What You Need To Know About Disciplines

The biggest mistake people make is that they go for the mix. A little bit of this and a little bit of that, put it together and you have a little bit of this or that. Too many people even in the self improvement or personal development arenas don’t follow one discipline. Then they wonder why they didn’t succeed at something.

Let me explain, in the personal development industry, they are many different disciplines to follow. It is relative to religions. Each religion has their rituals, rites and rules that people follow. The reason is because it is either a tradition or some proven way to living your life.

People may ask well can you belong to two disciplines? The truth is yes and no. Let me illustrate, you take a course in meditation, now nothing is wrong with that for most major religions. Then here is what happens, that meditation that is taught to be done a certain way gets sideswiped by the beliefs of another discipline. If the goal of the meditation is for your mind to be empty, yet your religious order infers that you must be thinking of their deity you will not master the meditation.

The purpose and intent of one discipline may not align with the purpose and intent of another. This applies to something as simple as goal setting. Some coaches and mentors teach one way of setting goals, while others are showing you a different way. Pick the one that works for you and stick to that discipline.

This also comes to the serving of too many masters. There are many experts which apply the tools in different ways. Their approach may be based on a different set of fundamentals, which should be studied in its entirety and not just selected for one component.

This is how you get derailed. You start to follow and acquaint yourself to a particular mentor, then something else pulls your attention and you start following someone else’s logic or reasoning. This is called lack of concentration. You don’t get the benefit of any one discipline. I talk from experience because I have experienced the same dilemma. Trying to pull bit and pieces from different viewpoints may cause so much confusion that you don’t know what to do. This throws you off course.

Each discipline has a set of tools. Master the use of those tools first before you go jumping into something else. For example, If you can not visualize what it is that you want, how can you set a goal?

Life should have variety but you can undermine yourself by going in too many directions at one time. If you have a goal to lose weight, then follow one discipline to get you’re there. Master it first before you decide that it doesn’t work for you.

I always say you can learn a lot about success from bodybuilders. They are focused and disciplined. They have a routine that they follow and they only add to it when the need arises. The fundamentals are all the same. Having good form is king, in bodybuilding. Proper form no matter what the routine, builds strength while ensuring safety. The routines in bodybuilding vary, but the premise is all the same. You have to be consistent in your approach; you must have the right diet in place to support the bodybuilding activity that you are engaged in.

The same goes for Wealth Building, Fitness, Relationships, Career, Business strategies and the list goes on. One discipline mastered well will far outweigh 10 disciplines loosely put together. When you wear that hat for any discipline your mind, body and soul are with that discipline and that discipline only.

I have been engaged in the personal development field for over 25 years and I have seen the amount of confusion that develops from the lack of the disciplined mind. The paradigms will interrupt your progress by offering distraction to build a better mousetrap. You can have so many mentors that will take you on different paths, that you may never hit your goal. You must pick one path for each discipline and master it first.

Follow one discipline until you master it, then you can go onto the next discipline that will take you to a higher level in business, career, enlightenment or whatever. You want a straight line to your goals not one that is corrupted. There is just too much that is vying for your attention. The path to success is built one step at a time. Stop playing hopscotch and start walking a straight line.

I know that people do try to follow “The Secret” they get confused. They are uncertain as to how to apply this information correctly, that they don’t even know if they are barking up the right tree. There were 7-8 different mentors in “The Secret.” Though they all agreed on the principles they don’t apply it the same way, they all have different approaches. Jim Rohn set goals a certain way and Tony Robbins approaches it differently. Two varying philosophies of how to get a result in whatever you do.

I believe in simplification. Keep it simple start small and work your way up. This creates confidence and certainty. One step at a time, don’t rush and certainly don’t make up something else or run off to another mentor who has a completely different approach. Rome was not built in a day. Loyalty to one discipline is magical.