What's the point of discipline?

We always hear the word 'discipline', and most times we get the general idea of the word but do not fully grasp what it means to have discipline, or to be disciplined.

When I hear this word it makes me think about who would be considered disciplined, and the answer is- any person who has success. This success could lie in any walk of life, any hobby, any job, sport, lifestyle or whatever, but if the person is considered successful, then they are disciplined. Here is why I believe this:

In order to be successful at something, you have to dedicate some sort of effort to it. Therefore, it could also be said that the more successful a person is, the more discipline they have. For example, look at athletes. All of us have the potential to be a great athlete, some of us may not have the height, or weight, but there are many out there who have proven that your personal characteristics can be overcome by hard work. The ones who overcome those physical barriers do so because they are disciplined. They have the discipline to wake up every morning manage their diet, hit the gym hard, study the game film, take extra cuts off the tee, shoot 50 extra free throws, run 10 extra wind sprints, whatever it may be that they are lacking, they have the discipline to word hard to improve it. This holds business people as well. Someone like Bill Gates is not only truly blessed because he is smart, but he is incredibly disciplined. It is unfair and borderline stupid to believe that Bill Gates knew everything he needed to know when he invented his first computer, no he took his first premonition and researched and tested and repeated this process until he found something that worked. Imagine him trying to do something that had never been done before, there was no manual to follow, no help line to call when he got stuck! All he had was his brain and his discipline to complete the task. He sat himself down every day for countless hours to acheive his goal.

Many of us falter when it comes to this type of discipline. Someone like me who goes to class everyday, shows up for my meetings on time and so on, has discipline, but nowhere near the discipline that the greats have. There are many times where I want to watch tv instead of do my homework, or type on my blog when I have a test in 2 hours. I need to develop that discipline to go to the library, or turn off my tv, or log off my computer and get to work on the things that require my attention. Those who are great know what they need to do in order to reach the success they desire and have the discipline to accomplish it!

Develop that discipline today, no point in waiting to do it