Focus 3 
“I learned to discipline myself to do things I didn’t want to do. Now, I also discipline myself to do things I love to do when I don’t want to do them.”
— Edward James Olmos
It’s a discovery most of us have made at some point in life: Setting goals is fairly easy, but achieving goals is much more challenging.
High achievers set clear goals — then stay focused on an action plan for achieving their goals. They demonstrate not only the decision to achieve, but also the discipline to achieve. They know that a decision without discipline will quickly fade when faced with the hard work that real achievement demands.
Decision minus Discipline = Good Intentions, Low Achievement
Decision plus Discipline = Good Intentions, High Achievement
Goal setting is actually fairly common. Unfortunately, the long-term discipline that sustains the hard work necessary to achieve goals is not common. The failure to sustain commitment and discipline is illustrated annually by the “resolutions” that are traditionally made on or around January 1.
You know how it goes. As the old year winds down and a new year begins, people make resolutions to accomplish goals or make changes they believe will improve their lives. However, despite the best of intentions, a great many resolutions are abandoned when people discover how much time and effort are required to change old habits or accomplish new things.
It’s not easy to get a parking place at the health club in January. The lot is packed and the gym is crowded with people with good intentions. But go back in February, and you can park anywhere you want, because many of those people have given up already. They lacked the discipline to follow through on their goal to get in shape.
Success is not the result of the initial decision to set a goal to achieve something; rather, success is the result of a journey guided by the day-to-day commitment and discipline to navigate through difficulties, discomfort, distractions, and disappointments.
Peak performers carefully determine what they want to accomplish and then focus their time and energy on the daily action necessary to achieve their goals. They understand fully the connection between the decision to accomplish something and the long-term commitment and discipline that sustain the hard work that actually produces results.
