Discipline to Get It Done

Life is so full of distractions, and it takes so much discipline to stay on the course that you  need to stay on to be successful.   Whether we are talking about your health and fitness goals or work and family goals.     This year, I dont think I have become a master of discipline in that many times I have had that extra beer or scotch or cookie and checked my email way more times than i needed to – or procrastinated on projects around the house.   That said – i did manage to achieve a few goals that I set for myself.  I wanted to podium at Worlds 70.3 Ironman Champs in the masters category at Mt Tremblant and I came close with a 5th place finish,   Getting to that race in contention to win – meant a lot of early rises and a ton of miles on the bike in the pools and on the trails.   What would be my secrets to mastering discipline so that you can achieve your own goals – whatever they may be?

1. Set a goal and be specific about what the goal is – dont say I want to get healthy – say I want to run a 10k in under 40 min or lose 6 lbs by February.
2. Find others that want similar things and hang out with them – if the people you hang with are doing the things that you know you need to do to acheive your goal – you want have to think so hard about doing that activity and it will become routine.
3. Establish what you are going to do to reach your goal before you go to bed each nite – and hold yourself accountable to it – dont let the potential of doing what you need to do be short-changed by not having the discipline to avoid distractions.
4. Schedule in downtime as well – but just a little to relax – not enough for that downtime to become more regular than the focus time.
5. Repeat repeat repeat – form patterns that lead to good things as opposed to patterns that lead to bad things.
6. When you fail to live up to your own expectations – dont wallow in self pity – just dust yourself off and get back on track. Success is never a linear path – it always has to endure through hard times!!

So – till next time – be Disciplined and enjoy the good things that comes with it!!