We all can reach GOLD

I just read a blog from author & life coach Tommy Newberry and thought it was worth sharing with you!! Hope it inspires you and challenges you to be everything God has created you and called you to be!!!

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You may have watched this inspiring ad on TV. The commercial begins with images of Olympic athletes training and then we hear their voices:

“Take a day off; shoot, I don’t take a morning off.”
“I haven’t ordered dessert in two years.”
“You know that book everyone is reading? I haven’t read it.”

This summer, your commitment to self-discipline can determine your capability to thrive in an economy where most are simply happy to survive. It no doubt influences your finances, your marriage, your parenting, your career, your spiritual health, your physical health, and just about everything else as well. No area of your life remains untouched by self-discipline for very long.

Self-discipline is the connective tissue that links ambition with achievement. Mastering self-discipline is like strapping turbo boosters to your vision and goals. It helps take you where you want to go faster, easier, and makes it possible for you to get more out of life along the way. But here is the rub. We live in culture where “now” is often not fast enough.

Logically, self-discipline helps us conquer this mass impulsivity and the desire for instant gratification. Like world-class athletes, those who understand the value of long-term goals are willing to sacrifice something lesser today for something greater tomorrow. But the self-discipline of deferring pleasure requires practice and lots of repetition. You must be willing to pay a price today in order to receive the rewards that will very likely not show up until tomorrow.

Because their appetite is aimed at the pleasure of the current moment, underachievers are at a great disadvantage in this arena. To the contrary, high achievers dwell on and are motivated by the value and lasting pleasure triggered from big accomplishments. With self-discipline, you are choosing success and the life of a peak performer. (And this is a good thing!)

Because self-discipline can be learned, it is an equal-opportunity character trait, and arguably the second most important ingredient in reaching your full potential. Self-discipline is the ability to funnel your desires and passions in a productive direction, for a sustained period of time in order to achieve your goals. It is an investment in your future, and demonstrations of self-discipline carry with them the added blessing of also inspiring others, as we recently observed with the London Olympic Games.

It’s a shame, though, that many people believe that self-discipline just isn’t “their thing,” that some people have it and some don’t. But they are wrong. People often want to take short-cuts to success, but success demands character and character demands self-discipline. If you learn to value self-discipline and harness its power, you will stand head and shoulders above the crowd.

Simply put, those who master themselves, master their potential.

With self-discipline, you do what needs to be done without a teacher, boss, parent, coach, or supervisor looking over your shoulder to make sure you’ve accomplished your job or training regimen and done it with excellence.

Self-discipline helps you synchronize your goals with your choices and keep you moving in the direction of your desired objective. It is developed by moving forward one step at a time and creating momentum in small, daily acts. The first step is to recognize you’re not a slave to your feelings. You can still make positive, goal-directed choices in spite of your emotions. 

Most people get tangled up in unproductive decisions because they don’t understand this reality. Undisciplined people are slaves to their feelings, so they experience self-inflicted problems and frustrations that disciplined people typically avoid.

No matter what your goals may be, your commitment to self-discipline will keep you focused on your intentions and off your fears and worries. You will do what you need to do when you need to do it, whether you feel like it or not.

Life will seldom be about what you can’t do and more often will be about what you won’t do. Learn to distinguish between the two and you’ll surge ahead of those around you. Learn to engage self-discipline to overcome the “won’t,” and forge ahead, in spite of how you feel at the particular moment.

Understand that future change is an illusion and a myth. Tomorrow changes only as a result of what you do today. In my coaching practice, I’ve discovered that the most unhappy people in the world are those who use the word “tomorrow” most often. Because of delay and chronic indecision, they don’t even really show up for their own lives, and when they finally realize it, it’s too late.

Remember, discipline happens…eventually. Either we take the lead and discipline ourselves or life will, at some point, step in and play the role of disciplinarian for us.