Go First

Discipline doesn’t sit back and wait for someone or something else to make the first move. 

It moves.

It goes first. 

It's bold enough to step forward and have tough conversations, to do the hard things on the to-do list, and to offer a helping hand. 

Seize the initiative. 

Step up and be bold. 

Be the one to go first. 

At what cost?

You’re given a choice each time you’re hurt. 

You could return fire and respond in kind. Or you could let it go and move on. 

Be wary of the path you choose. 

In selecting your response, you decide the person you’ll become. 

There are few, if any, neutral decisions. Each one helps form the picture of who you are today, and who you’ll be down the road. 

It may feel good to dish sarcasm, wit and venom upon your foes, but at what cost? 

A victory pursued, or even attained, in the wrong way is a hollow one. In fact, it’s not a victory at all. It’s a loss. In becoming like your enemy to beat your enemy, you become the thing you hated in the first place. Becoming evil to beat evil allows evil to win. 

You’re not called to take the path that feels good. You’re called to take the path of righteousness. The path that leads to kindness, gentleness, and character. 

Choose the right path regardless how difficult or hard it is. Stay out of the mud. 

Do it enough and you’ll become the man or woman you hoped to be. And that will make all the mud slung your way worth it, even if no one else can tell. 

Discipline Is Not A Sometime Thing

Discipline is not a sometime thing. 

It is a whole life commitment. 

Discipline requires your devotion. All of it. 

You don’t engage discipline in one area of your life, and then neglect it in another. 

That’s not discipline. It’s what most people do. 

You don’t want to be like everyone else. You want to be extraordinary. 

You want to be better. 

Discipline either shapes every part of you or none. 

Apply discipline to every area of your life. 

Discipline isn’t some vague force floating out there somewhere. It’s an intensely personal tool that can transform your family, your work, your relationships, your fitness level, and even your faith. 

Realizing how deep, how far, and how wide discipline reaches is the hard part. Now all you have to do is apply it to things. 

Things like loving your wife regardless of how she responds, working out even when you don’t want to, and pursuing the Lord even when He feels distant. 

Each requires discipline. But you’re up for the challenge. 

What You Focus On

Have you noticed that the more you focus on a problem or mistake the more you repeat it?

That’s because your focus determines your output. 

What you focus your energy on is what you’ll produce. 

In other words, your behavior follows your mindset.

If you’re focused on not doing a particular thing, chances are you’re setting the stage for it to happen again. And again. And again. 

While taking things seriously and holding the line is important, so is focusing on the right things. 

Don't waste time and energy dwelling on the negative. Focus intently on the positive instead. 

There is a positive side to every problem you encounter. Focus on it. 

It is always better to be for something positive, than against something negative. 

Discipline your mind to think in this way. Discipline it to focus in the right direction. 

Change your thinking, and you’ll change your life. But as with everything else, that’s going to require discipline. 

What I Learned Listening to Tim Ferriss Interview Derek Sivers

I listen to the Tim Ferriss Show from time to time. I find Tim’s interviews compelling and his questions insightful. I’ve usually got a page or two covered with quotes and notes, after each episode. 

Tim interviewed Derek Sivers a while back, and it’s stuck with me. Remixes and different takes on the wisdom Derek shared spring forth from the stew of ideas swirling around my mind regularly. 

I’d like to share a few of them with you here today. Below you’ll find some of my biggest takeaways from their conversation. 

• What you know doesn’t mean squat, it’s what you do consistently that matters. You must act.
• Expect disaster.
• Be expensive.
• Think slow and deliberate.
• Think long-term. You can do everything you want. You just need foresight and patience.
• If you feel anything less than "Hell yes!" just say, "No." Otherwise, you’ll say "Yes" to many lesser things.
• Busy is out of control. Lack of time is a lack of priorities.

Give their conversation a listen if you’d like some context to go with these quotes. I've linked to it below. There’s no telling what great idea it might spark down the road. 

 Derek Sivers on Developing Confidence, Finding Happiness and Saying “No” to Millions