I’ve been working on this post now for a couple of days and am still struggling to find the right words. It’s not that I don’t know what to say it’s just that discipline or more specifically self-discipline is really the fundamental key to all personal growth.

Essentially, every other aspect of personal growth is subservient to self-discipline. Knowing the right things will only translate into change if you are disciplined enough to do something about it. Even in the area of your thought life. You may know the right thoughts to have as Steve Pavlina might suggest but you still must be disciplined enough to have those thoughts.

Someone once said that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions. While that may or may not be the literal case, it certainly does suggest that we need more than just an intention to produce something in our lives. True change comes about when we discipline ourselves to do the things that we need to do over the things that we want to do. The greatest tragedy in life is that people tend to go through life on default. Only doing the things that come easy.

It is a physical fact that electricity will follow the path of least resistance so it requires good planning to produce effective electronics. It is very similar in life. The easiest way is rarely the most efficient way. At least initially.

Here is how real self-disciple plays out in your life:

• You do what is beneficial over what is easy.
• You plan a response rather that react to a situation.
• You save rather that put something on a credit card.
• You work toward something rather than settling for what you can have right now.

Here’s my challenge for you today. I’m working to develop greater self-discipline and I’ll share my journey with you. What hints can you give me? Leave them in the comments. Thanks.