The Power of Self-Discipline

I love to pick up a good book, but I don’t always have time to sit and read. Every time I do, though, I learn something new. About myself, business, life, relationships, you name it.

I recently started reading No Excuses!: The Power of Self-Discipline by Brian Tracy. This isn’t a new book, and the concepts aren’t entirely new. But it was a message I needed to hear.

The book talks about what it takes to create a successful person and it goes into your decision-making processes. Basically, if it’s something you truly want, you’ll make the right decisions to deal with the roadblocks you’ve created to get there.

While you can use these messages in any part of your life, I naturally thought about how I could use self-discipline in my health and fitness journey.

What You Need to Do vs. What You Want to Do

We all love a little treat now and then. And sometimes we skip workouts because we’re not “feeling” it. Or we’d rather sleep in. But when you have self-discipline, you do the things you need to do, not just what you want to do. And that makes all the difference in the world.

Over the last few months, I’ve been very dedicated to getting my workouts in. Despite traveling abroad and having work commitments, I’ve made it a point to stick to a program and work out. Even when that meant working out in the afternoon or evening.

While traveling, I wasn’t as disciplined as I should have been, probably eating at about 50 percent instead of my normal 80 percent. And for a while, I didn’t see the results I wanted–even though I was sticking to my workout plan.

If you want to see true results, you need to put 100 percent of your effort in. It’s not easy, but it’s do-able.

Putting Discipline into Business

The same goes for your business. In my work, I have to be present and do the work every day if I want to grow my business and my team. There’s no room for slacking off. It’s not easy to always be present, but if you’re not then your business isn’t going to grow.

Brian Tracy’s more well-known book, Eat That Frog, talks about doing the things you don’t want to do first. Get them out of the way so you can focus on doing the things you really want to do. Make those tough phone calls first thing in the morning, or get that workout in before you have time to really think about it. That lets you get those hard things out of the way so you can treat yourself later.

I think the best way to think about it is this: How will I feel when it’s done? Relieved? Accomplished? Relaxed? Invigorated?

Instead of sabotaging yourself, your business and your fitness, be disciplined enough to get the hard things done so you can get on with your day already having accomplished something difficult. You won’t regret it!

Have you read No Excuses yet? Let me know your thoughts! Or if you have a great book to recommend, I’m always looking for a new personal development read. Let me know what to try next!

xoxo - Lee

About Lee

I am a 44-year old married mom of 4. I love my family. If you’re a mom, then you know kids and a spouse keep you busy. It’s easy to forget yourself in the process of taking care of your family. My mission is to help other moms take care of themselves so they can be more available to their loved ones and lead more fulfilling lives.