by Chris Banescu –
“There are two pains in life. There is the pain of discipline and the pain of disappointment. If you can handle the pain of discipline, then you’ll never have to deal with the pain of disappointment.” ~ Nick Saban
We all pay a price for the lack of discipline. Whether it’s our physical or mental health, spiritual well-being, character, family life, career situation, financial status, friendships, or business condition, we always suffer if we don’t do the essential work to either improve, adapt, or deal with the changing circumstances of our life. The longer we avoid consistently doing the right things for ourselves, our families, and/or businesses, the worse things will get. We will feel the inevitable physical and psychological pains that arise when we let things slide and refuse to do the daily necessary work.
Change is painful. Discipline exacts a price.
Change is painful. Discipline exacts a price. Daily focus, effort, and commitment to goals and action require hard work. It’s tough to get motivated and act consistently. It’s hard to always show up. It’s very difficult to change, to face reality, to struggle, to improve. It’s painful to be disciplined and find the motivation and energy to stick to it every single day. But, the pain of complacency, laziness, broken marriages, lost friendships, unhealthy habits, missed opportunities, and constant disappointments, are much, much worse.
So stop procrastinating. Stop rationalizing why you can’t do it. Stop delaying. Stop coming up with excuses. Stop avoiding the necessary short-term pain.
Get up and get it done. Put one foot in front of the other. Do the work. Start small but gradually build up healthy daily habits and rituals. Don’t give up. Stay the course. Keep it at it, every single day. A little discipline today will help you be more disciplined tomorrow. Confidence breeds confidence. This in turn will make it easier to stay disciplined and move further in the right direction. Each success will give you the motivation to continue doing the necessary work. Success breeds success. Even the inevitable setbacks will be easier to handle, if you brush them off and get back to doing the required work and stay disciplined.
Get up and get it done.
Eventually your fear of the pain of disappointment will dissipate, replaced by a newfound confidence and mental, physical, and spiritual strength and resilience. You will still experience pain and suffering, but you’ll avoid despair. You’ll be much better prepared to handle whatever life throws at you. The pains will come, as we’ve all seen the world offers that to us in spades. But it won’t be self-inflicted pain and suffering, which lack of discipline always brings.
