Want to know what stops you from succeeding: comfort. Not the lack of pain or suffering. Just a lack of a real discomfort.
The remedy is discipline. Discipline is a willingness to be in a state of discomfort now so that you can have something of greater value later.
The price you pay for success is:
1. Waking up earlier than you want to (and earlier than most people would find reasonable).
Your bed is warm, safe, and comfortable. You want to stay, but success begins when your feet hit the floor.
2. Going to bed later than you want to.
The bed is calling your name. But the meaningful work only gets done when you stay awake and do it.
3. Not eating whatever you want or whenever you want.
You can probably eat as much as you want with no ill effects. You can’t, however, eat whatever you want or whenever you want. A little hunger pain is a good reminder.
4. Exercising your body when you would rather not.
The bed is still warm. It’s pure comfort. But you have to make yourself physically uncomfortable if you want the energy and vitality you need.
5. Reading instead of watching television or YouTube.
Television, even its new forms of delivery, is a form of escape. Watching a little is okay. Watching a lot is allowing success to escape your grasp. Reading is exercising the mind, even when the content allows you to escape.
6. Saving money instead of spending it.
Saying no to small comforts and trivial distractions now means having a much greater level of comfort later. You are going to live a lot longer than you suspect.
7. Making your calls instead of engaging with more interesting distractions.
Every day you are confronted with endless distractions. Making your calls isn’t as interesting or fun as many of these distractions. The distractions are destructive, destroying your ability to produce the results of which you are capable. Making your calls (or whatever work it is you are avoiding in order to be comfortable) is where you will find success waiting for you.
8. Listening instead of talking.
We love the sound of our own voice. But you don’t learn anything and you don’t make deposits in relationships when you are talking. Speaking is serving your need to be heard. Listening is serving someone else’s need to be heard, to be acknowledged, to be thought of as important. Be uncomfortable and be silent.
9. Putting relationships above transactions.
The speed of everything is increasing. We are increasingly compressing time and finding a way to make transactions faster. Relationships are destroyed when you treat people like transactions. Go slow even when it makes you uncomfortable.
10. Giving more than you take.
You are going to measure your success by the contribution you made to others. Taking, having, acquiring is about your comfort now. Giving is about your legacy. Your future regrets won’t have anything to do with what you didn’t have. Your future regrets will be about what you didn’t give. Give it away.
11. Being brave enough to admit that you are wrong and strong enough to change.
It’s uncomfortable to admit when you are wrong. It can bruise your ego. It can also repair damaged relationships. It’s worth the discomfort of admitting you are wrong to regain a relationship. It’s worth it to exert the necessary emotional energy to change.
