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Discipline – Goals Part 2

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Goals Part 2

“You cannot reach what you cannot see, goals must be achievable, attainable and applicable.”

Striving for excellence isn’t a hobby, it is a lifestyle.  It is a lifestyle shaped through habitual living of daily repeated processes which require labour to overcome the temptation of following choices leading us away from the success we so greatly desire.

So, what this means is the temptation to quit and follow the status quo of a sedentary society will come, it will be a battle we face, sometimes every day.  Just remember, don’t sacrifice the permanent, upon the altar of the immediate!  

Goals – Attainable & Applicable

Our goals, as mentioned before, must be achievable, whilst at the same time they are also to be Attainable and Applicable. 

Attainable in the fact our goals must bear a realistic purpose within your daily walk.  Say for instance we set a goal to walk on water.  Well, the reality is we will fail in reaching this goal; gravity in conjunction with the solid v. liquid equation will win every time. (There was only One person to ever do this and none of us are Him).  Why? You may ask.  Because there is no PURPOSE for it, walking on water was a sign, and we are not living in an age of signs.  The same holds true for our goals, in every aspect, they need to be attainable, not so much as making them so simple they are without labour; there must be a ‘cost’ to reaching goals based upon our plan encouraged through the vision.  Attainability does not remove the sweat and pain of the victory.  It does in fact, insert the purpose for setting the goal which will in the darkest of moments assist in pressing us forward to reach beyond our assumed limitations.  Once we see the goal and realise its attainability, then we see clearly the third requirement… which is applicability. 

Applicable is much the same, whereas the attainable portion of our goals asks “to what end?” (i,e. purpose), the applicable part addresses the question of “why such an end?” (i.e.product).  Asking oneself, ‘what is the end goal?’ at the outset is vital.  It will determine the strategy, the requirements, the price one is willing to pay in order to produce the reward at the end.  This method of evaluation allows us to count the cost and assess whether or not the end is worth the means.  

Sometimes, within this functionality we are faced with a greater cost than worth.  This does not always mean an instant ‘redline’ through the goal, but rather a separation of the two.  Meaning, maybe your goal is to increase your earning potential by 50%.  This is a great goal, but when measured through the lens of applicability, you find it will cost you too much time away from family, friends or other aspects of your life.  Instead of removing the goal, you extend the time limit.  Rather than striving to succeed in eighteen months, you extend the date to thirty-six months and all is well.   

So, what goals do we have and why? To what purpose are they going to serve and why?

Attainability and Applicability,  two key avenues working seamlessly within the goals of a disciplined mindset.  Just remember, these latter two are pointless without the first one of Achievability being accomplished.   Without recognising the Achievability of our goals, we will never understand their attainability and applicability,  much less meet them.

“We don’t always see the victory, even when it is there.”

Goals Part 1

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Goals

“You cannot reach what you cannot see, goals must be achievable, attainable and applicable.”

Finally, it’s time to pull the pin, nothing trumps execution.  Without executing the plan by setting the goals everything becomes smoke and mirrors.  Too many will set goals with aspirations of grandeur without having the proper foundation to make a difference in the end.  What this means is when we set goals, there must be a method behind the madness.  Everything leading up to this moment has been precise, the vision and the plan are set in motion and are practical in all aspects, therefore there is no reason why establishing and completing goals should be any different.  Don’t sell yourself short in establishing goals so low they will require no labour or discomfort.  The reality is, at this point in our endeavour we need to become comfortable with being uncomfortable.  This is especially true in setting and reaching goals.  Not only should they NOT be too easily reached, they must be able to be completed nonetheless.  

Goals – Achievable

Achievability, a word often used, but seldom fully understood.  It is defined as “the ability to be brought about or accomplished successfully.”   As mentioned in the opening section, “You cannot reach what you cannot see, goals must be achievable, attainable and applicable.”  Here we find our three point outline to establishing goals, which before they can be attainable and applicable, they must be achievable.  The latter two are pointless without the first one being accomplished.

