28 December 2020

Discipline is what you need

Yesterday we looked at purpose. We saw that new year’s goals without purpose do not go far. Today we are going to focus on discipline. Any goal without the required discipline will not go far. Fanatic discipline is the reason why most people do not reach their full potential.

Jim Collins and Morten Hansen’s book, Great By Choice, is the result of a nine-year research project aimed at answering one question: “Why do some companies thrive in uncertainty, even chaos, and others do not?”

Collins and Hansen’s extensive research reveals three core behaviours that set these companies apart from their comparison companies, one of these is fanatic discipline. Fanatic Discipline is self-discipline, having the inner will to do whatever it takes to create a great outcome, no matter how difficult. Fanatic Discipline isn’t for everyone. Just for those who wish to achieve their full potential and enjoy a richer more fulfilling life than others. Best-performing leaders exhibited discipline as consistency of action — consistency with values, long-term goals, and performance standards; consistency of method; and consistency over time.

Paul understood this.

Corinthians 9:24-27 (AMP) “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run , but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may seize the prize and make it yours! 25 Now every athlete who competes in the games is disciplined and exercises self-control in all things. They do it to win a crown that withers, but we an imperishable . 26 Therefore I do not run without a definite goal; I do not flail around like one beating the air . 27 But I strictly discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not somehow be disqualified .

How many times have we made some resolution, let it fall by the wayside, and wondered why we are not more disciplined? When we abort our resolutions, it’s actually our will power that’s overriding it. Luke 16:10 (NIV)“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

Making right choices takes serious discipline. If we want to be spiritually, physically, and relationally healthy, we have to work at it.

Proverbs 13:4 (NIV) “Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper”

2 Timothy 4:7 (NIV)“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful”

Jim Rohn says: “Success is a few simple disciplines, practised every day; while failures are simply a few errors in judgement, repeated every day.”