WHAT IS DISCIPLINE?, HOW CAN I MASTER IT AND WHY WILL IT GIVE ME AND EDGE OVER EVERYONE ELSE?
From the following extract from Abbott, Jacob. “Alexander the Great.” Imagine you are living in B.C. 356-336, the time of Alexander the Great, now read the description of the two armies and their worlds, which would you choose to follow as a discipline leader?
“It is hard to say whether the Asiatic or European civilization was the highest. The two were so different that it is difficult to compare them. On the Asiatic side there was wealth, luxury, and splendor; on the European, energy, genius, and force. On the one hand were vast cities, splendid palaces, and gardens which were the wonder of the world; on the other, strong citadels, military roads and bridges, and compact and well-defended towns. The Persians had enormous armies, perfectly provided for, with beautiful tents, horses elegantly caparisoned, arms and munitions of war of the finest workmanship, and officers magnificently dressed, and accustomed to a life of luxury and splendor. The Greeks and Romans, on the other hand, prided themselves on their compact bodies of troops, inured to hardship and thoroughly disciplined. Their officers gloried not in luxury and parade, but in the courage, the steadiness, and implicit obedience of their troops, and in their own science, skill, and powers of military calculation.”
There is no right or wrong choice. Both armies performed their duties to protect and provide security to their kings and peoples. Whether we choose a life of luxury and splendour like the Persians or a Roman focus on strength and might, we would require discipline to lead in either and to maintain the lifestyle. So what is discipline? after much searching and study we have adopted and codified it as follows...
“ Discipline is the skeleton that gives a person form and protection.” Henry Cloud
when you agree to walk with us, we unfold each element of discipline as presented above and build with you the foundation of Personal Leadership ; we will walk together through the 4E's, Embracing, Exchanging, Equipping and Empowering and begin or continue to design and live an extraordinary life.
At this point an illustration will help us put this framework into practice. I lived in Hong Kong Island for ten years, and never learned cantonese, except the basic hellos, thank yous and address to get me home. Why? I lacked discipline. Hong kong prior to 1997 was a British Colony and as such english speaking people had the privilege of a bilingual world through government offices, schools, universities, hospitals, road signage, menus at restaurants etc; nevertheless, the majority of people spoke, read and wrote cantonese. My excuses for not learning were:
PRACTICAL EXAMPLE
| Situation | Commitment to the truth | Taking responsibility | Delaying gratification | Balancing judgement | Balancing emotion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The tones are too difficult for me. | Yes brain, everything new takes time to learn. The auditory cortex needs to process the new sounds and translate them into chemicals that neurons in the brain will then send as signals to the facial muscles to replicate the correct sound through practice. Discomfort is temporary but results are long lasting. Remember gugu gaga, dada, mama, mother, father. | I alone am responsible for creatively allocating and taking the time to practice tones and overcome the frustration of continuos initial failure. | YES! I can avoid being challenged but I will never fully serve my purpose. | I need to focus on the reality that I have learned languages before and successfully learned to communicate. I have sufficient information to continue learning. | Fear of ridicule and Failure are transient. The more I learn from mistakes the faster I will experience joy; learning will give me access and opportunity to serve a larger segment of the population. That has meaning and is part of my life’s purpose. |
| I will never be proficient enough to use it in business | The purpose of learning this language is to communicate with local business people and co-create opportunities to serve communities not taking but serving. | I am responsible for the outcome and multiplication of my resources, business is a function and not the goal of learning to communicate | I can do something else but it will always be nevertheless. | Business deals can be translated into the universal language of numbers, spoken ideas or concepts can be shared by making the effort to communicate with others. | Emotions associated with not "enough" are not sufficient to procrastinate, it will be meaningful to be able to serve clients in their own language. |
Now is your turn, can you think of an area in your life where you need discipline? an area where if you applied the four elements of discipline, the returns could be exponentially beneficial to your life and business? At MRC we walk with you, share openly and transparently, so you can design, live and lead an extraordinary life. To explore working together please contact me carlos@mrc.hk