We see it every New Year, people throw out a list of goals (aka resolutions) for the up coming twelve months.  Yet by the end of January, the new has worn off and the zeal of becoming the ‘new you’ has dimmed.  Most will now, settle for mediocrity and forget the list of changes desired.  The reason this occurs so often is because the goals may have been good goals, in theory, but the actual achievability was never considered.  This is a repeated process by hundreds of thousands of individuals around the world, the reality is things must change… we must change because if you make no changes you get the same results.

Think about it using the S.M.A.R.T. principle of goal setting (I am not advocating this system only using it as an example), many goals fit the qualification of S (specific), M (measurable) and T (time-bound).  Rarely do we find, even the worse goals fail to meet the criteria within these three.  Yet, the most overlooked and most severe of them all is the A (achievable).  Friend, goals worth setting are going to place you in the position of discomfort and this is okay.  Goals which place you in the position of delusion is not okay, as a matter of fact they are unhealthy as they set you up for failure.  There must be a visualisation of the victory, every NFL quarterback visualises the confetti falling upon their head whilst hoisting the Super Bowl trophy above their teammates shouting “we are the champions!”  The truth is there are only five active NFL QBs who have won a Super Bowl, 6 of which have been won by one person (Tom Brady).  This does not mean every Quarter Back in the league does not have aspirations or for that matter even the vision, plan and goal to win the championship at the start of the season.  When August rolls around, having a goal to win your division and the final championship is a great goal to have which will require loads of discomfort.  Now, if your team is 0-10 going into mid November, having a goal to be the NFL’s finest is pure delusion… and again, this is not okay, not in any reality.  

So, we must understand, proper goals, which are achievable and realistic will involve some struggle, some effort on our part and rightly so.  The nature of discomfort should not be avoided, as matter of fact, it should be pursued in many cases even if  the journey does not always go the way we want.  With that said, don’t be afraid to set big goals, remember you cannot reach what you cannot see; and don’t be frightful to face the obstacles needed to claim the victory, if it means clawing your way to the podium.  But, be realistic, set goals which are achievable based upon your vision and plan, once you reach them, simply re-set, place the baton further than before conquering the day in achieving another goal based upon the vision and plan you have established through the mindset of discipline. 

“Don’t sacrifice the permanent, upon the altar of the immediate!”

Discipline – Plan Part 2

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Plan 

“Plans are not a promise, they are protection in the midst of preparation.” – (BJS)

The Plan… sounds simple… and in reality it is very simple.  You either have a plan or you do not, however, simple things are quite often not easy things.  This is a great misconception in life, assuming simplicity is equivalent to ease, when in fact, they typically hail from opposite corners.  Within the discipline mindset, one will develop a plan with great intention on executing the vision.  Success is determined by the execution, not the vision or even the plan.  This is why and where the difficulty arises.  Take diets for example, (I really do not like the word ‘diet’, mainly because when someone hears the word it has temporary connotation, but in truth, diet refers to the daily or regular intake of nutrients), according to the Annual Diet and Healthy-Eating Report, the average dieter follows 55 fad diets during their lifetime at a staggering cost of £30,000, which is enough money to put a deposit down on a first home.  Sadly, only one in three people will actually lose weight and just one in five feel better from the new regimes.  

Why?  Because their vision was not OWNED by themselves, therefore the plan was faulty at the first.  Herein, is where CHANGE must take place, a renewed mind; with a mindset of discipline taking ownership and responsibility for our life, understanding the personal choices made are OUR decisions and not another’s.  Just because someone around us has made bad choices in their life does not mean we have to follow suit.  We can and must break the mould and move onward to a bigger and brighter future.  We are responsible for our own decisions and must hold ourselves accountable for poor choices as well as wise ones (yes, you can reward yourself for doing right).

How?

Plan – Preeminence

Preeminence is defined as “the state or character of being preeminent” with preeminent meaning “eminent above or before others; superior; surpassing”.  In other words, if something is preeminent in one’s life it takes priority above and beyond other things.  It will out shine and stand out in our hearts and mind thus influencing us to make wise decisions in life.  This is true in our dieting (daily and regular intake of nutrients), time management, financial budgeting, relationships etc.  Making wise decisions based upon a vision within an established plan with purpose must take preeminence in our life in order for success to be prevalent.  

