Notable Quotable – Discipline

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments.                  ~ Jim Rohn

Isn’t this sure the truth?! For without discipline, we may never achieve goals. Sometimes I find it hard to be disciplined, especially when it comes to my writing. I’m the least disciplined writer ever…which is why I’ve never finished my book. I don’t know why I shy away from it. Probably lack of confidence. But if I would only insist on some disciplined habits, I might just be able to leave that lack of confidence far behind me.

I shy away from discipline because it involves restraint…restraint from doing what I want to be doing instead of doing what I should be doing. I can’t say that I’m completely undisciplined. Obviously I have a good degree of discipline as I’ve been self-employed for over twenty years and a good portion of those years were spent in the advertising business. There is real discipline involved in that business because it revolves around hard and fast deadlines. So I know I have the ability to be disciplined. I just need to make myself be disciplined when it comes to writing.

When considering self-discipline, one has to persist at difficult or unpleasant tasks until they’re completed. Well, I did that with my garage a few months ago. I stuck at it until I got it all cleared and cleaned out. That was successful discipline. I’ve just succeeded in cleaning out two spare rooms over the last few weeks too.

But on the other hand, I am the queen of procrastination…even on projects that I very much want to complete (like my book). I need to work on developing some effective discipline habits.

How do you get disciplined? What has worked for you? Rewards? Incentives? If you are a writer, how do you make yourself sit down and write? What gets you motivated? What are your tricks of the trade?