GoHuman Blog

Disciplining ourselves to do what we know we need to do to be the best in our chosen field is perhaps the most difficult, and at the same time, easiest request we could ask of ourselves. Self discipline is defined as this: “Self discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not.”

It’s always easy to do something when we feel like doing it. It’s when we don’t feel like it and force ourselves to do it anyway, that are we able to transition our personal/professional lives onto the fast track.

So how do you get started? By asking what decisions need to be made today, in order to start moving up the success ladder. Regardless of what they may be, either get in or get out, make a decision today and get started. This one act itself, can change the entire course of your life.

-The first action step to take is deciding what you want in every part of your life. Be specific, rather than generalizing.

-Next, document it, detail for detail. A goal that’s not in writing isn’t a goal at all. Having a goal in writing puts it out there and makes it real. It’s no longer just a thought swimming around with the other 5,000 thoughts you have throughout any given day.

-Set a deadline for your goal. A deadline allows you to have a targeted completion date to work towards. A deadline motivates you to do what’s necessary to make your goal a reality

-Make a list of everything you can think of that will have to be done, in order to achieve your goal. As new tasks come to mind or occur that you might not have thought of before, add them to your list until it’s complete.

-Organize your list by priority. Determine what tasks or project items are more/less important. Begin with the most important item and work your way down to the least important, until complete.

-Take action! Regardless of how large/small the action step taken is, do something every day that will move you one step closer to achieving your goal. A plan is only as good as the paper it’s on, until it’s fully executed.

One of the greatest lies we tell ourselves is that to be successful, we have to know ”how-to” achieve the level of success we’re looking for. Fact of the matter is to be successful in anything we do in life, requires us to have the “want-to” and then ask “why do I want this to succeed?” Once we’ve asked ourselves what the intention is for us to succeed, we work towards strengthening our want-to, in order to know how-to.

If the want-to is strong enough, we’ll always find the how-to. Having a weak want-to on the inside, allows all the power to go to the outside, which leaves us feeling powerless. A weak internal want-to creates an exaggerated fear of the external forces, i.e. competition, economic conditions, lack of cash, employee conflict issues, etc…A behavioral change without action is utterly useless, because neither one is any good without the other.

When the desire or passion is absent, no system, regardless of how brilliant it may be, will work. Find the deep passion within you to want-to do something badly enough, and the how-to will always come.