"You can't win the war against the world if you cannot win the war against your mind."
I was on YouTube the other day watching Tedx Talks, when a video popped on my screen and those were the first words out of Will Smith's mouth.
When I'm watching Tedx videos, I let them autoplay, one after the other. So I was shocked when a video that wasn't a Tedx video popped up (It's not like this is not normal, but it was shocking anyway!)
And since it was Will Smith, I let it play on. (Y'all know how I am about him! Lol).
I was pleased to see that it wasn't a waste of my time (not like I was expecting it to be). It was an awesome 6 minutes with him, Jim Kwik and several other masterminds. They were talking about Self-discipline.
I'm sure you're about to say, this post is about to be like my last, and maybe it is, but stick with me.
I have noticed that sometimes, we believe we know or understand fully some of these terms we use loosely. But I'd like to define them before we go ahead.
What is Self-motivation?
It is the ability to do what needs to be done, without influence from other people or situations. People with self motivation can find a reason and strength to complete a task, even when challenging, without giving up or needing another to encourage them.
What is Self-discipline?
Self-discipline is the ability to control yourself and to make yourself work hard or behave in a particular way without needing anyone else to tell you what to do.
This brings me to my point.
Everyone, especially young people, see success and want the exact same thing for themselves but really aren't willing to do the work. Like Will Smith in the video said, "everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die". Everyone wants the accolades but no one wants to put in the work.
I came across some people this past week and they were working on something. They wanted it to be great and they asked for my advise because they knew I had done something of the sorts before, successfully. So I offered to help. But when I saw the attitude, they brought to the work? And the reactions to the corrections I was making? I knew they lacked the self discipline and motivation to bring it to the finish line, so after several advices, I backed down.
What does this mean?
You can't want something for someone, more than they want it for themselves. There's a saying that goes, "you can take a horse to the stream but you can't force it to drink water". This is why I believe self discipline and self motivation are very important, especially if you're trying to attain success.
Will Smith in the video said that "Self discipline is at the centre of all material success". So if you want success, you've got to discipline your mind. Before you embark on any project, you have to understand why you're doing it and what you want out of it. You have to be able to push yourself to get the best result in the end.
And there's something that was said in the video that hit me hard. "In life we must all suffer one of two pains, the pain of discipline or the pain of regret."
Getting things done in a systematic way requires that we become disciplined. And like Jim Kwik, I believe that we all need to discipline ourselves right now so that we, later on, don't have to carry around the burden of regret. Because, trust me, it's a terrible feeling.
So, "choose actions that are in your own best interest", discipline yourself in everything you set out to do and you'll be fine.
Lots of love!
-Pookie.
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