It's wet – It's cold – You're tired – It's something… – Reasons to fail: Part One
Why discipline is an underrated factor in creativity and high-performance teamwork
You listen to it too much.
Too what?
Your inner guard dog.
My what?
You know, that inner dog that pulls you back from completing things. The inner dog that likes to curl up on the settee instead of being down the gym, or down the dojo, or on the football pitch.
The inner dog that finds really great excuses.
Excuses?
Yup.
You want to get good at something.
Sure.
Like a physical sport, or chess, or a language, or an academic course?
Then you have as a minimum to, turn up to all the training sessions or lectures.
Right.
Yeah, but every so often, you can’t.
You know, life gets in the way:
“It’s too cold. It’s too hot. I am still aching. I don’t feel ready. Not only that, but I just need to rest.”
“It’s definitely okay. Not only that, but I will go tomorrow.”
The inner dog, the inner excuse machine, is a dodge-machine.
It works to rationalize underperformance.
It is really tough for some people to understand.
Understand what?
That learning a skill takes discipline to master the effort to achieve your personal and work goals.
Buts that’s obvious.
It is, yet most people live in some sort of fuzzy cognitive dissonance.
On the one hand, you have an ambition, a dream, an objective. You actually want to achieve some form of personal excellence.
But on the other hand, you fail to create a training or educational routine to achieve this.
It’s like there are two voices in your head:
One voice thinks big, dreams of new possibilities and fulfilling your potential; it wants adventure, learning, excitement, travel; new stuff, life-enhancing stuff; health, fitness, sport, dance, a new career, a new job.
The other voice…
Well, the other voice keeps making a hole in the bottom of your boat.
How?
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