Choose to Take the Journey

This is the final post in this series beginning with Part I: Inspiration and continuing with Part II: Ideas. It is meant to be read in order.

Part III: Discipline

Dreams are what get you started. Discipline is what keeps you going.
-Jim Ryan

Without heat, a fire can neither begin nor continue. Discipline, our heat, must be in sufficient supply to allow for the process of burning oxygen with fuel to occur. When overlooked, most endeavors fall short of ever seeing the light of day.

The good news is most of us are more disciplined than we think. How often do you feel like going to work? Probably less than half of the time. And yet you still manage to go on most days. You need money to survive, so you get your butt out of bed and out that door. You have no choice. How often do you brush your teeth? Twice a day, right? Even if you had a long day and feel like going straight to bed, you’ll often find yourself gargling with mouthwash to ease the guilt. Your parents instilled this behavior in you since childhood. You hardly ever think about not doing it because you’re so used to doing it.

If you feel like you have no choice, you will do it consistently. And if something is a habit, you will do it unquestioningly. When is the last time you had to remind yourself to flush the toilet? Hopefully never, otherwise you and I can no longer be friends… But seriously, you don’t think about it, right? You just do it.

You may not need to pursue your passion to survive, but you do need to do it in order to really live. I’m sure you’ve had days where you felt like giving up on your dream. What did it feel like? Did you feel dead inside? And you may not have parents reminding you each day to record music, create computer animations, or design new fashion pieces, but you don’t even need a reminder if it’s already become a habit. All you need is the discipline to make it so. Here come the tips:

1. Designate a certain time and stick to it.

If you always do something at a particular time, your body will remind you to do it. There’s a reason you feel the urge to brush your teeth upon awakening and feel hungry when you see it’s a particular time on the clock.

2. Make yourself accountable.

I often announce my goals to people who I would feel embarassed to disappoint. My mom. My girlfriend. My blog readers. A longtime goal of mine has been to upgrade my morning ritual, for example. Now that I’ve announced it on the internet, I feel the pressure to succeed. And so I will.

3. Be your own boss.

You may not get paid to write, paint, or take photographs (yet), but you can pay yourself by treating yourself to your favorite dessert after having taken some action towards your goal, and you can give yourself a paycut by not allowing yourself to watch your favorite tv show when you haven’t taken any action. These are just a couple of ideas, but you can be as creative as you want with your stick and your carrot.

Just as a fire requires oxygen, fuel, and heat, so too your passion needs inspiration, ideas, and discipline. Breathe life into your creation. Find your fuel. And keep the heat on. Because you are the only person who can keep your passion alive.