Discipline is a word that has a strong connection to a variety of different concepts, ideas, and qualities.
To some, discipline refers to strict rules to be adhered to and instructions to be followed in order to complete a goal.
To others, discipline is a teaching method that can manifest in different ways – particularly in the form of punishing someone to achieve a desired result (whether this person is yourself or someone else).
How do we nail down one simple, solid definition of the term?
The word “discipline” is derived from the Latin word “disciplina” – which means “instruction and training” – but even this isn’t an accurate representation of what discipline means today.
Discipline, in a broad sense, means applying certain standards and expectations that you successfully enforce through your behavior. It’s a device in your mental toolkit that aids in every decision you make, every goal you strive towards, and every task you succeed in. Most importantly, discipline lies behind each choice that’s made (or not made) every day.
The concept of discipline applies to many different aspects of everyday life, but it’s perhaps extremely important in the context of entrepreneurship. Discipline, particularly self-discipline, is going to be the base on which you construct your successful career as an entrepreneur.
American entrepreneur Jim Rohn says that “discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment”, and this couldn’t be more true. Planning your goals and acknowledging the steps you’ll need to take in order to reach them is simple, but discipline is the active act of completing these steps and achieving each task that you set for yourself.
The Significance of Discipline in Entrepreneurship
Many of the most notoriously successful entrepreneurs exhibit extremely high levels of discipline – making it abundantly clear how they were able to achieve their goals.
Take Bill Gates for example, who frequently hosts his iconic “seven-minute meetings” where he focuses directly on the tasks at hand and avoids any unnecessary discussion or distraction. Gates also divides his daily schedule into five-minute increments to maximize productivity and keeps tabs on everything that he achieves within these allotted time frames.
When Apple was on the decline, the very first thing Steve Jobs did was increase discipline to maximize efficiency and bring the company back from the brink of failure — and it worked.
How did he manage to turn things around? The strategy was effective because, with the focus and productivity that comes along with discipline, success is infinitely easier to achieve. In the words of Sweta Patel (founder of Silicon Valley Startup Marketing), “Self-discipline coupled with love will keep you going when motivation wanes”.
So, what exactly does the connection between discipline and entrepreneurial success look like in a practical sense?
For one, discipline is going to aid in your ability to make decisions and stick to them, which in turn improves consistency and reliability. Difficult decisions crop up every single day, and having the discipline to make your choice and stick to it shows dedication and confidence.
Discipline is also going to improve your time management skills, which is one of the most effective ways to improve a business. To put it simply, better time management means more tasks completed per day – which leads to faster growth. With these traits in mind, it’s easy to see why many successful entrepreneurs attribute much of their growth and success to strict discipline.
Ways Discipline Affects an Entrepreneur’s Journey
One of the areas where you will see the benefits of discipline the most often and the most clearly is in planning and goal setting. Most of the time, those who lack discipline struggle severely with these two aspects of business.
If you’re setting goals and finding that you aren’t achieving them time and time again, there are two likely reasons that this is happening: goals that aren’t realistic, or becoming distracted from the tasks at hand. Whether you’re falling victim to the first reason or the second, discipline is going to help you overcome both issues.
If your goals are unrealistic, take a moment to sit down and evaluate what you’re capable of accomplishing in a set period of time.
A lot of the time, people believe that discipline doesn’t work for them due to the fact that no matter how hard they try, they aren’t meeting their goals. As such, it’s important to make a realistic assessment of what is achievable for you and set your goals around this assessment. If you aren’t being realistic with your goals, then you aren’t being fair to yourself.
Similarly, if you’re getting too distracted when trying to achieve your goals, then now is the time to utilize some of the tools you’ve learned while implementing discipline. Remove distractions, visualize the outcome that you’re aiming for, and manage your time wisely. Prioritize the most important tasks and place yourself in an environment where you’re able to focus solely on these tasks.
When it comes to execution and performance, one of the most important things to do is focus on what works for you and discard what doesn’t.
You may have heard of the sunk cost fallacy, or the human tendency to follow through on endeavors that we’ve spent significant time on – disregarding the fact that the endeavor is not (or no longer) the most logical or successful course of action. This tendency is something you need to overcome right away in order to achieve success, and discipline is going to help you do this.
Those with a strong sense of discipline are able to acknowledge what works and follow this course of action over any other. Such degree of discipline manifests itself in virtually any aspect, whether this concerns what works for them personally in terms of increasing output, what works for their schedule in terms of planning goals, or what works with their business in terms of the next steps to take.
Having the discipline to make confident decisions in relation to execution and output is going to increase your productivity tenfold, create a sense of consistency, and improve the overall quality of what you produce. In combination with decision-making, this is another area in which practicing excellent time management skills is going to be of the utmost importance.
