Success Habits For Dummies

Chapter 3

Discipline: The Magic Habit

IN THIS CHAPTER

Changing how you think about discipline

Putting your discipline to good use

Reaping what you sow

If you lined up all the habits to develop to create success — planning, saving, being present with loved ones, love, faith, integrity, trustworthiness, passion for learning, and personal improvement — there is one element that is required to make all the others go. Think about it this way: You can have a marvelous luxury car like a Bentley, Mercedes, or McLaren, one that just says to everyone, “I am successful.” You keep it in tip-top shape by having the best mechanics work on it, but if you don’t fill it with the right gasoline, it won’t go anywhere.

That's basically how discipline relates to all the other skills, attributes, and characteristics of success. You could be highly educated and have a vast amount of stored knowledge, but if you lack discipline to turn that knowledge into action, you will fall extremely short of your goals and objectives. It doesn’t matter if you go to all the seminars or read all the books. If you have knowledge but lack the discipline to implement and take action on what you know, it’s as if you don’t ...