Discipline and purpose

Last year I had the best and most organized goals that I have ever had.
At the beginning of the year I put in an enormous amount of time and effort into developing my goals and putting them into writing. I identified exactly what I wanted to accomplish and developed a written plan of action for virtually every item on my list that detailed every task that needed to be done in a prioritized fashion. Yet I had the least amount of personal accomplishments this year of any year that I can remember since I hitch-hiked into Atlanta as a hippie and bum. It makes me physically sick to look at my goals and compare them to my achievements.

This is solid evidence that goals, although absolutely essential, do not amount to a hill of beans without ongoing daily focus, and concerted effort. This takes discipline. Discipline equates to desire. Most everything I “really” desired in life I obtained, because I focused on it and went after it with energy comparable to a pit bulldog going after a housecat. This year I did not focus. I did not make a daily list of what I wanted to accomplish and work the list to completion. I put in some effort and worked long hours. I traveled 144,000 miles on just one airline, yet my accomplishments were not where they should have been because I lacked focus and discipline.

How many people do you know that launch a new diet with enthusiasm and zeal only to fizzle out? What is missing? Discipline! Losing weight is simple, eat smaller portions, eat healthy foods, and exercise daily. It is the discipline to do those things that is difficult. I have always felt that there are three things that are absolutely essential for obtaining long term success. 1. We must identify the goal and put it down in writing 2. We must find a way to achieve it and put it down in writing 3. We must break large tasks from our list into smaller daily pieces, put them into writing daily, and work them “daily”.

Take the overweight problem for example. First we must admit that we have a weight problem and define how much needs to come off. Second we must lose the prescribed amount of weight daily/weekly by eating smaller portions, eating healthy and exercising daily. Finally we must implement the most difficult portion of the discipline phase by putting measures in place to prevent gaining the weight back which would entail a lifestyle change for exercise and our eating, (and/or drinking) habits. Some folks cannot get past stage one; others have trouble with stage two; most folks can admit they have a problem; they can drop some weight, but cannot keep it off.

I started reading a new book, “The Purpose Driven Life”. I highly recommend it to one and all! It states that we are not an accident.
God had us in mind before the universe was created and he planned each one of us for His purposes. These purposes will extend far beyond the few years we will spend on this earth, and we will last forever. I suggest that we should try to identify what God’s purposes are for our life and reduce them to writing. Then we should develop a plan to accomplish this purpose and put it down in writing. Finally we should develop the discipline to focus and apply the necessary energy to accomplish our purposes DAILY! One of God’s desires for us is to obtain peace through His gentle Spirit. Peace comes from fulfilling our purpose. How bad do you want it? If you really want it you will have the discipline to work it daily and accomplish it. Remember my poor example. Identifying what needs to be done is not enough. Working long, hard hours but not smart and according to a plan is not enough.
Discipline is required! DAILY!

Romans 6:13
Give yourselves to God…
Surrender your whole being to Him
to be used for righteous purposes.

How well do you know the Bible?
Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony of ______ in them? Fill in the blank…
1 John 5:10






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