Mount Vernon High School

August 16, 2024 Do You Have Discipline? It’s not what champions know that sets them apart. It’s what they do. Don't get me wrong, learning is of course an important part of any personal development process. But most people who fail to reach their potential do so not because they don’t know what it takes, but because they don't do what it takes. That's true for each of us. We know what it takes to win, but the question is...are we willing today to make the difficult decision to do what champions do - what winning requires us to do - even when and maybe especially when we don’t feel like it? That’s the question that real success requires our actions to answer. At its core, that’s really what discipline is. It’s the ability to do what winning requires you to do, even when and maybe especially when you don’t feel like it. It’s the intentional decision to take what you know needs done and turn it into the thing you actually ended up doing. Sometimes that action is major and sometimes it's minor. Sometimes it's public and sometimes it's private. But discipline almost always involves denying the urge to seek comfort, denying the urge to act on every impulse, and denying the urge to take the easy way out in your moments of testing. It requires an intentional choice, to put what you want most ahead of what feels good right now. Choices like those are really important, but also really difficult. That's because as human beings, we aren’t hardwired for high achievement. We’re hardwired for survival. Since the dawn of time, we've been conditioned to identify and pursue the path of least resistance, mainly because for much of human history, life without that wiring would probably get you killed. For thousands of years, that mindset helped us survive. But in today’s instant gratification world, that mindset's made us soft. It encourages us to avoid the challenges and hardships of life that previous generations often had no choice but to endure. Today, our natural tendency is to settle for average. This is the reason we don’t often do what we know we should do, and what we know winning requires us to do…because it doesn’t come naturally. The voice of our inner loser has gotten really good at highlighting and encouraging us to avoid anything that’s uncomfortable or inconvenient. That voice in our head starts justifying the easy way out, romanticizing the path of least resistance, and vilifying the pain and struggle of any disciplined decision. Once emboldened, that voice can really take over. It can convince us that living with discipline is more than something we've chosen not to do, but something we're incapable of doing. Your inner loser will work hard to keep you constantly seeking comfort, acting on every impulse, and taking the easy way out in your moments of testing. It'll keep you compromising what you want most for what feels good right now. I want to challenge you today to recognize the unhealthy and unproductive voice of your inner loser, and in doing so to clarify the big idea here today, that discipline is a key component to your success - maybe the key component, in fact - and it’s a skill you can cultivate and develop. We said it already. In your moments of testing, you know what needs done. That’s proof there’s another voice in your head, what I call the voice of your inner champion, clarifying what winning requires you to do. But that voice needs strengthened and developed. It needs to be given more attention and more authority. It needs to become the driver of your decisions. That means moving your feelings out of the driver's seat and into the backseat. Do those feelings matter? Of course they do. But if you want to win, your feelings aren't an effective driver of decisions. With your inner champion in charge, you can choose the more disciplined path, and in doing so validate that you are the kind of person who’s worthy of the winning outcome you say you’re after. The stronger and more empowered the voice of your inner champion becomes, and the more you train yourself to do the uncomfortable or inconvenient things you need to do, even when you don’t feel like it...the better at it you become. Every decision becomes an opportunity to prove to yourself - and to those around you - who you are and what you’re all about. Developing your discipline isn’t easy, but it’s a fight those we consider champions in any area of life are committed to fighting. And while perfection in this area is impossible, improvement is attainable. So I’m not asking you today to dwell on all the places in your life where discipline doesn’t exist. We could all come up with a long list. But I am asking you to examine what role discipline currently plays in your winning pursuit, and to consider perhaps just one place in your experience where you know it needs to get better. Then, let’s get to work! Let's turn something that needs done today into something you actually end up doing. After all, it’s not what you know that sets you apart. It’s what you’ve developed the discipline to do that matters most. -Travis