Category: Blog

Perhaps you have heard the saying, “it takes a village to raise a child.”  A corrupt village, family, city, or nation can also destroy a child.  Either way, the power of influence is working on the child as it does the community.  Nothing in the world escapes influence.  Scientists and theologians agree that influence or power was necessary for the creation or formation of the universe.  They may not agree on who, what, when, where, how, or how long ago, but it cannot be denied that power and influence were, and continue to be, at play. 

However weak or strong, we too have influence and power in the world.  The question is whether we use our power or influence for good or for evil, or how can we even be sure.  Some people spend a great deal of time scheming and trying to figure out how to get ahead at the expense of others.  Others spend time trying to figure out how they can help others, even at a cost to themselves.  Solos are beautiful and have their place, but they cannot demonstrate the beauty of the choir, or the orchestra. 

Armies march together, choirs sing together, orchestras play together, and teams work together.  Perhaps you have heard the saying, “together we stand, divided we fall.”  As divisions grow stronger in our world, we will either use our influence to benefit the world for good, or we will influence the world for evil.  One of the basic keys to changing the course of our world is realizing that we must be concerned about the whole world, and not just its beautiful parts.  If we are going to be disciplined for success, we must realize that it takes a child to save the village, and it takes a village to save the world.

Perhaps you have heard Aesop’s fable “The Hare & The Tortoise.”  The hare made fun of the tortoise for being so slow, and when challenged to a race the hare sprinted off leaving the tortoise behind.  The Hare decided to take a nap to allow the tortoise time to catch up but overslept, and upon awaking the tortoise was too close to the finish line for the hare to catch up.  Quick starts and a fast pace may serve you well in a race, but victory is most often achieved through the discipline of steady pacing.

Henry David Thoreau said, “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”  Both the hare and the tortoise were confident, and with a little humility on the part of the hare, they would have made a good team.  If you move with confidence using your gifts, talents, and abilities, and appreciate the same in others, the unexpected success of teamwork could be astounding.  Although we tend to celebrate superstars, even superstars need a team.

Even though some people like to think of themselves as self-made, no one can be successful without the help of others, even if it is against their will.  The wealth of the industrial revolution could not have been made without cheap labor and a great nation like the United States could never have become as wealthy or powerful without slave labor.  Our global success, and our advancement in every area of life is dependent upon others, but the greatest success comes through co-operation and a shared vision and mission with others.  If we are disciplined for success, perhaps working together the dreamers, tortoises, and hares can successfully cross the finish line.

Have you ever paused to think about the power of your mind?  Did you know that your brain and mind functions are comparable to super computers?  Do you know what your brain can achieve?  We know more than we think we know, and we have more storage capacity on our mental hard drives than we can imagine.  Just as our DNA stores the codes for past and future generations, what if our minds have information stored in our memory banks of things that occurred before we were born and things that have not yet occurred?  Scientists has suggested that we only use a small portion of our mental capabilities. 

The human mind can recall memories long forgotten with a word or trigger, we can also be hypnotized to remember things or accomplish things we could not do before.  The most creative and innovative minds are often those that can access memories and areas of the brain that are seldom used.  Just as we can query the internet to find information, we can query our minds for knowledge and information as well.  Yes, we all have these wonderfully made computers and information centers that we are allowing to weaken from underuse.  If we begin to exercise our brains to use what we already know, our brains will gain new knowledge and create new opportunities for ourselves and others.

Sometimes rebooting a system will clear the cache memory and open space for use.  Sometimes the system must be rebooted when new software has been installed so that the files needed for start up can engage the new program.  Sometimes a system has just been over-stressed and needs a fresh start.  If we are going to be disciplined for success, we must add new knowledge as often as possible, learn how to apply it, and reboot regularly.

Whether it was the A-Team, or Mission Impossible, the show always began with a mission that involved overcoming great odds with tools and talents that seemed inferior to the task.  In both television shows, the teams had to decide whether they would accept the mission.  After reviewing the desired outcome of the mission, the intelligence that had been gathered, and the challenges involved, the team had to develop a plan to carry out the mission.  While the excitement may be in carrying out the plan, it is the discipline of planning that determines the success or failure of the mission.  Generally, well-done means well-planned.

