Discipline

I have been asked many questions recently. “How did you find the time to write a book? “How did you write all those words?” “Have you ever written a book before?” “What inspired you to write a book?” My new book hasn’t even been released yet by the publisher so I am sure there are more questions to come. I am going to attempt to answer only one question in the post today. How did I find the time to write a book? My answer: Discipline.

Discipline is a word I have heard and been acquainted with my entire life. I believe it is the KEY INGREDIENT to all progress in life. Without discipline, I believe nothing else matters when it comes to accomplishing and moving in a positive direction. Discipline can close the mouth of anger and open the floodgates of kindness. It can bring health to a body through exercise and eating or lack of it can bring extreme health problems. It can produce positive outcomes with repetition and can control the temptation to sit and wish with little action. It can breed confidence like nothing else by making daily decisions that add up over time to significant progress.

Discipline is the slow burn, pain and sacrifice that we saw on the show the “Biggest Loser” recently. This show, watched weekly by millions, measures the progress of daily decisions and rewards the discipline of daily choices that require sweat, sacrifice and delayed gratification. The recent episode was the culmination of 4 months (roughly 112 days) of discipline. I witnessed tears of joy and confessions of how these people were looking to change and needed the discipline to force the change. Most had not been able to achieve it out of self-motivation. This post isn’t necessarily about weight loss, but it is about DISCIPLINE and, when applied over a number of days, YOUR LIFE CAN DRAMATICALLY CHANGE.

My purpose is to SHOUT out to the READER: YOU CAN CHANGE SOMETHING IN YOUR LIFE. It starts with A DECISION and then ACTION. Making a decision to be a person of DISCIPLINE can immediately ALTER your life and its DIRECTION. Discipline attracts opportunity. It feeds your mind with positive and pours into every cell of your body a sense of moving forward. Forward progress is what takes you to new destinations, but it never happens over night. You walk, then you find yourself walking faster. Then running. Then sprinting. The energy comes from a daily decision of discipline. Each day that is lived in a new discipline is a victory of ACCOMPLISHMENT AND forward progress………the most recent examples were the people who had buckets of tears streaming down their faces on the “Biggest Loser” show! In watching past episodes, I saw the trainers shouting at the participants and painting a picture of their purpose and reason for striving. It took intention, effort, and reminders of why they were doing what they were doing!

For me, the success of writing the book and finding the time came from a decision to be DISCIPLINED with my priorities, my focus, my time and my obedience. You see, God is calling us to many DISCIPLINES in our lives. For me, it was to write a book, among many other things. For you?…….You fill in the blank………….____________? I can honestly say that to develop this discipline, I had the help of first and most importantly the HOLY Spirit. Then I enlisted Energy coaches–encouragement and prayers from family and close friends. I involved knowledgable coaches (people who had done what I was doing and I was willing to listen and act upon their wise counsel). And finally, I gathered knowledge.

Proverbs 6:6 states, “Go to the ant, you sluggard: consider its ways and be wise.” The ant has No Governor, Overseer, Foreman, Teacher or Master who stands over him to make him do his work, ‘project,’ assignment, or task at hand. He is not a man-pleaser, but knows that he must work and gather for his/her future and that of his/her offspring. Discipline is part of his/her warp and woof in life–not external disciple but self-discipline.

We too must discipline ourselves. Training, retraining, continuing to educate ourselves, seeking the mind of Christ and the minds of those who have impacted our world for good. We must renew our minds daily and aim to glorify God in our living. God has given us all that pertains to life and godliness. He has made us partakers of His divine nature, more than conquerors. As we seek Him daily with all our hearts, He will give us the desires of our hearts, innovative ideas, inventive genius that sets us apart. He will direct our path into our vision in life – what He packaged us for in life. In that place we will thrive- not strive to survive but rise as a magnificent edifice to the glory of God. Men will see and acknowledge that, ‘Surely this is the Hand of God.’ External discipline does not last; you relax and lapse into your old ways once the external agent of discipline is not around. This was why Paul said he must put his body under, make it a slave, buffet it, and make it his servant. He said he would not box as a man beating the air, shadow boxing, but would have a target, a focus, a bull’s eye to hit at or target. It is said that, “If you aim at nothing you are sure to hit it-–nothing!”

Consider Discipline today. With God’s help……..Discipline is key to ALL FORWARD PROGRESS……God’s desire for everyone is FORWARD PROGRESS.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *