As you consider the concept of discipline, I believe there are two important questions to address:
Before addressing those first two questions, let’s determine: What does it really mean?
The Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s Dictionary offers three flavors for the word.
Reading these three can give you a sense of military rigor. Perhaps a parochial school flashback. Then add thoughts of punishment, strict obedience and judgement.
Raise your hand if you want more of that?
We live in the land of the free and the home of the brave. So most things in those definitions can be viewed as borderline un-American.
With our work, we need at least a minimal level of order. But we are driven to do our best work when we have autonomy.
Is is possible for us to actually want more discipline? Let me frame it another way. What if we modified it by adding the word “self“? Self Discipline. Can you feel the difference?
I’ll now ask:
My answer: Not Enough
If you’re not happy with “not enough”, what might be missing? This graphic offers some synonyms.
Why would you want more of these?
We want our freedom and autonomy. And we want to achieve great things. To do so, you need to understand that self discipline is the means to that end. Use this simple, counter-intuitive equation to apply the idea:
Discipline = Freedom
Tom Lemanski serves as an executive coach and trusted advisor to successful Chicago area executives who are driven to be more successful. Tom has developed leaders in over 60 different industries of the the past 20 years.
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“Power today comes from sharing information, not from withholding it.'” – Keith Ferrazzi