Destiny decays when character declines. The Athenian statesman, Critias, said: “If you discipline yourself within, you will be less vulnerable to injury from outside.”
In life, you need more than a willing spirit to fulfill destiny; you need a conquered flesh. Self-discipline is the ability to do what is right even if you don’t feel like it. Living a principle-centered life is the hallmark of winners. Great people are greatly principled. The core secret of winners is held up in the belief that to go up in life, there are things to give up.
There are two ways of learning in life: By ‘instruction’ or by ‘destruction.’ Winners don’t just show up suddenly; they are all products of a rigorous and disciplined system. Alan Armstrong said: “Champions do not become champions when they win the event, but in hours, weeks, months and years, they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely the demonstration of their championship character.” Lao-Tzu said: “He who gains victory over other men is strong, but he who gains victory over himself is all powerful.”
One of my most fascinating books ever on Discipline, Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win, is co- authored by a retired Navy SEAL commander in the U.S Navy, Jocko Willink, who talked extensively on how we must always take ownership of our lives and that nobody must ever be the reason why we fail in life.
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