First you establish your goals, and then you enforce a strict set of disciplines necessary to cross the finish line of achievement. Every act of self-discipline moves you toward your goals, and every exception takes you off course.

You may be tempted to pooh-pooh away this statement as something so obvious, however before you do, ask yourself this important question: "Based on my goals set, am I ahead, on or below target?

The answer to that question is directly tied to your willingness and ability to remain focused on the key actions necessary for success.

The FACTS are simply this; you are either buying or selling. If you are on, or better yet ahead of target than you are a seller. You have sold yourself on the importance of discipline and have stayed focused in spite of the world of options and temptations that circle you all of the time.

If you are below target than you are a buyer. You have bought the same excuses that have led so many others down the pathway of mediocrity. The things you buy are procrastination; lack of discipline and whatever else is your poison of choice.

Remember this absolute rule of discipline; "If you don't discipline yourself, you are sure to be disciplined by others". Don't believe me, huh? Chew on this, run up your credit cards real high, be late on a few payments and see how quickly those companies are to teach you a thing or two about discipline.

I repeat, "If you don't discipline yourself, you are sure to be disciplined by others".

To CREATE HISTORY you must become a seller. Sell yourself on the power of your goal; your vision for what is possible. To REPEAT HISTORY all you have to do is continue to be a buyer. Buyers consume not only products from the store but also excuses from their minds. It, meaning success and failure all begins within the parameters of your own mind and the disciplines of your behavior.

We are all walking, talking power struggles: head vs. heart...intellect vs. emotion. Many leave the steering to their emotions and merely bring their intellects along for the ride. Your goals or your excuses, which is running the show in your life?

Contrary to popular belief, freedom does not arise from "letting it all hang out;" freedom is the result of a personal triumph over excuses and bad habits. Excuses such as procrastination are like toxic waste to your potential.

To experience true freedom, you must prove to yourself that you are the master of your own destiny. Never are you less free than when you are held hostage by your excuses and lack of discipline. When lack of discipline and excuses rule, enslavement and mediocrity, not freedom, follows!

Bad habits are the gravitational pull of your emotional life, and overcoming them is not easy. Change is challenging. Surrender is tempting, and it gets tastier with practice. The good news is that it takes less energy to remain disciplined than to regain it.

The only bad news about self-discipline is that it is so easy to give up. Every compromise in behavior (nice word for excuse) greases the wheels for another compromise. Make a personal "no exceptions policy," and stick to it.

Self-discipline is an act of cultivation. Self-discipline requires you to connect today's actions to tomorrow's results.

There's a season for sowing, a season for reaping. Self-discipline helps you know which is which.

Winners prepare and anticipate behind closed doors. Lay the groundwork for success carefully: Effective preparation and self-discipline are closely allied. Do your homework. Since most people are rarely well prepared, you will often succeed by default. When opportunity presents itself, burst out of the starting gate, sprint to the finish line, and take home the prize.

Do what needs to be done. Quality living requires you to make difficult choices and sacrifices; it demands that you do the hard work first. You cannot arrive at true success without making the trip.

Self-discipline is a habit. It is not situational, but it is applied situation by situation. Anyone can be self-disciplined on occasion, but to get consistently positive results requires consistency.

It is the day-in day-out practice of self-discipline that determines where you'll end up. After all, a lifetime is an accumulation of moments, days, weeks, months, and years.

What you do during each moment counts and influences the degree to which you judge your life to be a success. If you aspire to achieve your goals, you must be prepared to play every play as though the two-minute warning clock is running. Every move is significant. Every move counts!

Everyone struggles with self-discipline. The question is not "Do I..." but "Where do I need to exercise greater self-discipline?" The discipline you establish today determines the successes you'll enjoy tomorrow.

The strenuous life tastes better. When it comes to self-discipline, a key driver of success, EVERYTHING COUNTS!

Gary Ryan Blair