Discipline

I had this drummed into me. If only I had more discipline, then everything would magically work out and I would become rich and successful in everything I wanted to do. If I tried and tried again then I would succeed, a mantra my father loved, while he himself never stuck to anything. If I wanted something badly enough then I would find a way through.

What if I committed properly? That would work and if it didn’t then I had not committed properly. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, discipline was the answer to all my problems. Not for me. I had a will of iron and could make myself do jobs I hated. I never took days off ill, I was always on time and I was a ‘good’ worker. I kept working harder and harder. The trouble was it was always in the wrong direction and I could not let go of these false perceptions and what a long-suffering person I was.

The only area of discipline I now practice is in keeping my figures that track what I spend and making sure I am as clear as I can be about what I am doing. Even when this gets a bit slack, I don’t give myself a hard time about my lack of discipline, I just remember how much easier life is when I do it. It's so much easier to be led by the carrot than beaten by the stick. "Spare the rod and spoil" the child goes back to the 17th century and that's where it should stay.

If I don’t understand someone else when they are talking to me, I keep asking and if by the third time I still don’t understand, I now assume they cannot explain and I let it go. Other then that I tend to go with the flow and let things unfold as they are supposed to. If I have no work and I have done all that is reasonable to get work that day, I then take a walk and enjoy what I see. I engage with people about their lives rather than banging on about my concerns and I take care of the small things whilst I have the time.

I have what I call ‘bottle neck’ times in my business when things do get busy. I make sure I have a light at the end of the tunnel. If they are always busy then there is something wrong with my business model. Discipline has ruined so many lives and today I don’t believe in it as a philosophy or religion. Pushing and straining works in a very few and exceptional places. It’s good for people who go to war, but I am not at war.