“We must all suffer from one of two pains: The pain of discipline today or regret tomorrow.” – Jim Rohn

The biggest difference between these two pains is that discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tons.

We’ve all got goals, ambitions and dreams. What is the difference between the people who achieve their greatest ambitions and those who don’t?

The discipline of taking action daily.

I love this quote from Jocko Willink: (If you haven’t heard of Jocko, google him and read his stuff)

“Don’t just think. Don’t just talk. Don’t just dream. None of that matters. The only thing that matters is that you actually do. So: DO!”

I’d like a more profitable business. I’d like more sales. I need better people. I’d like to lose 10 pounds.

We all do it. We love to talk about what we want, but we fail to take the daily steps required to make it happen.

The crazy thing is that outside of some very limited circumstances, whatever you are dreaming about you can achieve. Need some examples?

Spud Webb. Spud was born into poverty in Texas. He was shorter than all the other kids but loved basketball. He only reached five feet, seven inches in height, but could dunk the ball when he was five feet, three inches.

After being rejected by countless coaches and recruiters along the way, Spud was drafted in the fourth round of the 1985 NBA draft. He played in the NBA for twelve years, winning the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1986.

Nick Vujicic. Nick was born in 1982 in Melbourne, Australia – with no arms and no legs. He does have one small foot that he refers to as his “chicken drumstick.” After dealing with depression, bullying and countless other obstacles Nick start speaking at his local prayer group. He went on to graduate from Griffith University with a double major in accountancy and financial planning (go accountants!).

Today Nick runs two companies, starred in a short-film and travels the world giving motivational talks and sharing the love of Christ. Nick is married to his beautiful wife and, at last count, has four children.

What’s my excuse? What’s yours?

How can we overcome our excuses to take the action required to achieve the outcomes we desire? We need discipline.

There is a way to build discipline and it helps if you start small. Allen Muncy taught it to me. He learned it from his dad – Jim Muncy. They call it the Momentum Indicator.

Here is how to make it work for you. Take a goal or dream you have. Even one you have continually failed to accomplish. Determine the single easiest daily action you could take that would get you closer to this goal.

As an example, I want a long and extremely healthy life. One of the steps I need to take to reach this goal is to give up diet drinks. Studies show diet drinks don’t help with weight loss and the chemicals can’t be helping my longevity goals!

What should my daily goal be? Not drinking a diet drink that day would be a great start! But I keep trying that and failing. Failing is not very motivating.

How can I get a quick win and build some momentum? There are numerous ways I could do that. I could count only drinking one diet drink per day as the win, or not drinking one until 3 pm.

The key is to find a win that you can accomplish and do it. Now, write on your calendar or a Google sheet +1. You just got your first win! Congratulations. Now keep doing that small thing every day and keeping adding 1 point to your score. Soon, this daily action will become automatic. It will be a habit.

Brain science shows that myelin will have formed around the neural pathways required to do this one, small thing and the action will become easier and easier every time you do it. As your Momentum Indicator score grows, so does the myelin and your habit gets more deeply entrenched.

Once your number gets higher and you accomplish this small win without even thinking about it, you can up the stakes. But, don’t up them much. If you fail, you must take 1 point off your Momentum Indicator score. If you see that number coming back down, go back to the first habit or cut what you were trying to accomplish in half. Get some wins and some momentum again.

Keep at it until you reach your goal. This works for anything – one more sales call per day, postpone eating that sweet or lighting that cigarette for fifteen minutes, write someone a thank you note.

It’s your turn. 3 Steps –

1 – Determine what you want to accomplish.

2 – Choose a daily win.

3 – Track it. Then do the work and adjust your goals as necessary. Never quit.

The keys. Create small wins. Celebrate the wins and build momentum!  

I’ve got to close with one more Jocko quote.

“There is no such thing as a weekend. This is an everyday gig: Every day is a Monday.”

If you’d like some great resources to help you on your journey you can find them on our resources page at www.valuesdrivenresults.com or call me at 229.244.1559.

Curt Fowler is President of Fowler & Company and Director at Fowler, Holley, Rambo & Stalvey. He is dedicated to helping leaders create and achieve a compelling vision for their organizations.

Curt is a syndicated business writer, keynote speaker and business advisor. He has an MBA in Strategy and Entrepreneurship from the Kellogg School, is a CPA, and a pretty good guy as defined by his wife and four children.