Do You Practice Self Discipline Methods To Acquire Your Goals


By Ange Fonce


I used to call my friend David lucky. 

At school I thought of him as an incredibly gifted athlete and he went on to win a silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and become Commonwealth Champion in 1986 Games in Edinburgh Scotland. 

He was in fact the man who put British javelin throwing on the International map through the 80s and inspired the UK javelin throwers who come after him.

I became good friends with him and soon learned the truth when I stayed over at Davids house one night and was awoken at 6am on a Saturday morning by the clanging of lifting weights. 

"What are you doing it is 6am!"

I yawned. 

His reply was... 

"I  always start the day with two hours of practice and do three hours in the evening... if I didn't I'd be hopeless." 

Then it hit me. 

David was gifted AND this was a gift that had started out small perhaps even insignificant to start with to which he had added built upon and massively extended.  

David had taken his own natural gift and worked on improving it to a level of excellence and the level of excellence in his chosen discipline to become a Winning Champion and become an...





Olympic Silver Medal WINNER!

That taught me something profound. 

Sure there is such a thing as natural talent... yet natural talent counts for little unless it is supercharged by self discipline and self discipline can to some extent overcome the lack of natural talent.

Like myself I am not a naturally gifted writer and by learning and working on it everyday for at least 4 hours I have got to the stage where I can research plan and produce an article in a day plus write modules for my Dynamic Life Development Systems AND produce ebooks plus my coaching practice and still have a social life!

And now I am moving into producing and publishing videos and podcasts.

How do I manage all this?

SELF DISCIPLINE and managing my precious TIME to be PRODUCTIVE! 

Exercising self discipline can make the difference between an averagely talented person doing something amazing with their lives and a naturally talented person realizing very little of their potential.

Over the years I have come to see self discipline as an invisible power that drives you to GET THINGS DONE! 

You cannot see taste or smell it yet its effects are huge. 

It can transform fat into slim... sag into buff... uninformed into expert...  poor into rich... misery into happiness... it is the submerged part of the iceberg others do not see when they see your genius.

Yes opportunity plays its role and who does not need fortune to smile on them now and then and self discipline prepares you to ride that break all the way to the shore. 

Self discipline makes you happier and it gives you that sense of real achievement earned through sheer intensity of sustained focus.

If you really want to succeed at a task and acquire your goals then self discipline is essential. 

I was wrong about David to assume that his athletic ability had somehow been dished out to him like a Porsche given to an indulged adolescent on reaching eighteen... I had fallen for the biggest myth in the book... the myth of easy success.

Celebrities have never been more visible in our culture... famous sports people... wonderful actors and musicians are all over the media... yet what we do not see are the thousands of hours of super focused work these people have put in behind the scenes.

It is easy to feel that success comes easily... that it is just a question of personal confidence and yes confidence is a BIG factor in acquiring your goals and success in anything you set out to do... yet confidence and talent are not enough on their own to acquire a level of excellence the top players in any walk of life acquire and anyone who has achieved anything has done so because they have been able to control and direct their own inner lives and actions to the extent that has enabled them to become super able at what they do and acquire their goals.

Success in anything does not come to you... you have to work hard to gain success and enjoy a nice slice of fortune because like the saying goes... 

"Fortune favours the brave."

Life is not some waiting room in which to kill time with repetitive self amusements.

Self discipline like a muscle can be developed and if you were raised in a disciplined environment you may find it easier to be self disciplined and you can all develop more and the following self discipline methods have been gleaned from how top achievers manage and develop ability of excellence and success

Try them...




Method 1... Do Not Wait To Feel Like It


In some ways exercising self discipline is harder than ever before as we are all encouraged to feel something should entertain us before it is worthwhile.  

We become brainwashed with messages like...

"Don't do it unless you feel like it!"

"If it feels good,  do it!"

"Yeah, the money is good but I am not getting up at that time!"

Choosing to do something or not based on whether it feels comfortable or pleasurable or not is a disaster. 

If I waited to feel like it before exercising or working or making that tricky phone call or putting in the all nighter to meet a deadline and I often do then I would be much less disciplined than I am now and trust me that would be really bad for business and ultimately my life!

As the saying goes...

"Don't have a wishbone where your backbone should be!"


Method 2... Finish What You Start As A Point Of Personal Honour


Winston Churchill could only offer the British people blood  sweat and tears in the second world war and victory was the greater goal for the whole nation.  

Really think about...

A... How much you want to achieve a greater goal...be it weight loss... a finished novel... new business or mastering a musical instrument.

B... How serious you really are?

You may think you are serious and even tell others how serious you are... yet only your actions really convey how genuine you are and it is better you keep silent and get on with it than delude yourself and others.

Focus on the long term big outcome and self discipline will naturally follow. 

Every morning get up yes do please get up and tell yourself... 