This is how new behaviour is established, by making planned choices, which in turn develops into a habit.  We have often heard it takes 21 days to develop a new habit, however, there are flaws in this statement and science has proven so.  First off, many of the self help gurus in the world have taken such information by partially portraying the statement of Dr. Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon in the 1950s.  He began to find in many of his patients, it took “a minimum of 21 days” to adjust to their new image.  The ‘Tony Robbins’ of our day removed “a minimum of” and ran with the  ’21 day’ promise, giving people the sense of assurance they would be a new person in less than a month.  It is quite possible for this to work with certain folks.  However, if this was a definitive truth, we would not have ‘dieters’ jumping on and off 50 different fad-diets in their lifetime.  More recent studies have revealed it takes more than 2 months before a new behaviour becomes automatic, 66 days to be exact and in a more comprehensive research we found it has taken anywhere from 18 to 254 days for people to form a new habit.  

What does this mean for us?  It means new behaviour and the developing of positive habits are dependent upon a person who has more than a desire for change, but rather a drive.  A drive to fulfil a plan with a purpose, based upon a realistic vision, placing it at the forefront of their day, thus making choices giving it preeminence in their life.

“If it was easy, everyone would do it… Simplicity doesn’t always equal ease and ease quite often isn’t very simple.”

Discipline – The Plan Part 1

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The Plan 

“There are two pains in life. There is the pain of discipline and the pain of disappointment.  If you can handle the pain of discipline, then you’ll never have to deal with the pain of disappointment.” – Nick Saban

Passion drives the vision, Position directs it and Peculiarity determines ownership, with the vision in place we are now enabled to move into the action.  This is the Plan.  Remember, a vision without a plan is merely a wish…  Countless individuals have had greater and broader visions than others, yet it was the failure to execute the vision within a plan in which becomes their demise.  

Maybe you have a vision to improve your fitness level or better manage your finances and time.  These are wonderful ideas, but sitting around talking about them will not bring success.  I have heard numerous men and women tell me how they ‘need’ to make healthier choices, ‘need’ to cut back on spending and ‘need’ to tighten up their schedule.  All the while they are eating a donut, scrolling through Amazon for a new top to add to the already twenty they don’t wear, at the same time bouncing back and forth on social media.  We’ve all heard the saying ‘talk is cheap’ which is incredibly true; but the cost is high.  We use the word ‘need’ today without consequence, what we need is to breath, drink water and eat food.  What we desire is better health, finances and more time.  Well, if you are willing to develop a disciplined mindset in your vision, it will require a suitable plan to execute, which can be broken down into three segments.

Plan – Purpose

Purpose is defined as “the reason for which something exists or is done, made, used, etc.”.  One of the first questions we must ask ourselves when designing a plan is: “what is the purpose?”.  In all fairness, if this question cannot be answered rather quickly, one must stop, rethink the element in which is truly driving their vision.  Faulty visions will fuel a fire of failure quicker than anything.

Here is an example, someone wants to lose ten pounds, this would be the vision.  In order to execute this vision, they must be passionate about losing the weight, have the position in their daily schedule to perform the required exercise to do so and the desire to lose the weight must be for themselves (it must be peculiar or personal for them, not another’s).  So, again, what’s the purpose?  The answer is to lose ten pounds correct?  Yes, but to drop weight for ‘kicks and giggles’ is not a purpose, neither is “because my buddy wants to”.  

Learning to be disciplined in order to execute the vision outlined in a plan first requires purpose.  In our given scenario, someone wants to lose ten pounds; herein is the vision.  The plan is to do so by taking the needed steps in healthy choices, increasing their level of fitness and maintaining the proper food and water intake.  Now purpose kicks in, meaning when all the dust settles and the new wears off, there is a fire from within pushing this person to walk past the junk food isle, get into the gym when it is cold outside and take the time to prep meals the night before.  PURPOSE! The reason for which something exists or is done!  Some good examples of purpose in our example would be, better fitting clothes, improved movements on the rig, lower blood pressure or in many cases the difference between certain diagnoses which are directly associated to being over weight.  A plan is a necessity, without a plan goals are only words written on paper which worth less than the ink it is written with.  

