People come to me and say, ‘I want to start running, do public speaking, start a blog, read books, and so on.’ They ask, ‘What is the one piece of advice I can share with them?’ Reflecting on my journey, I say, ‘You must be disciplined.’
The most challenging thing is to maintain discipline and stick to a routine, whether it’s in business, running, public speaking, or reading books. It’s a tough journey. Even before embracing discipline, one needs to commit. For instance, if you want to run a marathon, sign up for one and join a running group. Join a book club and read just one page each day. Join the local Toastmasters club to improve your public speaking skills. There are no shortcuts. You need to show up every day with the same curiosity and enthusiasm as on the first day.
And yes, there is time for everything. Don’t say, ‘I don’t have time.’ Stop binge-watching TV shows, cease endlessly scrolling through videos, and identify areas where you can cut down on time to make room for these other activities. To succeed at something, you need to give up temporary pleasures.
I once read that you can’t bet against the person who shows up for practice every day. So be that person. After a few years, without even realizing it, all the hard work will pay off, along with the power of compounding.
Do you have any thoughts or comments?
One thing is for sure, whenever I visit your blog, I end up reading through so many new articles from the past. Unfortunately, not everyone is gifted the 24 hours as a matter of a fact I find it abusing when someone yells out that you have 24 hours; little do they know that I need to get 48 hours of work done in that 24 hours. Yes, sometimes priority planning is important but you also need time to plan. How about the times where your schedule has been disrupted by things not in your control?