{This post is part of my 31 Day blog series Work Hard + Rest Well: Learning Obedience in the Rhythms of Work and Rest.}
“Discipline is saying yes to something you really don’t want to do to get a result you really want to get.”
Andy Andrews
Working hard isn’t as much about straining your muscles or your brain cells. It’s more about doing what needs to be done and doing it well.
Half the battle of working hard is mental.
We get so busy working hard that we forget what we’re working towards. And all the hard work in the world won’t help you if you aren’t working towards what actually needs to be done…if you aren’t working toward what actually matters.
So ask yourself:
What do you want for your life?
What do you really want?
Who do you want to be?
Who do you want to be in 10 years? 20 years? On your deathbed?
Once you know what that place is, who that you looks like…
What will it take to get there?
What little daily habits do you need to develop to get there?
What are you doing with your time now that is getting you to that place?
And there are good things.
And there are best things.
Are you doing good things? Or best things?
Because just like we can fritter away our lives chasing the urgent and missing the important…we can fritter away our lives doing good things and missing out on the best things.
And half of discipline is saying no to all the good things that are stealing you away from the best things.
Because saying no is hard.
But missing the best and the important in life is harder.
Discipline is a characteristic our generation is not known for, but it is a dominant characteristic in all of the people I most respect. And I think that we don’t value discipline, because we don’t see discipline.
Because discipline is always worked out in the private, quiet spaces.
Because discipline is hard and grueling and daily.
And the best things and the important things never happen by accident. They happen because we make a disciplined habit of pursuing them at the expense of the good and the urgent things that are constantly clamoring for our attention.
Will it be said of you and I that we were disciplined people?
I’m praying for that to be said of me.
Be blessed
<3
