Tony Marder EnjoyingYourBusiness.Com 2016-08-17 14:55:00

On the Topic of Discipline

It is time to bring up a topic that people don’t usually like—discipline. 

There are things that you know you should be doing in your life and business—that you are not.  Why do you think that is?
Often times, business owners get used to the situation they are in—the status quo.  My question for them is, “Is that what they want”?
Unless you know what you want, you will not make the investment to move towards it.  It is been well written in personal growth and sales books that people move either away from pain or towards pleasure.  The challenge with moving away from pain is that you move only far enough for it not to hurt—which may not be far enough for it to get better.

So, what is it that you want?  If you could have anything, what would it be?  Invest thirty minutes today and write it down.  Once you know what it is that you want, what are the steps that you need to take to achieve it?

People over estimate what they can do in a year—but drastically underestimate what they can do in five or ten years.  Set your ten year goal for yourself, your family and your business.  Based on that goal, where do you need to be in five years?  Where do you need to be in three years?  Where do you need to be in one year?  What do you have to accomplish in the next 90 days (or, by the end of 2016).  Breaking it down into bite sized chunks takes any BIG goal and reduces it to things that we can put our mental “arms around.”

Spend time this month identifying what you need to do by the end of this year to put you on the right path of accomplishing your goals in the years to come. 
Just setting those goals and steps require a level of discipline that may be uncomfortable. Good!Being uncomfortable is the first step to growing and having what you want! But stop here for just a moment and realize that Goal Setting and Goal Attainment are connected by a bridge of discipline. The vast majority of people who actually write down their goals fail to attain them because they lack the discipline to start over if they fail. Funny that the human beings are the only ones on the planet who stop short of what they want.

Here are a few disciplines that may help you get to Goal Attainment:
·         Effective Hours, be a shark with your time since no one else will respect your time if you don’t
·         Turn off the TV, dedicate the saved hours toward advancement
·         Knowledge and Education, a present to yourself is that what you learn cannot be taken away; 10 pages a day is 20 books a year
·         Leverage Staff, don’t do the work you can hire someone to do if that work and those hours are less valuable than yours
·         Eat The Frog (a great book by Brian Tracy), get the worst thing off your To Do List first every day and eat the frog while it’s small and easier to swallow; the rest of the day will be like eating cake
·         Commitment, until you say, “I’m going to do this No Matter What,” you are not committed
·         Now, act with urgency; the best time to start something, do something, finish something is now.

Take Action today on becoming more disciplined and make Goal Attainment more predictable then Go Run a Lap! Business is Fun!

Tony Marder is a Gastonia resident and President of ASM Ventures Corporation. He is a certified business coach and a specialist in preparing strategic business plans.  You can reach him for questions or comments at

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