Discipline

"Discipline is the faithful friend who will introduce you to your true self.  Discipline is the worthy protector who will defend you from your lesser self.  And discipline is the extraordinary mentor who will challenge you to become the best version of yourself and all God created you to be."  quote found Here

So then, how do I develop discipline in my life?  

Bear with me as I try to walk through this in my own head.

Discipline requires:

1. a knowledge of what the goal is - and a clear vision of what the end goal looks like
2. a plan - grand plans as well as more manageable mini-goals
3. sacrifice of anything that will distract from #1 - probably one of my biggest hang-ups.  I am very much an impulse driven soul.
4. help/support - someone who will be your cheerleader.  Who will walk the fine line of encouragement and bullying
5. dedication - a firm belief that the end results are worth the effort
6. faith - don't hesitate to rely on the powers of heaven to achieve your dreams.  The Lord cares about our happiness.  If it matters deeply to us, He will help us.  But as I'm learning, He won't do it FOR us.
7. work - I must accept that this is going to require effort.  It is not going to be easy.  

I need to make some changes.  And I think I may end up having to be fairly fanatical about them.  It is simply too easy for me to justify or excuse myself from working toward what I really want.  If I go about changes half-heartedly, I don't expect more of myself.  

I must believe that I am more capable of making difficult changes than I have previously thought.  

I have wasted far too much time.  Whiled away far too many hours accomplishing nothing.

At the end of too many days I look back on those hours and realize that I did not do much of value.  And the feeling that leaves me with SUCKS.  

What if I could live a life where I end each day feeling satisfied that I did my best?  What would that be like?  If most of my days were filled with more doing and less looking?

And don't get me wrong - there is NOTHING wrong with looking at blogs, exploring Pinterest, or reading books.  For me, the problem has been that those things are ALL I do.  At the expense of accomplishing real things.  

So it's time for change.  Again.  Time to allow discipline to introduce me to the person that I really am (or really could be).  I am looking forward to getting to know me a little better.