Planning has not been one of my greatest strengths, but I am learning that my weaknesses can keep me from fully using my strengths.  Planning always involves an assessment of strengths and weaknesses.  Knowing your strengths, and the strengths of others on your team, helps you to know where and how you will gain the most ground towards accomplishing your mission.  Knowing your weaknesses, and the weaknesses of those on your team, will help you to know where you or your team can be weakened, and what can keep you from operating fully in your areas of strength.  Sometimes we focus so much on our strengths that we forget to cover or strengthen the areas we are weak.

Sometimes our success is limited by our tendency to rely on our strengths and not the strength of a team.  If you combine your strengths with the strengths of others, the combined strength is much greater than you could possibly have alone.  The weaknesses of one person are covered by the strengths of another.  The plan that maximizes the strengths of the individuals and the group will accomplish impossible missions.  When that plan comes together, success is inevitable.

Discipline always involves focus, and focus involves narrowing the scope of things from many to one.  An eagle or a hawk focused on its prey will more than likely have a meal.  There are even animals that can hypnotize their prey through their intense single-minded focus.  Perhaps there was a time in your life that you pursued something with all your energy and focus.  It you did not give up, more than likely you achieved your goal.

Today I invite you to take the One-Thing-Done-Well challenge.  Ask yourself what one thing you would like to do well today, this week, this month, etc.  Then discipline yourself to write out a plan to get it done.  If research is involved, plan time to gather your information.  Deciding on one thing is the first big part of the challenge.  The next part is determining what will be needed to get the job done.  The discipline of execution will require the greatest part of your focus.  Other things will arise that will call for your attention.  You may even want to change your mind about the one-thing. 

If you start with small things and baby steps, accomplishing one thing and then another, you will develop the discipline of focused accomplishments.  Once this discipline becomes habitual, you will accomplish everything you set your mind to achieve.  To develop the discipline of one-thing-done-well you may want to apply the adage, “If a task is once begun, leave it not until it’s done.  Be the labor great or small, do it well or not at all.”

It has been said that if the wealth of the world was redistributed equally, in a measured period the distribution of wealth would be very close to what it was before the redistribution.  The idea being that it is the mindset of wealth or poverty that determines a person’s financial status and not necessarily how much money goes through their hands.  A study of big lottery winners shows that within two to three years those who win millions are often worse off and in greater debt than before their big win.  Slaves set free, often return to slavery and prisoners set free, often return to prison.

If we develop a mindset of where we want to go in life, the likelihood of reaching that goal and maintaining it is very high.  A change in situation without a change in mindset, will lead to an undesirable situation.  A change in mindset can transport us from an undesirable situation to a desirable one.  If you change your mind you can change your world, but if you change your world without changing your mind, your world may collapse around you. 

Being disciplined for success is growing as you are going, and thinking, acting, and living with the mindset of where you want to go.  This does not mean living beyond your means but living as if you mean what you say you believe.  If you want to be a giver you can become a giver no matter how little you have.  If you want to help the world become a better place, begin where you and live to influence the twenty-five to fifty feet around you in each direction daily.  Wherever you want to go, and whatever you want to be, must first be inside of you, before it can be achieved externally. 

Perhaps life can be viewed as an unending series of open doors.  Each door can be entered or denied.  Once entered or denied your life is changed.  All doors are one-way, with no reversals.  Like the binary operations of a computer program, one decision calls for another, and each decision has results and consequences.  If you miss a desired destination, rerouting means new doorways and perhaps extended time.

As far as I can tell, the doors I have entered in my life have all had signs or indicators as to what was in store for me on the other side, before I entered them.  So many times, I either heard or saw the warning signs before entering poorly chosen doors.  Most the doors I entered that were well chosen I entered because I saw or heard the results of others who passed through those or similar doors.  At each door we have time to choose to enter or turn away, we do not have to make a rushed decision or be forcibly persuaded. 

