUST START!! You must be ACTIVE. You can either make life happen the way you want it or let life happen to you based on other peoples decisions. The choice is yours. I’m choosing to be actively involved in my life and make my life the best it can be. What will you choose?
Reflections By Jen 