It's a marathon not a sprint.

We are often told that all we need is to be motivated and then we'll just magically start doing and even more magically start achieving. Just motivation that's all we need. Right! Right?

So do you think you’re a motivated person? Are you lazy? You answered YES and then NO (or sometimes). But still the things you want to do and be doing still aren’t getting done. So what’s happening then?

When my professional transition into life coaching journey started over 2 years ago I never thought that discipline would become a key word in either my professional or personal approach to life. Yet here I am. Typing away in a Belgian café, using the spare time I have before I surprise a friend for her birthday as she has no idea that I am here to visit her this weekend in Brussels.

OK, so I'm typing and in a cafe in Brussels...what’s my point here? My point is, if you truly want to get what you want. That pay rise, that better relationship, more friends, a new career; you are not just going to have to be motivated about it. You are going to have to work and crucially be disciplined about doing those actions that will lead to you achieving your goal.

Take this website as an example. I knew that I needed to start writing content for the website well before I actually “physically” started creating it for months. But I kept putting it off. Pretending to myself that my priorities were actually, going to the gym, doing the winter to summer wardrobe switch and of course purchasing that kitchen tool of the moment, a spiralizer. Anything but start “that” piece of work.

Now, as I believe in the benefits of Life coaching so much, even as a Coach myself, I actually have a life coach. I bought this "discipline challenge" into one of our sessions and my Life Coach and I discussed and found out what was really behind me putting off writing the website. We then explored what benefits I would have once the website was live, and as if by magic things changed. I decided I needed to be more disciplined and I was reminded again that we are accountable for our own success, and lack of it.

So the weeks that followed, with discipline and the reward of how I would feel once the website was built, I did it. And never once, after spending time on a “website session” did I say to myself, “well, that was a waste of time.” I always produced something useful, or learnt something. Which made me even more motivated and of course even more disciplined.

Now it’s your turn.

My challenge to you. Try it. Think about what you have been putting off for a week. And do it. And then ask yourself was it as painful as you thought it would be? Did you waste more time and energy on worrying about doing it than on the actual thing itself? What was the actual “cost” of completing this action or part of project? And crucially what benefit did completing this action bring?

Discipline might not be the most glamorous goal. But without it, you wouldn’t be reading this. Literally.

If any of the ideas discussed in these blogs are of interest to you and you feel as if you would benefit from having a Personal Trainer for your life and your goals. Contact me via email or Facebook and we can organise a free consultation about the process of life coaching and how it could benefit you and take you from motivation to action.

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Until next time. Remember. Discipline.

#consistency #motivation #personaldevelopment #discipline #yourchallenge #goals #coaching #change