Motivation is nothing, discipline is the key!

These quotes come from an article written by.Dave Berke for the Business Insider

“Discipline drives you to do the work you don’t enjoy, but is required.”

If you want someone who will handle adversity, find someone who is disciplined.

If you want someone who will conquer fear, find someone who is disciplined.

If you want someone who will never lie, cheat, or steal, find someone who is disciplined.

If you want someone who will do the tedious, thankless, and essential work, find someone who is disciplined.

If you want someone who will commit to doing everything necessary to win, find someone who is disciplined.

When you find these people, hire them. You will have employees who aren’t just motivated, but who will have the discipline to put in all the work required to be successful – and that is the key to winning.

As a Marine pilot, Dave Berke, saw how discipline provided the core for success in combat flights. It was the same for the Navy SEAL Teams. When things start to get difficult, discipline was still there to get you through. His work after the Marines has been to help company leaders find quality employees.

In business, I work with leaders trying to build a team by recruiting and hiring the right people. Those leaders are often looking for motivated individuals. My advice to them is simple: Motivation is a good quality – but it’s not the most important. Hire people who are disciplined.

So, you may not be looking for a job right now, but discipline will help your life! The stuff that is disguised as routine, is often the beginnings of discipline – all of the stuff that you do to prepare for work/school in the morning, all of the things that you check before putting your car in gear to drive away, the way that your workspace is laid out.

The martial arts give this opportunity as well. Lining up to bow inn for class is discipline. It has requirements for what is done and how it is done. Then you repeat until it is automatic. Those martial artists reading this, how many times have you bowed at a doorway that wasn’t your school? I’ve done it a few times.

Now add all of the drills that you do. Stances, blocks, strikes, kicks and more are repeated over and over. Those how can develop the discipline to work hard and seek improvement become outstanding. Those who don’t just dance around a bit and call themselves martial artists. This is particularly evident when the student needs to develop a technique that they don’t like or feel that they don’t do well. I see this as my Taekwondo students get to 2nd gup (two steps before black) and they have to test on a kicking series that is all spinning and jump/spinning kicks. I openly admit that I’d rarely use the kicks sparring but, if I don’t challenge myself, how will I ever know what I can do and what I can’t

One of the recognition moments for me was in college. I had been promoted and started working on a new form. I learned the whole pattern in an hour long class (so probably 20 minutes of work after drills). I do the whole form correctly. That was the point when I saw that if I could be that focused and disciplined to learn a whole form like that, I could go home and do the anatomy-physiology homework waiting for me.

It ends up being discipline that gets you through most things. It is definitely what helps you get better at any activity – physical or intellectual. How do you become an expert? By having the discipline to get all of the work done on that topic and continuing to develop skills, even when you don’t like a portion of that work. Most New Year’s resolutions fail because of lack of discipline, not from lack of growth/development potential. It is often stated that it takes 30 days to create a habit (often in stuff like smoking cessation), so it could also be said that discipline takes 30 days to set in.