So, today, search your heart, what is the purpose of your vision?  You already have the image in your mind of what you want to become or achieve.  Are you ready to make the choices today in order to attain such vision thus fulfilling your heart’s desire?  If so, your plan is beginning, find the purpose and drive onward and upward.

“Anyone can say they want success, but the one with a disciplined mindset will see it come to pass.”

Discipline – Vision Part 3

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Vision 

Thus far we have seen two of the three major components involved in developing and having a vision leading into establishing a plan into setting goals for success.  All of which are achieved through the mindset of Discipline. 

While Passion drives the vision and Position directs, it is Peculiarity in which determines if the vision is your own.  Quite often, many people are moved by what they see in others in developing a vision for themselves.  Now, this does not mean we should not be motivated by others, it does mean such motivation should not turn into emulation.

Vision – Peculiar

Peculiarity, does not necessarily mean odd or strange, as we in this modern era have expressed.  According to Webster’s 1828 dictionary, peculiar is defined as Appropriate; belonging to a person and to him only, special”.  In other words, rare.  Diamonds have great worth because of their rarity and uniqueness.  The more rare a diamond is, the greater its worth.  The reality is, diamonds are worth what people are wIlling to spend.  Whereas, diamonds are abundant in general, high-quality diamonds, especially the large ones, are certainly rare.  The process of ‘mine to finger’ is still laborious when it comes to diamonds.  Mining is costly, cutting is still widely difficult, precise, and expensive.  According to one De Beers representative, when interviewed concerning the diamond business, stated: “For the next ten years, we had our engagement ring customers (our most valuable customers of all) fill out a credit application BEFORE we showed a single ring. Then, armed with his monthly earnings, we showed the ring that matched that two month figure. It was like taking sweets from a baby.” 

Why is this?  Because it is a unique jewel, made and fit for a very special occasion… a personal occasion owned by the ensuing groom-to-be and his dear bride.

The same holds true within the vision, you MUST own it; it must be your’s and not another’s.  Everything about the vision needs to be precisely built for your hopes and the dreams you have developed within the mindset of Discipline.

“Anyone can copy the vision of another person, but the one who owns their vision will see it come to fruition.”

Discipline – Vision Part 2

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Vision 

Recapping quickly, remember, in order to make choices beneficial to one’s life and assist us in achieving success or at the very least to give us the best option of success, we must develop a mindset of Discipline. 

Success in anything in life, whether you want to improve your work ethic, lose ten pounds or increase your back squat requires Discipline, beginning with a sound vision.  Such vision starts with passion, which is something no one can take away from you, even if it is lying dormant underneath layers of frustration and excuses, dig it out and execute.

Vision – Position

Once passion has set ablaze in your heart, kick starting your vision, there must be a Position in life for such a vision.  Here is an example, one particular individual is passionate about becoming a partner with the corporation they are working for.  However, in order to do so, they will have to work twice the hours, accumulate three times the customer base, all the while compete against thirty other employees vying for the same position.  One must ask themselves this question, “do I have the position in my life to pursue such passion?”.  In other words, is there enough time in the day, week and year to achieve this level of success? 

To make this more sensible, if you are passionate about losing 20 pounds or increasing your bench one rep max do you have a position (time) in your life to dedicate to such an achievement?  The position is what makes the passion a reality, which does not mean, by any reason we should settle for mediocrity at all, it does mean our vision will enable us to establish a plan with realistic goals based upon a proper time frame.

As your vision develops, passion will drive the vision, but position will direct it.  The mindset of Discipline deciphers between the actual and the hopeful; it is within these two contributing factors the vision begins to take shape and formulate into hunger allowing you to take the next step in solidifying such vision which will establish the plan to achieve your goals.  

“Just because someone is the loudest person in the room doesn’t make what they saying more important or even correct… follow your passion despite the antagonist.

