What gets tracked?

You’ve probably heard the phrase: what get’s tracked, gets managed. 

It reminds you of the fact that tracking and data are important. They inform decisions and help keep you on track. 

This same business rule applies to your life as well. 

If you want to make real and meaningful progress in an area, you’ve got to measure and track it. 

Keep notes on books you’ve read. 

Write down scripture verses you’re memorizing. 

Maintain a workout log.

Things are far more likely to improve when you take the time to track and measure your progress. 

Sadly, the opposite is true as well. The things you pay little attention don’t get better and often deteriorate. 

What is discipline?

This is a blog committed to delivering daily notes on discipline to your inbox. 

Discipline has a strange reputation. It either causes you to wince and squirm or sets your heart and mind to racing.

You’re either all in with discipline or can’t stand to think about it. 

Whichever your reaction, you may not have paused to think about exactly what discipline is, its role in your life.  

That’s what this entire site is about. It’s dedicated to the single aim of helping you see how discipline applies to every area of your life. 

There isn't one facet of your life greater discipline couldn’t improve. Mainly because discipline isn’t about changing the world around you. It's concerned with shaping the you that’s in the world. 

The American Heritage desk dictionary gives you the following six definitions for discipline: 

dis.ci.pline - 1. Training expected to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, esp. training that produces moral or mental improvement. 2. Controlled behavior resulting from such training. 3. A state of order that is based on submission to rules and authority. 4. Punishment intended to correct or train. 5. A set of rules or methods.

This blog advocates for a discipline that encompasses the very best of these ideas and not as a dry, dusty idea your dad or coach tried to force on you. 

Discipline is the voice in your head telling you to get out of bed, to do things you’d rather skip and to hang in there a little longer. 

It is usually the first to speak to you in the morning and always has your best in mind. 

Discipline is your best friend. It will take care of you like nothing else. 

Listen to his voice and heed his wisdom. Instead of ignoring and running from his prompts, lean in. 

For all, that discipline may be it is certainly the pathway to victory in every area of your life. 

Defining Success

How you define success is critically important. 

Focus on things within your control, not circumstances over which you have none. 

Winning, for example, is something you have little control over. Other competitors and external factors could derail your chances. 

You’ll be crushed if things don’t pan out. Worse still, you won’t reach your full potential. You’ll be focused on beating the next guy’s potential instead of your own. 

Doing your absolute best, however, is fully within your control. You can do something about it. 

Define success in these terms. Define it by your level of effort instead of a scoreboard.

Of course, effort means nothing if you haven’t prepared. 

Make giving full effort to preparation part of your definition of success.

Redefine success to mean giving maximum effort every day to everything in your life—family, friends, work, training, helping others, etc.  

Do this and you’ll walk away a winner no matter what the scoreboard says. 

Discipline Is Not A Sometime Thing

Discipline is not a sometime thing. 

It is a whole life commitment. 

Discipline requires your devotion. All of it. 

You don’t engage discipline in one area of your life, and then neglect it in another. 

That’s not discipline. It’s what most people do. 

You don’t want to be like everyone else. You want to be extraordinary. 

You want to be better. 

Discipline either shapes every part of you or none. 

Apply discipline to every area of your life. 

Discipline isn’t some vague force floating out there somewhere. It’s an intensely personal tool that can transform your family, your work, your relationships, your fitness level, and even your faith. 

Realizing how deep, how far, and how wide discipline reaches is the hard part. Now all you have to do is apply it to things. 

Things like loving your wife regardless of how she responds, working out even when you don’t want to, and pursuing the Lord even when He feels distant. 

Each requires discipline. But you’re up for the challenge. 

Who's Responsible For Your Health?

Your health is your responsibility. It’s not mine, your neighbor’s or the government's. 

It is 100% yours. 

You are responsible for it. 

Don’t shrug off that responsibility or give it away. 

Own it. 

After all, you’re the one who has to live with it day in and day out. 

The sooner you accept this, the sooner you can start making the changes necessary to ensure that you’re in the best possible shape. 

Before you get to the changes in diet, exercise, and routine, you’ve got to tackle this change of mindset. 

As long as you think your health is someone else’s responsibility you’ll never grow or improve. In short, you’ll be stuck with the same health issues you’ve always had.