12/05/07
The Building Blocks of Success: Part IV - Discipline
Part IV of our look at the Building Blocks of Success looks at Discipline, that most misunderstood component of Success and happiness.
Category: Inner
Posted by: marc
Discipline is that component of success that ensures you carry on when you encounter the inevitable obstacles or setbacks on your path to success. Just as it’s pretty easy to cruise along with a tailwind but it takes some effort to continue on into a howling gale, likewise it’s folly to think that the best athletes can turn it on all the time. You don’t have to look far in this sport to see examples of fallen giants who resurrect themselves. What distinguishes these champions from the rest of the herd is their ability, when fallen or in trouble, to follow or return to previous training patterns they executed during
successful periods.
But true discipline is more than an ability to recover from setbacks and carry on with the task at hand. What separates the truly great from the middling crowd is their ability to display discipline even in the midst of achieving resounding success. Ever wonder why it’s the same names that top the winner’s list year after year in Hawaii or on the ITU roster? These are real life examples of human beings who, while achieving lasting success, seem to check themselves during that success – almost as if in fear they will be overtaken by it.
When a winner who’s tasted fleeting success falls, how often do we hear “success went to his head?” True champions never surrender to temptation because they learn that in order to control your destiny, you first must learn to control yourself. The most powerful, valuable lessons we learn in life come from our failures and mistakes. In sports, it’s the truly disciplined champion who knows this best, because he or she takes these setbacks and mistakes and sticks around to find out what the lessons are.
successful periods.
But true discipline is more than an ability to recover from setbacks and carry on with the task at hand. What separates the truly great from the middling crowd is their ability to display discipline even in the midst of achieving resounding success. Ever wonder why it’s the same names that top the winner’s list year after year in Hawaii or on the ITU roster? These are real life examples of human beings who, while achieving lasting success, seem to check themselves during that success – almost as if in fear they will be overtaken by it.
When a winner who’s tasted fleeting success falls, how often do we hear “success went to his head?” True champions never surrender to temptation because they learn that in order to control your destiny, you first must learn to control yourself. The most powerful, valuable lessons we learn in life come from our failures and mistakes. In sports, it’s the truly disciplined champion who knows this best, because he or she takes these setbacks and mistakes and sticks around to find out what the lessons are.