And Here We Go…

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First Things First

As we embark on a new year we are must be willing to accept the challenges involved in what a new season of life brings.  Quite often, as we lead into a new year, we all stand at a crossroad of some sort.  It is at this location choices must be made in our life.  The reality is, there are two initial options, 1.) continue down the path from the previous year, 2.) make viable changes to improve our life.  These choices sometimes are made daily, whilst others are weekly, monthly, yearly.  In some cases (and more often than we believe) there are many decisions made once in a lifetime.  These my friend, are life altering choices we make which can lead to the upward momentum in life or a downward spiral (let’s address these a little later).  Nevertheless, choices must be made in this life, from the smallest levels to the most complex.  In order to make the correct choices along the road of life, we must adopt and develop a particular mindset to increase our chances of success.  By no means does this infer we have always made the right decision, but there is an eternal truth of every choice in life having a consequence.

In order to make choices beneficial to one’s life and assist us in achieving success or at the very least to give us the best option for success, we must develop a mindset of Discipline.  Before you think this is a cure all or a vaccine to failure, think again,  Discipline is the difference between ultimate success and failure.  However defeat will occur, loss will happen and when it does, don’t waste them.  Don’t waste the pain, the hurt, the loss in your life… learn from it, live through it and walk accordingly to a mindset of discipline thriving afterwards!

Success in life, whether you want to improve your work ethic, lose ten pounds or increase your back squat requires three things as approached through discipline: a vision, plan and goals.  Over the next several instalments we will break these down individually with aspirations of assisting you, as the reader, to achieve success in each choice made on the road of life. 

Vision

Many years ago I opened a new year vision Sunday service with this statement, “A plan without a vision is merely a wish and a vision without a plan is only a dream…”.  One common mistake I see made in life is when people desire change or strive to succeed, the first thing they do is sit down and design a plan.  Whereas this is admirable, it is based upon a faulty foundation.  Essentially this would be equivalent to building a structure beginning with the roof first.  The bottomline we must have both, a vision and a plan.

We hear phrases thrown out when describing widely successful entrepreneurs as ‘visionaries’; however, they are never referred to as such in the midst of the process; because typically no one really understands what they are doing nor why they are doing it.  The key to their success, is found in the fact they know what they are doing and why.  Simply put, their plan for success is based upon their vision.

The vision typically has three major components, of which we will address each one over the next few instalments.  These attributes are Passion, Preeminence and Peculiarity (rarity.)

Vision – Passion

Passion in this sense is more than just a superficial feeling. It is deep, almost inexplicable, and it is something people cannot take away.   Passion can be developed, but quite often it is already there, lying underneath the layers of busy schedules and even the conditioned boredoms we experience each day through mindless moments of social media scrolling.  

You may have a passion to start your own company, to rally the village, town or city together for a cause or improve your physical, mental, emotional and/or spiritual health.  It’s important to have the courage to pursue what is in your heart as long as it lines up with doing the right thing.  Passion outside the lines of right and wrong is perversion (i.e. if you are passionate to be wealthy and decide to rob a bank or passionate about making it to the Crossfit games but cheat the reps and weight to do it or passionate about hitting a bench personal best but use steroids to do so…).  Right will always be right and wrong will always be wrong no matter how many are doing or not doing them.  Think about it. 

So, step number one in having a vision is determine where your passion lies.  Seek wise counsel and do not be afraid to take a risk.  Avoid letting fear, criticism, or doubt cripple you from making a decision of passion.  Even if the stakes are high and the naysayers loud, do not let it stop you from being committed to the journey of success in developing a mindset of discipline in order to reach success.

“Just because someone is the loudest person in the room doesn’t make what they are saying more important or even correct… follow your passion despite the noise.

 

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Stop Complaining… For Your Own Good And For Those Around You.

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We have all been around those people who love to complain… as a matter of fact you may even be someone who chooses to find the negative in any situation as oppose to the lighter side or many times even the truth.  People assume they know why they complain or perpetuate negativity, they will make a statement like, “I know I am a cynic” or “ Well, I’m just a realist”.  Whether or not this is just an opinion or a true and faithful statement is beside the point, continual negativity not only is habitual and counterproductive to any situation, it is in fact a detriment to one’s health.

Clinical research performed at Stanford University revealed complaining actually shrinks the area of the brain critical to problem solving and intelligent thought called the hippocampus.  Damage to the hippocampus is frightening, when one will consider it is one of the primary location of the brain destroyed by Alzheimer’s.