Another area where you can implement strong discipline, contrary to what many may think, is in the instance of failure and setbacks. Failure is virtually unavoidable when it comes to any project, task, or goal that you’re working towards. Should you face a failure or setback in any goal or task that you’re trying to achieve, it’s important to look past the initial, surface-level disappointment.
Instead, utilize discipline in order to detect what went wrong and why the failure occurred and implement changes to ensure that this won’t happen again. Not only are you able to now solve whatever issue has arisen, but you also actively improve your output and problem-solving skills.
Viewing mistakes and failures in this way requires a strong sense of discipline, as it can often be difficult to see past the distress that often comes with facing a serious setback. Being able to use your discipline to face failures and setbacks head-on and take measures to both correct them and prevent them from happening again is an invaluable skill that will be a significant help to you in the long run.
Examining Common Misconceptions and Myths about Discipline
Misconception #1: Discipline Means Rigidity
It’s a common misconception that discipline means rigidity and that implementing strict discipline leaves no room for flexibility. This is far from the truth. The fact of the matter is that rigidity can often be the product of the wrong kind of discipline.
Say, for example, you wake at 6 each morning and begin your daily work. If one night you found yourself unable to fall asleep until 4 am, should you still remain in your rigid sleeping routine and wake after just two hours of sleep, leaving you exhausted and unmotivated? Or should you get more sleep and implement flexibility in order to find a way to plan around this?
If you were following a rigid outlook that you mistakenly believe is “discipline”, you’ll probably force yourself to get up at 6 am and go about your day. The consequence, however, is a severely inefficient and unproductive day where results are subpar at best. In this instance, remaining flexible and allowing yourself more time to rest will ensure you’re showing up authentically and measuring up to your responsibilities.
Make no mistake. Rigidity can occasionally be helpful to overall productivity – but more often than not, flexibility is a more useful skill to master.
Misconception #2: Discipline Stifles Creativity
Something that isn’t discussed nearly enough when it comes to discipline is the fact that not only can creativity co-exist with discipline, but truthfully, discipline can’t succeed without creativity.
Without any form of creativity, your discipline can lead you to a stale, uninspired business practice with no innovation, new ideas, or groundbreaking features. On the other hand, creativity without discipline can lead to nothing ever getting done — think of an author full of ideas but who never sits down to write.
Both discipline and creativity are required in equal measure in order to ensure success. Creativity sets inspired goals and ponders all the possibilities, while discipline lays out the groundwork and the steps necessary to achieve creativity’s destination.
Misconception #3: Discipline is Inherent and Cannot be Learned
Nobody is born with strict discipline already coded into them. While some people may be more inclined towards discipline than others, it’s still a skill that everyone needs to learn. Similar to any other skill that you attempt to master, discipline requires practice, patience, and enlightened repetition.
The notion that discipline can’t be learned results in many people abandoning their dreams, resigned to the belief that they simply don’t possess the inherent discipline required to reach their goals. Truthfully, learning discipline is the first step and continuing requirement of success. As such, this is something that can be done by virtually anyone.
The Truth about Discipline and Success
When it comes to success, the number one tool that you can have in your back pocket is discipline. Distraction is your enemy that hinders progress immensely, whereas discipline and focus accelerate it.
You can think of discipline as a flow of events. First, understand discipline in the form of disciplined thoughts. Changing your mindset is a crucial step when it comes to learning discipline. Envisioning what your goals are, what steps you need to take to reach them, and how you plan to do this is just phase one.
Once you’ve gained a decent handle on your thinking, proceed with disciplined actions. This is often the part that people struggle with the most, but it is inarguably the most important. If you’ve succeeded in changing your mindset, then the actions that follow should come much easier. A disciplined mindset simply leads to disciplined actions, and these actions lead to success.
It may seem daunting at first, but discipline is a habit that you can cultivate and improve on every day. There are several measures that you can take in order to cultivate your self-discipline. Changes such as keeping a consistent schedule, removing distractions from your surroundings, and establishing clear goals each day can vastly improve your discipline and ability to commit to tasks.
Surrounding yourself with like-minded people and finding the source of your passion and motivation can also contribute to developing your discipline. At the end of the day, it’s all about finding your areas of weakness and putting in the effort into changing them. With a cultivated sense of discipline, you’ll unlock a world where satisfaction and success are commonplace and no goal feels out of your reach.
Setting the Stage for the Journey Ahead
By reaching this point, you’ve already taken the first step in mastering discipline for entrepreneurial success. The next step to take in your journey of mastering discipline is understanding the primary foundation of discipline: self-awareness. This is one of the most essential stages of cultivating your sense of discipline as it will help you identify your personal strengths and weaknesses.
In the journey ahead, you’ll learn how discipline affects different aspects of entrepreneurship. You will also discover the ways that self-awareness is able to aid you in your journey toward mastering discipline and subsequently encourage entrepreneurial success. If you are ready to hold yourself to a higher standard and achieve your goals, then you are ready to take this next step into mastering discipline.