I remember a Brer Fox tale my father used to tell us.  Each day Brer Fox would pass Brer Lion’s den and they would courteously greet one another.  Each day Brer Lion would ask Brer Fox to come up and sit with him for a spell, just for good neighborly conversation.  Each day Brer Fox would thank him for the invitation but continue on his way.  One day Brer Lion chided Brer Fox for rejecting his hospitality.  Brer Fox then told Brer Lion that he had been observing all the footprints leading up to Brer Lion’s den, and that all the footprints were leading in, but none seemed to be leading out.  Again, he thanked Brer Lion for his hospitality and stated that based on his observation it was probably wise for him to decline the invitation.

Did you know that many successful people talk to themselves?  It used to be said that talking to yourself was a sign of mental or emotional instability.  Now we know that it is the content of the conversation that reveals one’s state of mind.  Audible learners and verbal organizers may find that talking to themselves keeps them focused and on track.  With the audible reinforcement, talking to yourself may also make it easier to remember things.  Weightlifters and workout enthusiasts often count their sets aloud.  Cooks, chemists, and mixologists will sometimes count their measurements aloud to minimize mistakes. 

Sometimes with all the information bombarding our senses everyday it is difficult to hear ourselves think.  If you have difficulty focusing, thinking out loud may help you to hear your thoughts a little better above the fray.  When trying to plan, organize, or make decisions, try using the notes or memo app on your cell phone.  Click on the microphone and record your thoughts, plans, or lists, you may find that in playing them back you have a better understanding of your thoughts and better focus for moving forward. 

If you are still squeamish about others seeing you talking to yourself, simply put in your headphones and have a good conversation with yourself, and no one will know that you are the person on the other end of the line.  You can even take notes while talking to yourself.  Talking aloud may also be an effective way to talk to God, take notes, and plan at the same time.  The tools of discipline we use to successfully reach our goals must be uniquely honed to suit us individually, and this particular tool may have no benefit for you, but hopefully, it will help you identify your own tools, and help you become disciplined for your success.

My mother liked putting puzzles together.  Sometimes they had over 1000 pieces.  I remember watching her hold one piece in her hand for the longest time until she found a connecting piece.  Sometimes my siblings and I would work on the puzzle with her, sometimes looking with her to find the location of that one piece.  We experienced with her the satisfaction of watching the puzzle slowly come together.  My father compared life to a puzzle, and indeed I have been able to look back and see how the pieces have come together.

There is always a temptation to force pieces in places where they don’t fit, and there is the constant desire to find the pieces quickly.  As I reflect on my mother’s method of putting pieces of similar colors together, looking carefully for shapes that may fit together, and holding one piece for an extended period until it could be properly placed, I find keys to putting my life’s puzzle together.

Success is not always found in the fastest solution.  Discipline does not always involve speed.  Somethings in life look like a perfect fit but a closer look at the edges or background may reveal that that piece cannot be placed until other pieces of the puzzle come together.  The good thing about most puzzles is that there is a picture on the box that shows what the finished product should look like.  As we live our lives, we may only have glimpses of what the finished product should look like, but as the pieces come together the picture in our mind becomes clearer.  Being disciplined for success is keeping the big picture in mind, but also holding each piece patiently and carefully until its place can be found, it is becoming what we were created to become.

My father used to tell me, “Son, learn to use your own head, because if you let someone else use it, they will use it to their advantage, and not yours.”  In the Bible I read, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit, is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” (Proverbs 25:28) With so much information available to us, often with an agenda to get our money, our mind, or our endorsement, it is difficult to know if we are using our own heads or if we have bought into the propaganda.  Whenever we respond to an ad simply based on our feelings, or accept information without question or evaluation, we have probably been used.  When someone is trying to control you, the first thing they try to determine is, who or what is controlling you now.  Advertisers generally want to know which product or company you are using, so that they can point out the flaws of that company or product and convince you that their product is better.

Some people will tell you that it is just easier to let someone else decide things for them because they don’t want to think that hard.  In simple things in life that is probably a good thing, but when others have control over our lives in matters of conscience, ethics, morality, spirituality, and integrity we become like a city with no boundaries or protection. Ultimately, this person will not only feel used, but they will also realize that they have used someone else.  As we become accountable for ourselves, we do not need others to be responsible for us.

Being disciplined for success means taking responsibility for our lives so that we are not using or being used by others.   

