We all have a God-given destiny bigger than the life we are living. God wants to work in partnership with us to reach out to a broken world in need of love and healing. The challenge is that we are often kept busy maintaining the status quo rather than being effective in pursuing our passions and fulfilling our destiny. Whilst we may understand that it is the small, daily actions we perform that ultimately determines the path of our lives, many of us find it a struggle to put the right actions in place to see our destiny become reality.
You may have been told that a "successful" life (however you define it) is the result of a disciplined life. This is only partly true, and the interpretation of this statement has caused much confusion and angst.
The challenge with discipline is that it takes effort to maintain. Success does require discipline, but no more discipline than what you currently possess. Rather than needing more discipline, you need to learn to manage and direct the discipline you already have better. The path to success is about choosing the right habit to instill and using your discipline to establish it. As this habit (and others) then become part of your make up, you'll look like a disciplined person!
Frank Outlay once said:
Beware of your thoughts for they soon become your words;
Beware of your words for they soon become your actions;
Beware of your actions for they soon become your habits;
Beware of your habits for they form your character;
Beware of your character for it will determine your destiny.
It is your thoughts, words and actions that require short, focussed discipline in order to form a new habit. Once a habit has been formed, it will be easier to maintain. These habits then shape your character and ultimately determine your destiny.
Another way of representing this is to consider the following popular learning model (which I will relate to learning how to drive a car):
1. Unconscious Incompetence - I don't realise I can't drive a car. I watch my dad drive and it looks easy enough!
2. Conscious Incompetence - I reach 16, get my driver's license, try to drive, run over the curb, narrowly miss the cat and realise I can't drive.
3. Conscious Competence - after some practice, if I concentrate and focus I can drive!
4. Unconscious Competence - after establishing my driving "habits", I can drive without "thinking".
You could apply this model to learning a new job, establishing new ways of thinking, building the right business habits etc.
So how long do you need to maintain discipline before it becomes habit? Research suggests an average of 66 days to form a new habit. Now, when you're in the midst of trying to change, 66 days can seem like a long time, but in retrospect, it goes by very quickly!
Be encouraged as your take the small, focussed, disciplined steps. Understand that these will eventually develop into transformational habits that will see your destiny become reality! To your every success and that it may flow onto others!
Key Points:
1. Focus on building habits. Create transformational habits with the use of short, focussed discipline.
2. Simplify. Strategy is the art of removing the non-essential and non-urgent items in order to focus on the essential, priority items. Don't try to change everything at once, build one transforming habit at a time.
3. Use discipline. But go easy. Give yourself time to form new habits and don't be discouraged by the process. Once a habit has been established (which will take an average of 66 days to form), you can build upon it or focus on another.