IX. Sparticipline: How to Get Whatever You Want in Life

A Modern Spartan understands to get what he wants out of life he must do whatever it takes. He refuses to be a victim of circumstance or bend to the wind. He continually strengthens his iron will and resolve because he knows his ability to make himself do what he should do, when he should do it, is the key to his success in life and conquering his enemies.

Spartisicpline is a modern take on discipline.

That really hits the nail on the head – discipline is your ability to make yourself do what you should do when you should do it, whether you like it not.

It is the key to your success.

So why is discipline so important?

Self discipline is a master key to riches. Riches not only financially but in a building a better body. Whether it’s training yourself or applying discipline to work to increase your income levels or other important areas of life, discipline is a critical success factor in getting ahead.

Everything in life has a cost – NOTHING is free.

That cost is not necessarily a monetary cost, it could be cost in terms of energy, time, effort etc.

For example, a free workout program may not have a monetary cost but it involves the cost of your time and effort.

Everything in life has some type of cost associated with it – that doesn’t mean it’s bad, it simply means there is A  COST.

Discipline weighs ounces, regret weighs tons.

Let’s take an example.

Let’s say that you’ve always wanted to do something – maybe you’ve always wanted to travel to Yellowstone National Park.

Now lets pretend that you’ve gone through your whole life and you’re physically unable now to make that kind of trip. At that point the regret you feel would probably outweigh that the effort it would have taken to go when you were able. Having the discipline to get things done pays dividends in the long run because of the long term cost of not doing something.

Guy who are going to be successful in building a Spartan Body are willing to take the time to do what is necessary.

They’ve decided that it is more important to be disciplined and make the sacrifices necessary, for example to give up that food that’s bad for them, to make sure they work out or to get the rest they need. It doesn’t mean it’s bad to want the stuff that’s bad for us, that’s just how it is.

You have to have the discipline to say no.

And remember there there is no quick fix. There is no magic pill.

People try to sell that kind of stuff all the time because we often want to take the easy way out to get in shape.

None of those things work. You know that this isn’t easy. The key to doing this is knowing what to do and when to do it. This applies to all areas of life – not just to building a Spartan body.

Everything is hard before it gets easy.

Whenever you start something new – it is just natural that it will be hard (i.e. new job, learning to play an instrument, speaking a foreign language, learning to dance, learning a new game, etc.) When people first start going to the gym it can be hard. You’re not sure how to do some exercises, maybe you are uncomfortable around a bunch of new people. You feel awkward. After a few weeks, it begins to get easier on you and it becomes hard if you don’t work out. You miss not doing it. They key is to stick with it. There’s another benefit of practicing self discipline – it releases endorphins that make us happy.

I’m going to give you three disciplines you can start using today to start making big improvements in your life.

The first one is daily goal setting.
This is where you get yourself into the habit of setting 1-3 goals for the day and then working to achieve them. They don’t have to be huge. They can be as simple as making that dentist appointment you’ve been putting off, or getting that book that you’ve been meaning to buy, or accomplishing a home project, etc. Besides helping you get organized, setting goals and achieving them can be very satisfying. Little goals lead to bigger goals, so start off small, get good at it and get more adventurous as you go along.

The second discipline is daily time management and planning.
If you are not working from a plan you are simply responding to and reacting to the world around you. This is no way to live. You should push your will on the world versus the other way around. Try making a list for the day either the morning of or, better yet, the night before of some of the important tasks you are going to accomplish for the day. Don’t get caught up in the technical details. Do it on a piece of paper at first then evolve to putting them in a calendar. Maybe start with the top 3 things. That discipline will not only help increase organization skills but will lead to an increase in income and give you more free time.

The discipline of courage.
We need to force ourselves to do what we need to do on a regular basis. Fear of failure or loss is one of the biggest roadblocks to our success. Many times people don’t want to take any risks because they’re afraid of failure or of others making fun of us because we might be wrong. You can overcome this fear by having the courage to take action because Action cures Fear. Have you ever been afraid of something and then after you do it say to yourself “Now that wasn’t too bad”? Most of the time things aren’t as bad as we think they’re going to be. As you continue to do this, you’ll find your courage building and people around you will notice the difference.

When you combine these three disciplines, you will set yourself apart, continue to build your successes including your physique and increase your free time.

This will help you in other areas of your life too.

And remember – no matter how disciplined you are today no matter what you do, never retreat, never surrender and keep moving forward!