Sometimes we must make split second decisions, and sometimes it is in our best interest to pause, wait, and delay the decision.  Of course, not deciding is in fact deciding, but it can be for a thought-out reason or out of procrastination, fear of the consequences, or just not wanting to be responsible.  The thought-out reasons require discipline.  We can make decisions based on evidence we have gathered, or we can make decisions based on things that we hold to be true.  There is another way that we make decisions which may or may not be an extension of evidence-based decision making, that is intuitive or hunch-based decision making. 

While some may say, “just stick to the facts,” is it not possible that a hunch or a gut feeling is a fact for which there is no inductive or deductive evidence?  Perhaps the greatest scientific discoveries, the most difficult court cases, and even the best decisions we have made in our lives, have been made and determined by the disciplined use of each of these decision-making processes.  If we ignore our gut feelings, we may later discover that there were facts missing from the evidence, that perhaps our gut was trying to tell us.  If we only go on our gut feelings and ignore the obvious facts, or fail to research and search for evidence, we restrict our ability to make informed and wise decisions. 

Being disciplined for success is not just a matter of using our heads, it is also a matter of using our hearts, and our intuitions.  It takes discipline to gather evidence, review the evidence, and then ask, what feels to be the right or appropriate way to move.  The key to our success is reasoning with our heads, hearts, and guts.  Leaving either stone unturned, may indicate that we lack the rigor which is needed to be disciplined for success.

I remember sitting on the front steps of my parent’s home as a little boy daydreaming.  With the sun shining on my face, with my eyes closed, I could see the bright orange color inside my eyelids.  Occasionally I still daydream, but not enough as a place to relax and watch what comes up on the screen of my inner eyelids.  While daydreaming can be a distraction and an escape from things you need to do, it can also be a place of relaxation and rest.  Too often we turn on the television, our smartphones, computers, or pads, to watch something produced by other directors.  When we take time to look at the screen of our inner eyelids, our imagination can create ideas, scenarios, and plans, enabling us to be the directors and producers of events, chapters, and scenes in our own lives, in which we can play the main character or a supporting role.  Our night dreams are produced by our unconscious mind, but our daydreams can be produced consciously or in cooperation with our unconscious mind.

Regardless of the culture, watching children at play reveals the great potential of the human imagination.  When we awaken our childlike imagination, we can see a world where anything is possible.  Our greatest literature, art, poetry, architecture, inventions, cures, and knowledge have been born in the imagination.

If our imagination can be disciplined for success, the obstacles, setbacks, and distractions will never deter us from the vision we see.  Take the time to dream a conscious dream, and then consciously enter the dream.  Get away from your routine for a moment and take a walk, swim, run, or a ride and let your imagination have time to breathe.  You will be surprised by the wealth of your imagination.

Travel is one of the best ways to learn about different cultures and lifestyles.  If you cannot physically travel to distant lands, reading, the internet, and our imaginations can also expose us to new worlds and new ideas, both good and bad.  Whether traveling physically or in your imagination there must be a vehicle of transportation.  Our thoughts are powerful transporters that have the capacity to take us places we have never been, first in our imaginations and often in reality.

Through human ingenuity we have thousands of satellites above the earth giving us worldwide connectivity in seconds.  Our space programs around the world are constantly discovering things about the universe that we did not know.  Whether the vehicle is light, sound, wind, water, electrical, biological, nuclear, or digital, our vehicles of communication and transportation have taken us far beyond the world of the generations before us.  Yet, throughout the generations before us we were warned that it is possible to travel the world, gain knowledge in many domains, and yet lose ourselves, our minds, and our souls in the process. 

Just as the telescope must receive light from the stars in order to see it, in every area of knowledge we must receive something from the target and destination of our inquiry in order to know anything.  If we want to discover and rediscover ourselves, we must use the vehicle of our thoughts and our spirits. Through the vehicles of thought and industry we can connect with the physical world, but through the vehicles of our spiritual industry we can connect with God.  If we are disciplined for success in the broadest sense, we recognize the importance of all our vehicles, and that just as the source of energy for our physical well-being comes from beyond and within the earth, the source of our spiritual well-being also comes from beyond us and within us.

