Monday

Quote of the Week: Theodore Roosevelt | Self Discipline

Fine Artist Painting Carnival Floats | Nice, France 2014

"The one quality which sets one man apart from another- the key which lifts one to every aspiration while others are caught up in the mire of mediocrity- is not talent, formal education, nor intellectual brightness - it is self-discipline. 
With self-discipline all things are possible. 
Without it, even the simplest goal can seem like the impossible dream. "
-Theodore Roosevelt 

Self-discipline is the ability to do what you should be doing, when you should be doing it, whether you feel like it or not and without anyone having to come behind you to make sure you are doing it. You take responsibility for handling your business despite your emotions. Seems simple enough, right? Not so much. Currently I'm having to work through the lesson of learning self-discipline and if I should say so myself, it is quite painful. You know what you have to do. Sure. You put it on the calendar and set reminders, yet the tasks get left undone...most of the time purposely. Simply because we don't feel like doing them and for no better reason. No one is watching or keeping track anyway, we can keep putting things off...until who knows when.

Excuses often take the place of self-discipline. We explain away why things aren't working out and why it's taking so long to make progress...so on and so forth. The truth is we don't have the self-discipline needed to accomplish our goals big or small. As the quote states, lacking self-discipline makes the simplest task seem impossible and the longer you put things off, the more things pile up and a myriad of negative consequences ensue. At the end of the day, nothing is going to happen until you make it happen and do what it takes to get there. Nothing takes the place of acquiring this necessary skill. 

The process can go as quickly or as slowly as you dictate based off your ability to discipline yourself to do what needs to get done. Shut your face and get to it! (note to self) More on this once I get to the other side and become a  mastered, self-disciplined person in my life and career. Completing this blog post was a step in the right direction...seeming lack of self-discipline caused me to go AWOL for the past month and some change. I've fought myself long enough, there aren't that many excuses in the world and you can only waste so much time shuffling paper back and forth across your desk. Honestly the other thing I realized is the only other alternative is accepting failure...yup about that. Failure is not an option. With that said, I've got more work to finish. Will post updates on my progress with this in the coming weeks...

~C. Nzingha

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