What Difference Does Discipline Make?

I am a lousy golfer. When people ask me if I golf, I usually say I’m a “corporate golfer.” I have only golfed at company sponsored events with vendors or clients and a couple times with my brother-in-law. Right there is part of the reason I’m a poor golfer. I don’t golf consistently. I don’t practice my swing at the driving range or my short game on the putting green. Consistency is only part of the reason I’m a poor golfer, though. I don’t love the game enough to spend the vast amounts of time and money necessary for consistency.

Does Discipline Matter?

There are differing opinions about the role of consistency and discipline in personal growth. John C. Maxwell, in his book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, writes about “The Law of Consistency” which says, “Motivation gets you going, Discipline keeps you growing.” You also have Malcolm Gladwell’s misunderstood popularization of the 10,000 hours theory in his book Outliers. He writes about “The 10,000 hour rule” which seems to imply that greatness comes from 10,000 hours of practice. And, of course, Aristotle’s famous quote, “We are what we consistently do. Excellence, is therefore not an act, but a habit.”

On the other hand, you have articles like “Why You Don’t Need More Discipline” which explains the perspective of the late world-renown strength coach, Charles Poliquin. He said “There is no such thing as discipline. There is only love…You are the result of what you love most.” He said, for example, “If you love pizza more than you love the thought of having the body you always wanted, then you might choose pizza and feel like you failed yourself by not being disciplined to go to the gym, but really all you did was choose pizza over the gym because you love pizza more.”

To add another layer is the idea quoted by the late Vince Lombardi who said, “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice makes permanent. Perfect practice makes perfect.” So there is more to greatness than just doing it over and over. You can do it over and over the wrong way and become permanently bad.

So What Does Discipline Have to Do With Personal Growth?

In their book, First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently, the authors demonstrate that the best managers focus on strengths. Rather than trying to help themselves or their people improve in their areas of weakness, they focus on helping them get great at what they’re already good at. John Maxwell, in his “Law of Consistency,” points out that its critical to know why you want to improve. He says that “Why Power” is far more effective than “Will Power.” It’s about your passion, what you love.

Putting those together brings us back to something I’ve written about previously, your sweet spot. It’s that place where you talents (what your good at), your why (what you care about or love), and your dreams come together. I believe discipline is staying focused on your sweet spot and making the choices every day that will move you forward in realizing those dreams.

I’ll never be good at golf. I lack the talent, the why (sorry, I just don’t care that much about the game), and any dreams about being good at it. What sense would it make for me to discipline myself to improve in that area? Do you have anything in your life like golf? Your’re working on it but it’s not part of your sweet spot. Try re-focusing on your sweet spot and see what happens.