I guess there is no such thing as being calamity resistant or catastrophe-proof.  Survivalist groups and militia groups all over the world have been preparing for global crisis for decades and centuries.  Whenever there is instability in governments and economies, those who sense impending doom begin to prepare for the end of the world. During these times, you hear more religious people talking about the apocalypse and looking for divine intervention.  Some even express the belief that they will not be here during the worse times because the rapture spoken of in the Bible will have occurred, allowing them to escape the collapse. 

Imagine that weeks have gone by with no cell phone connections, no television or internet, and all systems that depend on satellite connections have failed.  What do you do?  With no one to call, and no cavalry coming to save you, you must now rely on the teamwork and togetherness of those around you if you are going to survive.  Being disciplined for success is not just being successful when things are going as planned but also when, in the words of Chinua Achebe, “things fall apart.  Crisis management is as much a function of internal balance and control as it is the management of resources.  Many people commit suicide after great losses because they cannot see how to get through the period of crisis.  In crisis periods some people die from sheer panic, anxiety, and fear.  Resources may be available to them, but their mindset will not allow them to relax, accept, and use them.

Control under pressure and adverse circumstances is a discipline which cannot be easily shaken.  The test of our character and our strength is determined in how well we handle adversity.  Are you ready for the coming crisis?

My brother often says, “you can look at the negative negatively or you can look at the negative positively.  You can also look at the positive negatively or the positive positively.”  In most situations and circumstances, the outcome is often determined by our perspective, not simply our perception.  It seems that some of us have been programmed to find the negative in the most positive situations, and some of us have been programmed to see the positive in the most negative situations.   Catastrophic events in history and in our lives, as devastating as they have been, have had something positive to come out them.

Sometimes objects in the rear-view mirror and through the windshield are too close to get a clear picture of where we are in the larger scheme of things.  If we could get an aerial perspective maybe our attitude and perception would change for the positive.  Before we let our emotions take over, if we can look at the bigger picture, we may be surprised what is in store for us in life.  A big picture perspective will change the way you make decisions and change the decisions you make.  Making decisions simply on today’s discomfort may prolong the discomfort indefinitely.  Deciding to endure and learn from today’s discomfort, may eliminate the discomfort in the long run. 

Being disciplined for success means disciplining our outlook.  If we want positive outcomes, we must see the positive from where we are, even it is barely visible. 

A popular campaign ad for a college fund used to say, “the mind is a terrible thing to waste,” it is also a difficult thing to tame.  Our thoughts can be elusive and difficult to harness, and sometimes they seem to have a mind of their own.  Sometimes our thoughts seem to run wild or take control of us rather than our having control of them.  Perhaps they can be tamed by riding them like a rider rides a steer or a stallion in a rodeo.  Or perhaps we can whisper to them like the horse whisperer or dog whisperer, who speaks in soft persuasive tones, bringing the animal under their control. 

The fact of the matter is that we have no discipline over our thoughts if our thoughts are in control.  Any external or internal stimuli can create a thought for us, and if they are strong enough, they can occupy and preoccupy our minds.  The more control we have over our thoughts the better we can control our tempers, our finances, our appetites, and our lives.  How do we gain this control?  How can be become the boss of our thoughts rather a slave to them?

Since I tend to look for analogies to help me develop strategies, I thought of running or swimming which requires good breath control.  So, I am working on holding my thoughts longer and focusing longer without being distracted.  Holding my thoughts captive, and training them to work for me, may just lead to the successful taming of my mind.  As I gain more discipline over my thoughts and learn to tame my mind, I hope to share the process and the evidence of my success.

Just as there are cloudy days with no sunshine, there are days in our lives when it is difficult to get the clouds out of our minds.  If you must go out in the rain, you dress for the weather and you may take an umbrella with you.  Similarly, in our thought life, there are days when it seems to be difficult to get a clear thought through.  While there are no umbrellas for your brain, we do need to take time to relax and refocus.  Refocusing is bringing into clear view again the things that are most important in our lives.  When we are out of focus the things that are not as important to us will take up most of our time, energy, and resources.  There is a verse in the bible which says, “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

In taking inventory of where we spend most of our money, time, and resources, we can find out what occupies the most prominent place in our hearts.  I am quite certain that many will say their heart is in one place, but their checkbook, debit and credit card statements, and where they spend their time and energy are somewhere altogether in another place.  One good thing about sunlight is that it reveals things that could not be seen in the dark or in dim lighting.  When we clear our mental skies, and if we are honest with ourselves, we can clearly see where our treasure is, and where we want it to be. 

