The Skill that Separates the Successful from Everyone Else - Self Discipline.  

by Daniel R. Murphy 

Someone once observed that the difference between a successful person and an unsuccessful person is that a successful person does what an unsuccessful person does not want to do. 

I would change that just slightly: a successful person disciplines themselves to do regularly and whenever necessary those things that most people do not want to do. 

If you analyze the habits and behavior of the vast majority of successful people you will find this to be true in nearly every case. (I've yet to find a successful person who does not do this in some way.) 

Successful people tend to get up early, they take care of themselves through exercise and proper diet, they resist or avoid rich foods, illicit drugs and abuse of alcohol. Successful people reflect upon their goals in life, write them out and review them. Successful people do all the things every day that other people find boring and dreary, but they are the things that lead to success.  

It is true that you will occasionally find a successful person who will not or cannot do a certain thing, like maintain their finances or manage their investments on a regular basis - these people hire others to do that for them. But most successful people do manage their affairs and attend to the important but unexciting chores of life with daily discipline and it is much of the secret of their success.  

You might not have to do these things every single day, although there are successful people who do just that. You can take a Sunday off or a day once in awhile - but for the most part you must discipline yourself to do the important things, the things that net you a return, every day, with self discipline and control. 

Apply this kind of discipline to nearly every enterprise and it will the most important single element in accomplishment. 

Do you want to write a book? Daunting isn't it? Sitting down to write 350 pages is very daunting to most people. How about writing one page a day? Could you write a page a day, every day without fail? Sure you could. The question is not could, it is would. Would you write one page a day? If you would write one page per day you would have a 365 page book written in one year, or if you wrote two pages a day, just two, you would have this same book written in six months. At that rate you could easily turn out two books a year by only writing two pages a day. All you need to apply is daily self discipline.  

A little self discipline practiced every day will lead to immense accomplishment over time. 

1. Exercise every day for just 30 minutes.  
2. Eat an apple every day instead of a candy bar. 
3. Drink two glasses of fresh water instead of a soda. 
4. Read a good book on your area of personal development or on your chosen career area every day for just 30 minutes.  
5. Make a list of goals every morning and follow through with them during the day.  

These are just a few of the many examples of small steps of self discipline, done every day, that can make the difference between success and failure in every important area of your life.

Self discipline an essential to success.  

(c) 2009 by Daniel R. Murphy