True discipline is making yourself do the things you don't want to do until they become unstoppable habits of success.
Who likes to drag themselves out of bed when they can barely comprehend their alarm clock with their conscious mind? Who likes to eat a constant stream of salad when pastries are just as accessible? Who likes to force their body through a repetitive routine of strenuous activity that typically ends up in extended muscle soreness, just to "stay in shape"?
Besides the few sadistic readers that raised your hands to any or all of the foregoing questions, the answer is collectively "no one". However, unfortunate examples like these are what it takes to achieve success in whatever arena you have chosen to master.
It's called self-discipline, and it is the most difficult principle to engage in. After all, who is easier to convince that you need to take a sick day: you or your boss? Admit it, you're a pushover, just like me, and there are times that you are more than willing to talk yourself out of anything that requires any sort of effort.
But self-discipline has a hidden advantage that few find, only because it takes a while to dig around and grab hold of. The secret is this: if you force yourself to repetitively do something you don't want to do (because it is necessary and beneficial for your overall purpose and well-being), you will then begin to leverage that distasteful chore into a habit. And once that habit is established, you now will have an added built-in accountability keeper.
I like to think of (good) habits as being like flywheels of accomplishment. A flywheel is a mechanism for sustaining momentum. It is a heavy object that takes a lot of energy to get moving, but once it is in motion, it continues to rotate practically on its own with little or no added energy. It also becomes very difficult to slow down and stop because of its momentum. This is what habits do for us: they allow us to continue certain practices almost without thinking because they have become ingrained within our pattern of living.
So the good news is that your good habits can keep you on the path to achievement. The bad news is that bad habits can also keep you on the road to destruction, pain, disillusionment, and everything else you don't want in your life. The flywheel principle is the same; only the destination is different.
Be sure you are selecting the proper things to be forcing yourself to do. With the right motivation, you can create a whole new momentum for your life that can bring you into the areas where you want to be.