Complaining not only is damaging to our brain, but has further ramifications to our body as well.  As a person complains, the body releases the stress hormone cortisol, which is the hormone directly associated with the fight-or-flight response.  It is also responsible for directing oxygen, blood, and energy away from everything except the systems essential for immediate survival.  As cortisol releases the blood pressure and blood sugar are raised in preparation to either escape (flight) or defend (fight).  This may sound inconsequential, however the excessive cortisol release, due to habitual frequent complaining results in impairment of the immune system, which results in an increased susceptibility to heart disease such as myocardial infarction, hypertension, heart failure among others.  It has also been linked to diabetes, high cholesterol, and even obesity. Several studies revealed too much cortisol has been connected to raising venerability of cerebral vascular accidents (CVA aka “stroke”), which when described as its simplest level, is a brain attack.

You may be wondering why does this occur and why does complaining have such an effect on the body but especially the brain.  In all fairness, it is quite simple… neurologically speaking.  Neurological science has shown neurons are a close knit family.  The more they fire the closer they grow together allowing permanence to develop.  As this action is repeated, just like many negative behaviours, the brain literally is rewired to encourage such action to be easily repeated.  The brain is the greatest supercomputer ever created functioning with efficiency.  Thus, as a person complains, physiological and neurological responses occur in order to enable the crossing of information through the communicative network easier. 

Complaining is not an innate quality, but rather a learned action.  It happens to be the physical changes which makes complaining such an easy habit to develop.  But is it worth it?  There has been many articles and ‘studies’ claiming the benefits of complaining, in an article from 2 February 2018 in Forbes states, ““Constructive wallowing” is the term author Tina Gilbertson uses to describe the power of accepting and releasing negative feelings. It’s not that people aren’t capable of being positive, it’s that we are so backlogged with suppressed emotions, they are flaring up to get our attention. She argues that we need to clear our consciousness before we can allow new experiences in.”. Whereas, at face value, this may seem like a justification to complain, to “clear our consciousness” in a release of “backlogged” and “suppressed emotions”, the hard truth of the matter is greatly opposite.  Not only has neuroscience proven exorbitant complaining unhealthy for those committing the act, but it is always deteriorating to social communication.  On the sociological level, complaining is contagious and it presents an environment for others to absorb the negative without realising it, project the same in other circles (picture someone complaining about a complainer).  So not only is repeated complaining detrimental to your health, but it also has an debilitating effect on people’s ability to communicate with negative aspects.  Whereas, there are many types of ‘complaints’, the truth is, it is a conditioned response to areas of our life we are unhappy about and often the subject of the complaint is a separate subject altogether.  I can remember being around an individual who complained about everything.  This particular person constantly complained about everything, but when I asked for a solution, the answer was always “I don’t know.”  It became very evident the complaints were not only invalid, but actually were a reflection of their own unhappiness in life.  It was a sad situation, made even more so when there was nothing I could do to help.  In the end, the separation as acquaintances became the obvious, and might I say only option.  

By no means am I suggesting if and when a person is dealing with situations in their life causing them displeasure they should just suppress them into compartments within the mind.  If anyone is dealing with circumstances in their life, by all means speak to someone.  Let me reiterate, no one should suffer in silence, speak and speak loudly to those who can help and will listen.  Outside of personal struggles, we all know complaining is different and typically for reasons other than psychological help.  It is proven to be dangerous to one’s health and when we considering the ease of spreading at epidemic rates, it endangers those close by as well. 

What should be done?

It is easy to say, just stop, however by incorporating a little acronym into our cognitive response we may be assisted in deterring our addiction to complaining.  Before we speak, think…or in other words, before we speak T.H.I.N.K.  Ask yourself, is it True? Is it Helpful? Is it Inspiring? Is it Needed? Is it Kind?  Sure, this may sound simple and no this isn’t anything new.  Most of us, who are parents, have taught this to our children.  Yet, simplicity is often the best option and the most overlooked.  Consider the outcome of your outgo.  Try to find the positive in the surroundings in your life and if you cannot, change the environment in which you are complaining about.

So, before we decide to unload and let go, think… and stop complaining for your own good and for  those around you.