Discipline, Focus and Balance – Three Items Critical To Success

Why is it that some people achieve at a higher level than others? Typically, when you look closely, you will find that they have implemented key life disciplines that they follow with superior focus. The truly great ones also excert a great deal of effort counterbalancing. They realize that it is impossible to maintain constant balance in all areas of their lives and so they implement the process of counterbalancing.

You may be asking yourself, “What is counterbalance?” Well, in order to understand the principle, just think about how you drive your car. If you are driving on a straight road you must still move your steering wheel slightly to the left and to the right to maintain a straight course. Bumps in the road, the wind, and other factors are constantly moving your car, ever so slightly. In order to maintain a steady path you must “counter” those outside influences through very small movements of the wheels, this in turn will keep you on the straight path you desire. So it is with life!

In order to have proper focus and discipline in our lives we must have goals and dreams. If you don’t know what you’re aiming for you will never achieve it. The first step is to have a vision of what you want. Then you must do your research and determine the proper course for achieving your goal. Once you have determined the proper course, you must implement key disciplines in your life that will help propel you in the direction you desire. You must also have superior focus with the end in mind.

You may be thinking to yourself, “I know what I want, but I’m not sure how to get it.” If that is the case, then you must look to others. Study the lives of other people who have achieved the same desire you have. How did they do it? Study their lives and figure out what the key disciplines were that they implemented into their lives. Then…model them. Do what they did. Don’t try to re-invent the wheel. In most cases, there are others who have achieved what you want to achieve. If they have succeeded, they have probably already learned a great deal about what works and what doesn’t. Learn from them. By modeling them you will often shorten the process and achieve success quicker than if you try to do things “your way”.

Maintaining proper focus is probably just as difficult as abiding by the key disciplines you implement. It is easy to get distracted and discouraged along the way. You must find ways to motivate yourself and you must know WHY you are trying to achieve your goal. What is your BIG WHY?

Having a goal is important, but perhaps what is even more important is understanding WHY you have that goal. If you don’t know WHY you want to achieve your goal then you will never be able to have the focus, and implement the key disciplines, long enough to achieve them. Understanding the “WHY” is the most important part. If you talk with highly successful people you will often find that their BIG WHY is what drives them to achieve. Knowing WHY they want to achieve their goals is critical to their success and helps them maintain focus along the way.

You will always be confronted with obstacles when trying achieve your goals. The question is whether or not you have a big enough WHY to overcome them. Knowing the WHY will improve your focus and chances for success.

Here are some questions to ask yourself?

1. What is my goal or dream? (DREAM BIG)

2. Why do I want to achieve it? Why is it important to me?

3. What will I do once I’ve achieved my goal? What will I do with my success?

4. Who has already achieved that goal, or a goal that is similar? Do I know them? If not, is there information available about them that I can study to see how they achieved it?

5. What key disciplines did they implement in their life to achieve the success they have?

6. How did they maintain their focus?

7. What acts of “counterbalance” did they implement in their life to help maintain their focus?

8. How important is my goal/vision? Am I willing to commit to achieving success by implementing the same key disciplines as those who have succeeded before me?

9. When will I begin? What is my target date for achieving success?

My challenge to you is to DREAM BIG! Then, take some time to determine your BIG WHY. If you have a WHY that is big enough to propel you forward then you will have a higher chance of success. Once you know your BIG WHY figure out the HOW. Study others who have achieved similar success and determine the KEY DISCIPLINES that you need to implement in your life. When you FOCUS on WHY you want to achieve your goal it will help motivate you to adhere to the KEY DISCIPLINES you’ve set for yourself. REMEMBER…you will never have perfect balance in your life, but if you FOCUS on the state of constant COUNTERBALANCE then in essence you will appear to have balance.

None of us are perfect. We all stumble and fall along our JOURNEY called LIFE. What is most important is that we continue to pick ourselves up and move forward towards our dreams and goals for a better future. Others do not determine our success or failure. WE DO! The question is whether or not we are willing to do what it takes to achieve it. Ultimately, it always comes back to US. We determine our future. We can create it, or we can let outside influences create it for us. What will you choose to do with your life?

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