No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined. One of the widest gaps in human experience is the gap between what we say we want to be and our willingness to discipline ourselves to get there. – Harry Emerson Fosdick

Discipline is everything. It’s the act of doing what has to be done to achieve what has to be achieved.

Most people stop at ‘wanting to achieve’ something, become something, win something. They talk about doing it, dream about it at night, maybe even writing it down in a notebook of goals, but very few ever develop the discipline necessary to make that dream a reality.

No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined.

You cannot expect a single thing without all three. You’re entitled to nothing without all three.

Focus

You need blinders. You need to be able to focus on a single thing, a direction or directive, without having other things push you off your pursuit.

There is only one thing that exists, and that’s the craft or the goal or the dream or the book or the business. Most people want a ‘balanced life’. It’s a myth. You don’t get balance and greatness. You can have it once greatness is yours, but while you’re chasing that bastard down it’s the only thing in your life. (Read This: 6 Focus Hacks That Will Help You Win)

Dedication

This doesn’t mean that you have one great work day, or two, or three, but a lifetime of them. You know what you want and you’re dedicated to getting it.

You live and breathe this quest.

This, of course, is for those who want greatness. They’re in it for the long haul, the lifetime. They risk putting countless hours and missed opportunities in other areas of their lives to the side in pursuit of something that’s not guaranteed to work.

It makes sense that so few people actually want to be great at something. 

Discipline

This is the king. Discipline is actually putting your focus and discipline to work every day. Discipline is your habits; it’s who you become when you set out to pursue something that’s way out of your reach when you first begin.

Discipline isn’t exceptional. Anyone can have it. Most people don’t. Fewer still possess it for a long enough time to become great at something.

We’ve become a culture that pats ourselves on the back for very meaningless shit.

‘I deserve a vacation’ or a break or a new suit is about the most commonly used phrase in existence.

You don’t deserve shit!

Earn it.

These three things are required for any goal. Decide if you actually want what you think you want. If you do. Then make it your everything