"Today is not over until I have done it all" 

Whatever you need to do that day... you cannot finish your day until what you set out to do has been done.  

I am not kidding and respect yourself enough to keep your own promises to yourself.




Method 3... Dump The Excuses


Be honest with yourself. 

Does the following sound familiar?

"I don't want to overdo it!"

" I will start it when the weather gets better!"

"Well it's too late now to do it, anyway!" 

"I am not getting support from others so I won't bother then!"

"I am not going to do it at all now if you're going to take that attitude!"

Now lest you think I am holier than thou perish the thought I have used all the above excuses myself and many more besides to mask my own laziness or fear in the past and if you are going to make excuses do not fall for them yourself. 

Do not trust your own BULLSHIT!

In fact start being honest and tell yourself...

"I am not going to go for the run now because I am too soft and lazy."

"I have decided not to give that speech now because I am too cowardly!"

I have tried this and you know what?

Honesty can be hard to take... harder in fact than actually doing the thing you are trying to avoid. 

Stop mistaking excuses and procrastination and using self justification to make your reasons credible.


Method 4... Sorry It Is Non Negotiable


When you start to question whether you are really going to get down to some work... whether it is too late to make a start... whether you should watch the James Bond movie on TV instead you start to leak motivation. 

Make self discipline of your TIME non negotiable. 

I am thinking you do not um and ah about whether to clean your teeth or flush the toilet do you flush the toilet as these things are unquestioned by you so tell yourself... 

"I am not going to listen to excuses or wimp-outs this is nonnegotiable to me."

Abraham J. Heschel said... 

"Self respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself."





Method 5... The Pull Of The External Deadline


David made deadlines to himself and he had enough self respect to keep these deadlines. 

No one else put pressure on him to practice so much and when he had a competition coming up he worked even harder as working to external deadlines and internal ones deliver what others expect from you can massively boost your drive to succeed. 

If there are no external deadlines then make some... maybe you do contract work or a publisher is expecting your work by a certain time so you already have an external deadline and if you do not then create an internal one such as... 

"By July the 1st I am going to be 12 pounds slimmer." 

And make it external by telling as many people as possible.

If you need to write 100,000 words in two months tell other people that on a certain date you are going to get back to them to tell them you have done it. 

Print off a letter of intent sign it in front of a friend or several people and ask them to remind you of your deadline when it arrives and sign again that you have completed it. 

External deadlines work.


Method 6... Ignore Those Who Say It Is Not Possible


Other people can exert an immensely negative effect if you let them. 

Do not let them. 

Do not let words or even negative facial expressions deter you... seek the advice of experts by all means and learn from the best and never accept negativity from people who have not themselves achieved what it is you are set upon achieving and if people say what you plan is not possible or sneer at your efforts do not be deterred by this... rather use it to fire your energy and strength. 

Proving others wrong is a greatly underrated pleasure and to be honest,I enjoy proving such people wrong who try to put me down and there has been plenty of them. 

And you know what... you just cannot argue with SUCCESS!





Method 7... Do Not Get Hijacked By Trivia


We all have a need to complete things be it a story you are reading or an opera you are composing. 

If someone starts to tell you a joke or a piece of gossip they set an expectation in your brain that you really want fulfilled. 

And if you have important things to do and things to learn or an important project to work on then trivial things can hijack this need for completion.  

Playing endless computer games or watching TV thrillers or hours on Facebook and the likes can leave you feeling satisfied because something has been completed and this is like meeting your physical hunger by eating junk food and no longer wanting to eat real nutrition.

By cutting out or down your consumption of TV...  gaming... social sites or even newspaper reading you leave your need for completion free to work on what you really need to be focusing on. 

You need to feel that things remain unfinished to keep focused and you need to devote valuable time and energy where it is really needed.

Self discipline is the fuel that gets you places.  

The happy by products of discipline are success... self respect and improved physical and mental health.

So what other methods and ideas do you have about Self Discipline?

Have you any thoughts or comments you would like to share with me on what I have written?

I would love to hear from you.

Thank you and may you enjoy a Loving... Prosperous and Dynamic day!

Yours Sincerely




Dynamic Lifer... The Tribe of Dynamic Lifers

1... A person with a penchant for Science... creativity... books... writing... communication... fitness... women... sexing... sexuality... human relationships... psychology... physiology and any other area involving heavy use of the Intellect.

2... A bright person and glamorously Intelligent!

3... Ange is an Author... Speaker and Dynamic Peak Performance Personal Development Consultant... and Humanistic Counselling Psychologist... Sexologist and Multipreneur... who works with those men and women who desire to personally develop themselves and their relationships to become Dynamic Lifers... creators of their own life... relationships and wealth!

4... If you are Happy and you Know it... you are becoming a Dynamic Lifer!

To Speak to Ange and arrange a consultation for what you would like help with CLICK HERE





"Transformation happens when people fall in love with a different version of themselves and their future"


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