It takes discipline to step into the light and allow our thoughts and intentions to be exposed, even if only to ourselves.  When our thoughts, words, intentions, and actions agree, our heart and our treasure will be united.

Once you decide you want something in life, the next question you must ask yourself is, what are you willing to give up.  If you are going to school, you must give up something to make room for classes and study time.  If you are saving for something, you must give up what you were spending your money on, to make provision for the savings.  Even if you plan to make more money, you must apply more time or effort, which in turn means that you must give something up.  You have probably heard the saying, “no pain/no gain.  I prefer to think of it as no loss/no gain.  I think you can gain a lot in life without pain, but not without loss.  All loss is not painful.  If you want something bad enough you will gladly lose sleep and pleasures to get it.

I look at gain as a change in appetite.  If you want to get in good physical shape, you can do so by painlessly adding five steps to a walking or running routine every day for a year.  At the end of the first year you will be walking or running roughly a mile a day.  At the end of the fifth year you will be walking or running roughly five miles a day.  While there may be little pain involved, the time you added for exercise may result in less time for sleep or less time spent somewhere else. 

Being disciplined for success not only involves a change in how we use our time, but it also requires a change in the direction of our effort and energy.  What used to have my time, effort, and energy has now found a new focus, direction, and destination.  Discipline to gain follows discipline to lose.

My father used to say, “Life is a problem, and once you get it all figured out, it’s time to check out.”  Again, he would say, “Life is like a puzzle, when you put in the last piece, your time here is up.”  I prefer to think of life as an adventure in which you encounter obstacles, problems, successes, and joys along the way.  If you focus too much on the problems, you cannot enjoy the journey.  If you ignore the problems, you miss the adventure.  With a detective’s mind, even problem solving can be an adventure.

In every problem we can find clues, that when uncovered, and followed, can lead to extraordinary success.  On the other hand, if you could forensically examine every success, you would find the evidence of previous failures hidden within.  Viewed in this way, failure is merely an earlier stage of success.  From that perspective, the only way to fail is to quit before you succeed.  When you are confident that you know, and confident of success, any hiccups in the road are merely factored into your success.

If you knew you could not fail, your mind would be free of worry, creating more space for creative problem solving.  Imagine living everyday as an adventure knowing that it would end in success.  Then you could focus on the journey and not on how it would end.  When the destination is a given, then life itself becomes a gift.  Thus, the problem, the puzzle, the answers, the adventure, and the destination are bundled up in the gift.  There you have it, life is about living, and when we are disciplined for success our lives become a gift that keeps on giving, and we keep on living.

Given all the information and stimulation bombarding our senses daily, it is no wonder that more children and adults in the U.S., and I would imagine around the world, are experiencing attention deficit disorders.  In a world where multitasking is applauded, and singlemindedness is frowned upon, it is difficult to see the value of both in our lives.  When you look at musical notes in a score of music, sometimes you see the same note, or the same chord repeated throughout the score.  In chords, different notes are played simultaneously, and sometimes one note is played alone.  Sometimes the most dramatic parts of the score are when we hear one note or one chord sustained, and sometimes the power comes in the rapid variation of notes and chords. 

Our lives, like musical scores, can be set in a genre of our own choosing.  Different genres may suit different seasons and situations in our lives.  Timing, rhythm, tempo, and key signatures determine the genre, the mood, and the impact of the music just as much as the chords and notes.  Although that sounds like a lot of multitasking, remember that everything begins with one beat and one note.  In music there are places of rest, which can also dramatically affect the beauty of the music, but flatlining on a heart monitor means death, so do not remain at rest too long.

Playing well, or even appreciating good music, requires discipline, a love of music, and daily practice.  Love, discipline, and daily practice are also needed to live well.  If for some reason you have gotten off step and out of rhythm, simply mark time for a moment, and get back into the flow.  Life is like a symphony or a grand concert, and we all have a role.  Our notes, chords, and rhythm were given to us with the first beat of our hearts, and our success in life is determined in how well our hearts are played before God, and in concert with one another.