Short-term or Long-term

You face the same decision all day long. 

It may look a thousand different ways, but it is the same decision over and over again. 

What is it? 

The choice between the short and the long term. 

It pays to take the long-term view in most situations. 

The road may be hard and painful, but it is worth it in the end. 

So much of what you desire in life comes down to how often you take the long-term view. 

How often can you endure short-term discomfort, and pain to achieve lasting results?

How often can you set aside your personal feelings and do the right thing?

How often can you say, “No” to sugary lies and choose healthier foods? 

Long-term thinking takes what is immediately seen as the hard road knowing that it will one day pay off in better health, better relationships, better finances, a stronger body, a better life. 

Thinking and acting like a champion comes first.

You don’t reach the top of your profession or field of endeavor only to then start behaving like a champion. 

You reach the pinnacle of excellence by living and breathing the actions and habits of a champion.

Shifting your mindset and behavior comes first. 

Once you flip that switch and commit all you have to it, everything else tends to fall into place. 

It won’t be immediate, but if you pursue it all day every day you’ll catch excellence in the end.

Simple Not Easy

Reaching the top and achieving your wildest dreams is simple. 

Figure out where you want to go, what it’ll take to get there and chart a plan to make it happen. 

That’s a simple formula, but it’s not an easy one.

It requires lots and lots of hard work. 

Most of all it requires discipline. 

The discipline to:

• focus over a long period of time. 
• drill down into the details. 
• reshape and reform your every habit and routine.  

It takes doing your best at everything you do; reading, working out, laundry, loading the dishwasher, making good food choices, and listening to your spouse. 

It’s a simple road, but the hardest one you’ll ever walk. 

That’s why most people avoid it. 

Hard work and discipline aren’t what they’re looking for. Most people want a quick fix and an easy win. 

But your not most people. You have a drive and commitment to excellence that bewilders the common man. 

You get up and get after it all day because you’re chasing down excellence like a lion on the Serengeti. 

Every decision and every moment bring you closer and closer to victory. 

A victory that isn't bought, or negotiated for. But one requiring character, strength, and patience. 

A victory paid for in the small daily habits of a disciplined life.    

Control

A thousand different things determine the outcome of your life. 

Of those thousands of things, you have control over only a handful. 

The temptation is to waste energy and effort focusing on things outside your control. 

Resisting it takes discipline. 

The discipline to identify the handful of things within your control and own them like crazy. To forget about the rest and banish them from your mind. The discipline to live in the present moment undistracted by what’s going on around you. 

Discipline keeps you on the path when those thousand different things come calling. 

Defining Success

How you define success is critically important. 

Focus on things within your control, not circumstances over which you have none. 

Winning, for example, is something you have little control over. Other competitors and external factors could derail your chances. 

You’ll be crushed if things don’t pan out. Worse still, you won’t reach your full potential. You’ll be focused on beating the next guy’s potential instead of your own. 

Doing your absolute best, however, is fully within your control. You can do something about it. 

Define success in these terms. Define it by your level of effort instead of a scoreboard.

Of course, effort means nothing if you haven’t prepared. 

Make giving full effort to preparation part of your definition of success.

Redefine success to mean giving maximum effort every day to everything in your life—family, friends, work, training, helping others, etc.  

Do this and you’ll walk away a winner no matter what the scoreboard says.