Pain vs. Pain

This is important.  I'd like to think that all of my postings are important, and to me at least, they are.  But this.....this is crucial to success.

Choose to live with the pain of discipline over the pain of regret.

Read that a few times if need be, memorize it if possible.  It's that important.  There's going to be challenges one way or the other.  Going through the junkyard on the way to achievement is a required part of the process.  Whether you come out the other end covered in the sweet smell of success will be entirely dependent on your decisions.

Those who are lacking in the discipline department will surely be forced to live with the pain of regret, which is exponentially worse!  Let's talk about discipline and why it's such a key factor when it comes to your accomplishment.

Dictionary.com defines the word discipline as - 1) training to act in accordance with rules; drill   2) activity, exercise or regimen that develops or improves a skill; training

The word regimen is the word that jumps out to me.  A regimented plan geared towards getting you closer to your goals is the first step towards actually accomplishing them.  It's the discipline and stick-to-it-tiveness that will actually bring them to fruition though.  Simply put, if you have a serious goal, no discipline means no chance.

Obviously the larger the goal, the more discipline is required.  I'd venture a guess that the percentage of people who've actually completed the entire 3 month P90X workout program is pretty low.  However, there's probably millions of people who've completed the P20X workout program.......which doesn't exist.  For different, and most likely justified (according to them) reasons, most people lack the discipline to see worthwhile goals through to completion.

Tomorrow I'll be writing about how to have the perseverance to accomplish your biggest goals, and what you can take away from those who give up or give in.  But for now, understand that the goal you aren't committed to is no different than the goal you never set to begin with.

Regret is a feeling that we all can relate to.  We've all, at one point or another, experienced the pain of regret.  One of my favorite quotes comes from Sydney Harris, who says, "Regret for the things that we did can be tempered over time; it's the regret for the things that we didn't do that is inconsolable."


The worst kind of pain we can feel is the pain of realizing that whatever regrettable situation we may be in right now, be it poor health, finances, relationships, etc, could have been avoided.  Sometimes shit, for lack of a better word, happens unavoidably.  Guess what, that's also our fault.  When we take full responsibility over our actions and results, disciplining ourselves to improve our circumstances becomes the only and obvious answer.

If you have to feel pain one way of the other, make a decision to go through the pain of discipline over the pain of regret.  Like I've said before, it's not always easy, but it's certainly worth it!